The mirror was sent in to be aluminized and silicon overcoated. The tube came from Parks Optical, the finder from Unitron, and the adjustable rack & pinion to hold the eyepiece was from Criterion.
Ken Novak & Company supplied the spider vane for the 1/20th wave accuracy flat diagonal. On the side was an Edmunds camera holder for SLR cameras. Large aluminum rings adjusted the tube tension and allowed it to rotate for balancing. I built a variable frequency oscillator that adjusted the drive to lunar, planetary, solar, sidereal and in-between rates. It could also handle an infinite number of variable slow motions for guiding and tracking objects. Orthoscopic oculars were purchased from Brandon Company. The telescope performed outstanding and its performance on Mars was award winning. It was used to study Mars and make maps of its surface features at close approach during opposition, as well as developing a Fortran IV computer weather prediction program for future Mars colonists, presented at UCLA and the Academy of Sciences. I co-authored a paper - the Occultation of Mars - with a Mars expert at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona, Dr Charles Capen. The study determined the shape and orbit of the Moon and Mars with greater accuracy. I studied the Martian South Polar Cap and derived new math formula to predict its behavior. Many results were provided to the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. NASA and its agencies such as JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory adopted the program for their use in sending spacecraft to Mars. Using spectroscopic film and various specialized emulsions, I took over 80,000 astro photographs. To save expense, I developed a way to place multiple planetary images on a single film frame.
