Perkin Elmer 15-inch f10 Houghton-Cassegrain Telescope For Serious Amateur or Professional Astronomers Start Price USD 24,999.00 Current Price USD 24,999.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 29,999.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, October 04, 2008 End Time Saturday, October 11, 2008 Location Barstow, CA See more about 'Perkin Elmer 15-inch f10 Houghton-Cassegrain Telescope' Description   You are bidding on a very high quality Perkin Elmer telescope lens, manufactured in the early 1980's, and designed to operate on an optical tracking system at Edwards AFB.  The elements are assembled in an Invar housing to maintain the critical spacing needed to ensure maximum performance over the wide temperature range expected in the desert climate at Edwards.  This lens was never used and released for GSA sale after the original project was cancelled.  It is a Houghton-Cassegrain flat-field design with a f10, 15-inch clear aperture.  The focal length is 150-inches.  The total field of view is 2 degrees wide.  The maximum image diameter at the focus point is 4.5 inches.  The lens was designed to mate with a Photo-Sonics 70-mm motion picture camera.  The Photo-Sonics film camera aperture was 2.25 inches by 2.25 inches.   It should perform well with film or CCD cameras with an image plane up to four inches in diameter.  See this link for more technical information about Houghton-Cassegrain lenses: http://www.telescope-optics.net/houghton-cassegrain_comparison.htm The lens is fitted with a Byers adapter mount, dew cap, camera adapter ring and a threaded extension tube.  The rear camera attachment tube is 3.75 inches in diameter, extends 0.75 inch, with a 32-thread-per-inch outer surface.  The buyer will need to fabricate a suitable adapter for the camera to be used.  A camera body similar to a Hasselblad 500 should be ideal for use with this lens.  The overall length, including 10-inch dew cap and 6.5-inch extension tube is 61.5 inches.  The height including base plate is 20.5 inches.  The width is 19 inches.  The total weight of the lens and adapters is 347 pounds.  The gold-anodized base plate has a mounting hole pattern to fit the Byers Series III German Equatorial mount that is sold separately.  This unique one-of-a-kind Perkin Elmer telescope lens is being sold as-is.  It will be carefully packed in a custom made wooden box and attached to a standard pallet to allow easy handling with a fork-lift.  The shipping weight is estimated at 400 pounds. Place a Bid!