Gearhead wrote
Given the fact that there are sites like
this one, who needs a telescope? I once thought of making a Dobsonian (you know, grinding a mirror yourself and all that) but thought better of it when I realised that pictures you can easily download off the net are waaay better than anything you'll ever see through an affordable telescope.
I came close to making a telescope myself.
Bought a 10" mirror & had good plans of putting it into a minimalist Dob.
Never got around to it and sold the mirror.
The challenge of doing stuff yourself is always very satisfying though ... where it is telescope building, marimba building or guitar building ... even if you know you can buy something better ... or hear / see someone else doing it better.
Granted, the normal view through an amateur telescope is nothing near what you can get online via hubble or from APOD, but:
a) for some reason it is a religious experience to see the rings of saturn with your own eyes. For some bizarre reason you walk away exclaiming "It's actually got rings!"
b) one can create a very workable telescope camera by adapting a webcam & attaching a cheap homemade cooler. You then take a video which you process with some clever freeware software which does clever tricks. A friend and I managed to get a picture of Mars from our backyard which was better than a picture published in the 1970's described as "probably the best picture which can be obtained from an earth bound telescope". And this was done with amateur equipment.
Same enormous kick as playing a guitar or other musical instrument you've made / assembled yourself.
