The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
Last Updated on Monday, 5 July 2010 12:30 Written by Administrator Monday, 5 July 2010 12:30
The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
- Here are some of the topics covered in this book:
- Deciding what size telescope will suit your needs
- Ordering optics for a large Dobsonian
- Understanding plywood and how to use it properly
- Making a flotation cell to support the primary mirror
This book tells how you can build a state-of-the-art Dobsonian telescope using readily available materials and supplies. Every step of construction is detailedin photographs and diagrams, and the underlying ideas are carefully explained. As a result of this three-year collaboration between authors David Kriege and Richard Berry, experienced and well-known telescope makers, you now have the opportunity to build a high-performance telescope from 14 inches to 40 inches aperture based on the thoroughly tested designs described in this book. The Dobsonian telescope takes its name from the astronomer/philosopher John Dobson, who introduced the concept of inexpensive, large-aperture telescopes to astronomy. Amateur astronomers at the time were so amazed that a telescope builtfrom simple, inexpensive materials performed so well that they could hardly believe their eyes. As home-built Dobsonians started showing up at star parties across the nation and people saw what Dobsonians could do, the word spread. In just a few years, the Dobsonian revolution swept the world. Since those early telescopes, Dobsonians have improved dramatically. An entire generation of amateur telescope makers contributed their best insights and refinements to Dobson’s original design. Today’s Dobsonians are larger, lighter,and more precise than ever before. For example, it is possible to build a telescope of 20 inches aperture that is compact enough to transp
Rating: 
(out of 22 reviews)
List Price: $ 29.95
Price: $ 29.95
Book Review by Stephen M. Greene for The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
Book Rating:
Not only did I read the book but I used just about every bit of information to build my own 18″ truss type dobsonian telescope. This book was the only guide I used. I found that all the information that is needed was contained within the text, tables and photographs to successfully construct my scope. I challenged myself to find other ways to engineer the truss assembly and found that the design that is laid out in the text could not be improved upon much. The trade-offs included ease of construction, cost, and availability of materials. To put it plainly, some serious engineering went into the methods shown in the book. A must buy!
Book Review by for The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
Book Rating:
Excellent book and a joy to read! I am currently grinding a 8″ mirror and bought this book for the 8″ plans which are surprisingly compact. Kriege goes into detail on how to build a truss tube Dobsonian for larger apertures and leaves the reader with no questions due to the great explanations and pictures. Other strong points include very informative and up to date discussions on materials used to build today’s modern Dobsonian telescope. My only argument is the author discourages grinding your own mirror which has been a great experience for myself and I am glad I did not listen to other astronomers who have the same view as Kriege. The selling point of Kriege’s “Dobsonian Telescope” for myself include the plans for a small telescope (8″) plus plans for larger scopes that will fill my aperture fever needs later. Both criteria have been met and I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in building any size Dobsonian telescope.
Book Review by for The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
Book Rating:
Any astronomer with even the remotest interest in Dobsonian telescopes MUST buy this book.It doesn’t matter if you want to build one, use one, or buy one pre-built. David Kriege and Richard Berry do an absolutely tremendous job of taking the reader through all the construction steps of a large-aperature Dobsonian telescope, of describing how to use it, how it will impact your life and your family and what’s the best size for you. “The Dobsonian Telescope” is extraordinarily well-illustrated, contains a wealth of technical data that generations of astronomers found the “hard way,” yet is very easy to understand and apply. Kriege and Barry also realize that not everyone can afford or has the space for the monster scope of their dreams, so there’s even a good chapter on building a much more modest scope from off-the-shelf items. Best of all, all the “big scope” information is still useful for the smaller one (8″) and just a plain, good, read.Finally, the book is fun. Both authors have a dry wit that livens up what otherwise could have been a rather boring, technical monologue.For anyone who’s ever craved an owner’s manual that tells them what they really want to know about their purchase, “The Dobsonian Telescope” is a “best buy.” Even better, you don’t have to buy the telescope to enjoy the book.
Book Review by Gary Strawn for The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
Book Rating:
If you are interested, or think you might be interested in building a Dobsonian, this is the book for you. The author has his own business building these large, wonderful telescopes. In this book, he gives away all his secrets. I’ve even found websites of other amateurs who have read this book and build their own scope. They call this The Book.
Book Review by Geoff Dudley for The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture Telescopes
Book Rating:
This book is simply the best scope making book I’ve read. Everything is easy to follow. I plan to update my scope one day using the well researched guidelines.I have a couple of criticisms. The first is the dark sky site chapter. I find it amazing that the authors complained about the light from cities and didn’t even mention the International Dark Sky Association which is making great inroads into the light pollution problem. Also the authors say that one has only to travel 100 miles to get to dark skies. While the skies will certainly be darker than cities, they are not what one would call really dark. Assume 100 miles from a city of 3.3 million pop. This gives (using Walkers law, details on the IDA website, Info sheet 11) a MINIMUM of 10% increase in the natural background skyglow, a figure at which significant night sky degradation is occurring. One would have to travel further away than 100 miles.The second criticism is that I can’t understand why the design didn’t include an option to place the secondary cage inside the mirror box for transporting. Tom Clark has done this to great advantage.The third criticism is that on this side of the pond (Australia) 12″ is still considered a big scope. A lot of us get our mirrors from the Schott glassworks in Germany where they are 12″ dia and not 12.5″. It would be nice if the design tables took this into account and a detailed design for a 12″ provided. The authors are critical of those who want to grind mirrors, but often the price for a bought one here is, well, astronomical! To be fair, there is a section dealing with grinding & polishing one’s own mirror.These are minor things, though. Overall, the book is wonderful.