Building the Officina Stellare RC

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The Marcon Workshop
My Primary and Secondary mirrors will be handcrafted at the Marcon Workshop in San Dona di Piave

Secondary Mirror
The secondary is also made of AstroSitall and is ground at the same time as the primary to insure a perfect optical fit.  The data sheet above was produced for my mirrors.

Mirror Coating
After Signore Marcon completes the polishing process, the mirror is placed in a vacuum chamber where it is coated with a 1 micron layer of Aluminum.

Gino informed me that it takes a 1/2 day to create the vacuum prior to the coating.

Evaluating the Mirror
For the upstairs tour, Signore Marcon insisted that we switch to Grappa which was fairly intense.

On this optical bench Signore Marcon uses a laser and eyepiece to evaluate the contours of the primary and secondary.

Mille Grazie a Gio e Gino.

Lunch Italian Style
After visiting the workshop we went to an incredible two hour lunch outside of San Dona di Piave.  The AstroTech guys made it a perfect end to the visit.

Primary Mirror
The mirror is 400 mm (roughly 16") made of AstroSitall and is quite heavy. 

Primary Mirror
There is no better way to see the primary than with a glass of Italian White Wine.

The AstroTech Showroom
Gino picked me up in Piazzale Roma just outside Venice and drove me to the AstroTech Showroom

The Marcon Workshop

Me, Gigi Marcon, Signore Gianfranco Marcon, Giovanni Dal Lago and Gino Bucciol
The RC and mount behind us was built by Marcon and no, unfortunately it is not mine.

On a recent business trip to Europe I took a detour through Northern Italy to visit Giovanni and Gino of AstroTech Engineering at their showroom near Venice to check on the Officina Stellare RC 400 IM-T I ordered after the 2006 AIC in San Jose, CA.  They took me to the Marcon workhop in San Dona di Piave where I met Signore Gianfranco Marcon and his son Gigi.

Gio and Gino make beautiful telescopes and deliver exceptional customer service.  You can see their products online at www.astrotechengineering.com