Gary Poyner's Telescopes

Telescopes

The first serious telescope I owned (left). A 6 inch f8 Newtonian which I had bought for me in 1968, and which I used until 1977 when the middle telescope shown here (a 10 inch f6.5) was purchased. This was used until 1987 when it was replaced by a 16 inch (see below). The scope on the right is a homemade (but not by me) 8 inch f10 Newtonian reflector - one of the best telescopes I have used for Planetary observing. All three of these telescopes are still in use, albeit by other observers.

The majority of observations you will see on this web site were made with the two dobsonians shown above. The telescope on the left is a 16 inch f5 reflector. This telescope was destroyed by fire in December 2000 following 100,000+ variable star observations made in the 13 years I owned it. The scope was replaced in March 2001 with the 18 inch f4.4 shown on the right. Despite reaching faint magnitudes with this scope (16.7), the scope was replaced in September 2003 with my very first SCT telescope - a Meade 14 GPS (below). Improved optical quality, darker field and more comfortable observing position were all factors in changing over, despite the reduction in aperture. I'm hoping the f10 will cope with my local light pollution better than the f4.4. Early results have been good, but it's certainly quicker and easier to find the objects yourself!

The telescope is housed in a small observatory at the bottom of the garden. The roof is of 'hinged' design, and the front can be dropped down to allow views of the southern sky. Because the telescope is situated some 5 miles north from the center of Birmingham, the glow of the city causes major problems with any star of -10d declination or lower. The garden is surrounded by neighbours security lighting, but the hinged roof is of benefit here, as either side can be shut whilst observing, thus shielding the telescope and observer to some degree.

Observatory closed

Because of the threat of break-in's & vandalism, the observatory has been deliberately designed to resemble an ordinary garden shed when closed up. Anything larger, or resembling that of a more conventional observatory would make the building and it's contents a prime target for diurnal/nocturnal low life!