A Few Helpful Hints On How To Build a Telescope
The typical reflecting telescope comes in many different forms, and you can distinguish between commercially made telescopes and those that are the product of amateur telescope making. No doubt, the commercially made telescopes have some of the best optics available, but the need to make a telescope by hand can also provide a viable alternative. Learning how to build a telescope is an art in itself and it requires that the final work be done by hand.
Use A Six-Inch Mirror, Or An Eight-Inch Mirror, Or A Maximum Ten-Inch Mirror
You may well wonder whether amateur telescope making is possible and if so, how does one begin? For the mirror, use a six-inch diameter mirror because smaller than that, the mirror will be much harder to create as well as it will show less of the night sky. An eight-inch mirror would be ideal and ten inches should be the maximum.
There is no real focal ratio that can be considered to be the best. You need to check on how you plan to use the telescope that you are making, and planetary viewing is different from Deep Space objects, with each being quite exclusive. As a beginning in amateur telescope making you can settle on f/5 which would be ideal for deep space viewing, while f/10 would suit planetary uses. As a compromise, you can settle on f/7 or f/8.
For testing the optics that the amateur telescope maker is creating it may be wise to use a Foucault tester, which anyone can make using just a saw, drill, hammer as well as screwdriver and a soldering iron. As an amateur telescope maker, you can also make use of automatic telescope making software, which can prove to be a fast as well as good method of testing your mirror. You can use the Ronchi Testing software to help you get a good mirror.
At the very least, learning how to build a telescope means having the complete knowledge about telescope basics, magnification and aperture, and buying telescope making books that can help amateurs learn how to get started. Amateur telescope making means knowing all about mirror grinding, mirror polishing, mirror figuring and parabolization.
You would also need to know about telescope testing, the Ronchi Test, how to assemble the telescope and know more about software that can be used to design as well as test the telescope. And, for the more advanced maker, you would need to know about the Kutter Schiefspiegler, Yolo Telescope and the Tom Waineos' Grinding Machine.
How To Build A Telescope News
July 2008
1 Jul 2008 at 2:30pm The darkness is coming. With 95% of the content of the universe being dark, we ask Jochen Weller about dark energy and models that describe the expansion of the universe [16:28 - 31:17]. As usual we also get the latest news from Megan [02:09 - 10:28] and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian [33:24 - 43:36]. 
Listen to the PodcastJune 2008 Extra
17 Jun 2008 at 2:15pm In the show this time we find out how astronomers and particle physicists are detecting cosmic rays hitting our atmosphere with the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina [13:43 - 40:41]. Nick also gives us an update on some recent extrasolar planet discoveries which have found a planet only 3.3 times the mass of the Earth orbiting a star thought to be a brown dwarf [2:13 - 8:40]. Listen to the PodcastA Trio of Super-Earths
16 Jun 2008 at 12:30am ESO 19/08 - Science Release: Using the HARPS instrument at the ESO La Silla Observatory, European astronomers have found a system of three super-Earths around the star HD 40307. The astronomers also found that one solar-like star out of three harbours short orbit, low-mass planets. Read more... Shaw Prize Goes to Reinhard Genzel
10 Jun 2008 at 7:00am ESO 18/08 - Organisation Release: The Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2008 is awarded to Professor Reinhard Genzel, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), in recognition of his outstanding contribution in demonstrating that the Milky Way contains a supermassive black hole at its centre, a result largely obtained with the help of ESO's telescopes. Read more... June 2008
3 Jun 2008 at 4:50pm In this show we talk about Mars Phoenix Lander touching down on Mars and sending back its first results. In our interview Ben Maughan tells us how he has been weighing clusters of galaxies. Tim O'Brien tells us about events at Jodrell Bank Observatory over the next month including the Longest Day Garden Party. We also get the latest news from Megan and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian. Listen to the Podcast
