Dear Mr/Miss antonycc,
antonycc 寫:其實磨鏡發燒友已經歷經三代, 隨着工業大幅北移, 香港找到的資源已經所餘無幾....
This is not true. Never before do we loaded with more resources in the market - high quality float glass in cheap price, grits of any size are readily available, optical grade Cerium Oxide quickens the polishing time several times than before, high quality aluminizing service from ZhiTung, eyepieces and diagonal mirrors of very reasonable price.......
The making of big telesocpes ( 24 inch, 30 inch ) requires lots of resources that did not exist in Hong Kong before.
antonycc 寫:
以前的磨鏡班真是天時地利集於一身, 容易接觸到船務(船窗玻璃), 工程(鑄造, 車牀技術, 磨砂, 電鍍....), 電子(追星集成電路)等, 因此當時要興起磨鏡以至做天文鏡這個事業, 實在很自然的. ....
From 70s to 80s of last century the hobby of telescope makinmg flourished in Hong Kong. Nearly every secondary school had astronomy club and nearly every astronomy club ATMed one or more telescopes.
The main reason for this was not due to availability of resources then but because of lackng of money to buy a telescope. Astronmical telescope was very expensive by that time. ATming was the only way to make available of an astronomical telescope by limited money. ( you may not believe this - a 4 inch refractor by that time costed about 10% that of buying a small house !! It was not even an APO refractor !!! ).
antonycc 寫:
如今香港所見無非是大商場, 往日成行成市的二手電器鋪, 五金鋪已經所餘無幾了.
"鏡神"黃金時代恐怕不會在香港下一代再現了其 ....
As I mentioned above all resources are now being more readily available in HK than anytime before. Things not available locally can still easily be ordered by internet. A Byers gear ? Ethos eyepiece ? quartz diagional mirror ? Crayford focuser ? carbon fiber tubes ? ......no problem, just a click on your mouse.
The declining of ATMing in HK is mainly due to the availablity of cheap telescope in the market. A 6 inch f/5 Newtonian, with all the eyepiecs plus barlow lens together with a good equatorial mount, just asks for HKD 1990 and you are still able to bargain !!
Except for telesocpe of really big size, it's just no point, except for fun, in ATMing your own telescope.
Of course ATMing is not at all about saving money. Whether you are enjoying deep sky visual observing or shooting high power lunar and planetary pictures I think you will agree that employing ATMed telescope at this level of performance is an enjoyable experience to say the least.
But who cares about all this when off the shelve telescopes are cheaply available ?
Best regards
Chan Yuk Lun