Beginner's Corner
July, 1939

PORTABILITY around a yard but no farther is often desired in a telescope and the two shown here were designed for that purpose; they are mounted permanently on wheels.

Friend's semi-portable mounting

Peterson and his portable mounting

The one at the left is a 6" reflecting instrument built by Robert M. Peterson, 455 Seminole St., Oradell, N. J., apparently with cart or perambulator wheels as its base. The mounting is the regular double yoke type, which is very easy to build and very solid. The tube shown is octagonal, made of wood, an excellent substance for a telescope tube–better, many think, than metal because a slow transmitter of the heat effects which deteriorate optical images.

The 9" reflector at the right is far heavier—700 pounds. Here the only desire was to wheel the telescope no farther than out of a garage and a few feet distant on solid paths. Irving H. Friend, 40 Cooper St., Torrington, Conn., is the maker of this instrument. The tube is square and built of angles and welded bands–very rigid. Where a mirror is in the open, as this one is, a pair of cloth sleeves may be slipped temporarily over the end—say, if your neighbor turns on a bright light nearby, for stray light makes trouble. This particular telescope has a Telechron motor drive in right ascension, but the beginner may safely forget this refinement. However, he may well study the cleanness of this piece of workmanship.