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Don Odegard is one of the most experienced and resourceful ATMs in our club. He recently built what he affectionately calls ``the Beast.'' The beast is a 14.25" f/6 scope. Originally, it looked like this in a Parks fiberglass tube with tube rotating rings. Don was given the scope for doing a favor for a friend. He decided to rebuild it into a truss tube scope so it would be more transportable (you try lugging around a 7 foot OTA).

Being the resourceful ATM that he is, Don found some plywood in a dumpster, bought electrical conduit for the truss tubes, scrounged parts from his garage and began work. Here we see Don preparing to cut rings from plywood. Note his router on its home-made circle cutting jig, and his stylish S*T*A*R Astronomy club hat.

Here we see Don with the completed rings for the top and bottom of the UTA (upper tube assembly). Yes, Don's head is frequently cut off in photographs, as he is a very tall man (6'7" or about 2m).

Don's son Eric is holding the completed UTA, while Don shows off the altitude bearings for the beast. On the right is a closer view of the UTA, along with the mirror box and truss poles. You can see the split block truss tube clamps on the mirror box in the background.

Here's Don in his workshop with his completed scope. On the right is a picture of the beast's new and old bodies.

Stay tuned for more pictures of the beast, and the completion of our story. Currently, the beast is ``finished'', and works quite well, although it is heavier than Don would like it, so no doubt he'll rebuild it a few times until it is to his liking. I had the pleasure of looking through it at Jersey StarQuest '99, where it was set up next to mine in ``the vally of the dobs'' and again at Colliers, where we all learned an important lesson about attaching the UTA so the Telrad is on top of the scope - a mistake everyone makes once (and only once).

The Beast is a big scope. Even Don needs a step ladder to look through the eyepiece at zenith. Yet despite it's size, it moves beautifully, is easy to set up and take down, fits well in Don's van (he made some very nice ramps to roll it up), and gives nice images. Very nice scope, Don. Congratulations! You can see some of Don's other ATM work on Don's telescope pages.