Amateur Telescope Making - Book 1 - In memory of an old friend, Dr. Lau Tai Chi.
One day in 1969, I was in Cat Street, looking for a pair of binocular objectives to make an eyepiece for my newly finished 6-inch f/5 newtonian. While waiting for the shopkeeper to find the lens, an elderly gentleman asked me "My little friend, are you planning to make a telescope?". When I told him the lenses were meant for an eyepiece, we started a long chat. Before the end of the day, I ended up in his apartment in Tsimshatsui because he was to give me a book on telescope making. He told me that the book was meant as a gift for his son who loved star gazing. However, his son, a medical doctor, was stuck in China and was unlikely to join him.
As a novice in telescope making, I was really happy to have this "bible" of amateur telescope making, and read through it over and over again. Later I found there should be Books 2 and 3, but they were very expensive. I had to wait until December 1969, when another good friend, Lam Chiu Ying, encouraged me to take part in a Scientific Instrument Making Competition, jointly organized by the Hong Kong Physical Society and the then Royal Hong Kong Obsevatory. I won the 2nd prize in the secondary school section with my newtonian telescope and equatorial mount, and was awarded with a book prize which enabled me to get the ATM Book 2 and 3. When Dr. Lau saw my equatorial mount, he gave an advice no one had given before: " make a cover for the driving gears, not only to protect them but also to maintain the accuracy".
After the first encounter, Dr. Lau often invited me to join him in visiting photographic exhibitions and it turned out he was a keen photographer and well respected by senior members of the Hong Kong Photograpic Society. His favorite camera was an old Kodak one on which he installed a dummy shutter. The shutter was very noisy. Every time he took portrait photos, he would press the dummy shutter first after saying "cheese". This shuter would make every one in front of the camera relaxed, and then he pressed the real shutter to complete the process.
Later he moved to Cheung Chau. When I asked for his address so that I can write to him from time to time, he just said " just write: Lau Tai Chi, Cheung Chau. I'll recieve it". Whe n I asked why, he said " most of the postmen there learn photography from me".
He was the only friend who had observed Comet Halley in 1910, and we agreed to observe the comet together when it returned in 1986. However, he passed away before the event.
Amateur Telescope Making - Book 1 - In memory of an old friend, Dr. Lau Tai Chi.
Amateur Telescope Making - Book 1 - In memory of an old friend, Dr. Lau Tai Chi.
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