This is a close up of the tailstock for the 18 inch   Ritchey Cretien Reflector.  This f-10.5 instrument has optics made by famous telescope maker Richard Brandt.  The story was as I was told -  Coulter Optical's Jim Jacobson wanted to build an impressive optical instrument, using the best design and optics. He demanded observatory quality .  Hence the Ritchey-Cretien optical system was used. Jim wanted a special custom mount to go with it. The mount was to be stable and easy to use  -- that made the fork equatorial a good choice. Starting from scratch it became a fabulous instrument!!  ( Click on any image to enlarge it. )
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