Telescopes
The main telescope at my NJ home observatory (see NJ Observatory gallery) is a 12.5" (0.3m) diameter mirror modified Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain design. The telescope sits on a Paramount-MX equatorial mount, on a permanent pier in my observatory. The scope is the iDK made by AG Optical, with f/6.7, FL 2130mm. The mirror is made of quartz with very low thermal expansion properties, and the tube is a thick carbon-fiber composite. The focuser is a Optec TCF S3i (3") digital focuser. The optical tube measures 33.7 inches (85.6 cm) long. This instrument features a 60mm imaging circle free of coma, astigmatism, and field curvature. The optical performance of the 12.5″ iDK is made possible through the convergence of careful design, state-of-the-art manufacturing, and precise assembly. Wide field images are captured with high-contrast details and sharp stars across the entire field of view.
The telescope in Chile since 2023 is a Planewave 24" CDK (a Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain design) at f/6.5. This telescope costs about $65,000. The mount is Planewave's L600 direct drive mount. The L-600 mount features: 300 lbs load capacity, direct drive motors for zero backlash, zero periodic error, and fast 50-degree-per-second slew speeds. It has high-resolution encoders for precise positioning, enclosed electronics, and through the mount cabling
Images before 2022 used a Planewave 16" f/7. All three of the telescopes I have been using employ a field flattening lens after the secondary mirror in the light path to optimize for imaging.