BENDUN NEWS
by Gary Bennett
Welcome to my personal website.
My astronomy obsession has given me such joy that I am compelled to share my success with others.
I acquired my first telescope in 2005 and since then I have learned many things, good and bad. Most of my frustrations have been mechanical and electrical equipment related and I have managed to devise solutions that I would like to share in hopes that others can be rewarded with the same satisfaction that I have enjoyed from tasks that I am able to do myself.
I have always been a "tinkerer", but until I began the astronomy habit, my projects had been limited to home maintenance and renovation projects. It was my good friend, Dave Yates, that taught me how to fabricate metal (aluminum) and work with electronics.
Shortly after I acquired my first telescope, Dave also "jumped" into the hobby and we found ourselves owning "twins" when it came to our equipment.
We quickly learned that just about everything we purchased for astronomy was less than perfect, especially when it came to stability of mounts, electrical connections, and methods of attaching gear to our mounts.
Then in 2007 the astrophotography bug hit and everything became much more complicated. Mounts that wiggled and giggled, wires everywhere, and general mayhem. I quickly discovered that there were no commercially available solutions and found that the only way to solve many issues is that you need to do it yourself.
As frequent attendees at star parties, many of our fellow astronomers were impressed with our solutions which prompted the beginning of a "hobby business", Telescope Performance Improvements (TPI).