Beginner's Corner
March, 1939

ALTHOUGH "ATM" emphasizes the desirability of mountings that are rigid and heavy-what the machine designer calls "brutal"-a percentage of beginners built telescopes that are far too lightly mounted.

Without wishing in any way to reflect on those who built the first three telescopes shown below-for they by now have doubtless sensed the fault if fault it be-these photographs are reproduced in a group in order to re-emphasize this point. In every case, it will be noted, the telescope itself is excellent, and it is only the mounting, or parts of it, which seem light.

In each instance the tubing employed might to good advantage be at least two inches in outside diameter and, if still more, then the more the merrier. Then the star images will not dance about whenever a breeze blows someone approaches.

The fourth illustration shows a contrast in a telescope made at a cost of $11.60 by Frank W. Dresser. 5208 Larchwood Ave. Philadelphia, Pa. It has a 6' mirror and though the mounting is wood (white pine cypress, and even hemlock, this mounting doubtless is very much steadier. One of the telescopes originally made in 1920, atmounting, even the axes-and it was a success.

A way to make sure that a mounting is heavy enough is to design it as would seem to be correct and then double the dimensions of the axes.