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This on-line version does not include some of the material supplied on the C/D disk. Program updates.
Mirror Design Overview How Big a Mirror?Time and Materials
PrecautionsThe Mirror Workshop
Rough Grinding
Rough Grinding Large Mirrors
Fine Grinding
Polishing
Pressing the Lap
A Quick Test after the Mirror is Coated
Some Basic Optics
Spherical Aberration
Testing Amateur Telescope Mirrors
Distance Between the Radii of Curvature
of a Paraboloid being tested at its Radius of CurvaturePerceptual Aid in Understanding the Knife Edge Test
Ronchi Test at the Radius of Curvature
The Ronchi Program
The Foucault Program
How Well Must a Mirror Be Corrected?
More Mirror Testing Methods
Reading the Curve of the Mirror with an Eyepiece
Using Mirror Edge Diffraction while Mirror Testing
Summary
For Those Who Want More Information About Mirror Testing
The Caustic Test
The DAFT Test
The Null Lens
The Surf Program
Strehl Ratio
Professional Mirror Testing
References
Mirror Polishing alt_14.htm
Figuring a 'Perfect' Mirror
Diagnosis of our Mirror's Problems
Choosing Mirror Testing Methods
Logging the Mirrors Figure
The Reference Sphere or Parabola
Mirror Polisher's Log
The Mirror Log
Polish 1 and 2
Polish 3 and 4
Polish 5 and 6
Polish 7 through 14
Polish 15, Thumbing
Polish 16, Full Size Lap on Top
Polish 17, Cool Mirror, Hot Day
The Sweat Band and Mirror Polishing Temperature
Polish 18 and 19, The "I" Stroke or Oblating Stroke
Polish 20, 21 and 22, The Weegee Lap
Polish 23, The Smoothing "W" Stroke
Polish 24 and 25, The Weegee Lap and the Mini Weegee
Polish 26, The Parabolizing Stroke
Polish 27 Log, A Combination Stroke
Summary of Figuring
Masking the Mirror Edge
Prescriptions
Parabolizing
Reducing Over Correction
Smoothing Without Doing Much Else
Reducing a Turned Edge
Reducing Zones
Reducing Dog Biscuit and Ripples
Inventing New Methods
Mirror Coating Care alt_15.htm
Mirror cleaning
Beyond mirror cleaning
De-coating in preparation for recoating
Coating
Overall picture 1A
Base and Tube together 2A
Tube breakdown 2B
Base breakdown 2C
Diagonal size 3A
Spider and diagonal 3BBuilding and Installing an Eyepiece and Camera
Mirror cell design 4A
Dobson Mirror Cell 4BHelpful Suggestions
Collimation - Aligning the Telescope
Finding and the Finder
Waves
Conic Sections
Waves or Rays
Optics Design Using Rays
Optics Design Using Waves
On Axis Aberrations
Spherical Aberration
Chromatic Aberration
Astigmatism
Off Axis Aberrations
Astigmatism
Coma
Detectors
Our Eyes
Film or Photographic Plate
The Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
The Cassegrain Telescope
The Schmidt Camera and the Maksutov Cassegrain
The Spectrograph and the Diffraction Grating
Seeing through the AtmosphereThe Video Camera
Adaptive Optics
The Sine Wave, Logarithmic and Electronic Calculations alt_41.htm
A Quick Review
Observing Ocean Waves
Tying Mechanical Waves to Electrical Waves
An Electrical Power Plant
Simulation of a Transmission Line Using Finite Elements
Impedance, the Effect of Resistance and Reactance
The Quarter Wave Match
Polarization
Harmonics
The Mathematical Coincidence of the Chromatic Scale
Communication Bandwidth
Signal to Noise Ratio
Specifying a WaveThe Ary Disk and Diffraction alt_51.htm
Links on the InternetThe Diffraction Pattern
The Daytime Terrestrial Telescope
The Light Bucket
The Space Telescope
Encircled Energy
The Point Spread Function
The Modulation Transfer Function
Good Seeing
More About Testing At The Eyepiece
Misalignment
Tube Currents
Spider Diffraction
Pinched Optics
Spherical Aberration
Turned Down Edge
Zonal Aberrations
Rough Surface
Printed after April 19, 2010.
Warrantee
There is no warrantee of any kind on this program. This program is sold 'as is'. The user must determine the accuracy, appropriateness and safety of all procedures described. Persons purchasing this disk may receive a replacement CD disk if the original disk is found to be damaged.
Recent program updates December, 2015
We decided to upload most of the C/D disk to the alcoat.net website.
We are also updating links in the process.
The Java applets; Ronchi Program, Surf Program and Sine Wave
will no longer run on Windows so have not been uploaded to the alcoat.net
website. To run these applets will require that they be rewritten.
In the mean time I can yet run them on an old Windows 98 computer.
Program disks may have some links pointing to our old website.
The new site at Yahoo is: http://www.alcoat.net ( October, 2007 )The Build your own Telescope Program is improved from time to time.
There is no log of program changes for the entire program other than the date of the file which can be viewed with Windows Explorer.May, 2010
We are doing a major job of reformatting for compatibility with wider, high resolution displays.
This project also includes re-proof reading most of the website.May, 2010
The Surf Program and the Ronchi Program should be used with the Firefox Browser.
Recent tests with Windows7 / Windows Explorer did not work.
Windows7 / Firefox seems to work fine.The Surf Program and the Ronchi Program have a log file for past program changes included with program instructions.
If you are using a program disk dated before January, 2006 it is recommended that you email me your address and I will mail a revised disk. This primarily due to math errors in the Ronchi/Foucault and the Surf Java Applets.
We intend to fix all known errors with the programs and replace disks for people that have older versions to the extent possible. If you find a program error email me at alcoat@comcast.net
Ronchi Program, recent update log entries. List of the Ronchi Java Applet modifications, updates or trouble reports.
Most recent at the top.
Dates in yymmdd format.10-05-19 Updated the instructions at the top of the page instruct.htm.
Reformatted HTML pages for wide screen browser displays.07-01-21 Updated the instructions at the top of the page instruct.htm.
05-07-25 Added functionality to the formula parser such that TAN in a formula evaluates the following number to tan(number).
Added functionality to the formula parser such that IVT in a formula evaluates the following number to arc tan(number). ( inverse tangent )05-07-24 Added functionality to the formula parser such that S in a formula evaluates to: ( r * r ) / 2R
(...)
Surf Program, recent update log entries. List of the Surface Java Applet modifications, updates or trouble reports.
Most recent at the top.
Dates in yymmdd format.11-02-24 Problem pre-condition: User selects 'View Arrays' on the 'Plot Board' display. (See plot_board.htm, on the disk )
User then activates 'back' on the browser or 'Back' on the page ( outside of the Java Applet ).
User then activates 'forward' on the browser.
The Java Applet will then re-initialize which is normal.
Problem: A page selection variable is not re-initialized properly causing the Surf Applet to be stuck in the
'Display Arrays' page.
Problem work around: Cause the compiled Java code to be lost by closing the browser.
This will force the browser to recompile the code from the beginning when the Surf Applet is again selected.10-05-19 Updated the instructions at the top of the page instruct.htm.
Reformatted HTML pages for wide screen browser displays.
Re proof read and updated all instructions.07-01-21 Problem: In the 'First Example' on the file instruct.htm the reiteration of users sample data in step 4 and 5 was incorrect. Corrected
06-01-24 Corrected a small logic error that deactivated 'Zero Arrays' with the wedge display active but in the starward display mode.
05-11-04 Added the 'conic' display which is done when 'Set Pin[o]' is pressed.
Display is at the lower right of the plotting area of the plot board.(...)