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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Astronomer Terry Mack's Telescopic Contribution to the
Chicago Astronomer
21 October 2023

I met Terry Mack years ago at Chicago Astronomical Society meets, which he was a member of...  and we built a common friendship, discussing supernatural phenomenon, mysteries...as well as Astronomy. Terry took a liking to me and my Chicago Astronomer Out Reach activities and always said, (usually over Pizza), that when he passes on...that he would like me to take his gear and continue my public activities, especially for the youth that I teach.  We laughed about what was on the other side and that he would send a signal.

Earlier this year...Terry died.

Battling heath issues for quite some time, he called me one day stating that his days were numbered and was on his way out - nothing else to be done...and would I still like his astronomical gear. I told him I would be honored to include his gear in my Chicago Astronomer arsenal of telescopes and education activities...and call it "The Mack Collection". He chuckled.

He liked that and though troubled breathing, said that he would make arrangements for me to collect the items after his death.

I was notified by his sister in early summer that Terry had slipped away and would like to fulfill terry's last wish regarding his valued astronomical items, passing them on to me. I said yes, I would still accept them. Ok, his family would be in contact with me soon with arrangements.

This Saturday, 21 October, I got a call from his sister that the items are ready for pick-up, per Terry's wishes. I met his nice sister and husband, as we discussed Terry and exchanged stories. How he loved his astronomy observations and the paranormal.  (Me too.)  Loading up my car, they would like to attend a Chicago Astronomer public observing session soon.

I unloaded Terry's gear into the garage for later organization, but quickly went through the items...

         

Boxes of accessories, books, Dew Shield, weights, finder scopes, adapters and other items which will be very useful.

I will leave Terry's name on the eyepiece case in homage...

  

Included, was this unusual refractor that needs examination, but it looks classic and mighty interesting. Can't wait to experiment with it.

      
    

Equatorial Wedge, digital imagers, handsets, motor focusers, right angles and a bunch of adapters, tubes and this classic Edmund Scientific  32mm Erfle 2" eyepiece....

And this gem...a field flattener...quite valued and very useful...

These were hard to get during the pandemic and prices sky rocketed.

And among the books, was this classic cool Sky Atlas...

  

Digital sky maps are cool on cells and tablets, but nothing beats a paper star chart.

The main gear was next...the Meade 10" SCT on a Fork mount and the legs...

      

The Tube/fork assembly is sure heavy - (88 lbs...Terry had mentioned on his last call to me that he was not able to handle the scope for quite awhile, as it was too heavy for him to set-up in his frail condition), but it comes nestled in a sturdy JMI Hardshell case.  This 2500mm fl scope is a special edition Terry said, with f/10 ACF optics and Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC)

I really had mixed feelings about going through his things... glad that I could carry on the use with my Chicago Astronomer Organization, but also quite saddened and deeply touched that Terry thought of me.  Especially when I saw the labels on boxes with his info on it..

These Meade wish catalogs are cool.  I remember paging through similar when I was a kid, wishing that one day I would become an Astronomer and able to obtain these instruments of exploration.



All in good time...and now I'm Astro Joe....cool how that worked out, as the Chicago Astronomer delivers the cosmos across the city in various positions. But I still go thru catalogs and still wish...it never ends.

Soon, when time permits, I will diligently go through all of Terry's gear and organize them for use.  This scope, and the others that have been donated to the Chicago Astronomer, will serve well in my continuing Astronomy education classes, training, sessions and events.

Terry Mack's legacy continues...he would be quite happy and satisfied.

Excelsior!

Astro Joe 

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Preliminary "Shake Out" of the Mack Telescope

30 October 2023

Weather has been pretty bleak in in the wicked city.

Along with that, with my ASM Astronomy class teaching and public observation schedule, there just has not been enough time found to put Terry's Scope in any preliminary tests.   This Monday before Halloween, the skies actually cleared....and with temps in the low 30's, I was eager to set-up the Meade 10" LX200 GPS SCT at least to catch the Moon and Jupiter in the east.

It is a hefty Fork mount scope to heave onto the mount base, apprehensive at getting the align hole just right.  There are three guide "nubs" to assist in the proper placement of the base and to screw in the locking tray bolt to the underside.  (I remember one session Terry and I had by the Adler Planetarium with this scope, where we struggled to secure everything down proper.  Nothing has changed, but as the older I got...the heavier it has become.)

But Maria and I got it set-up and using my Bluetti power station, powered it up...and all worked fine. Skipping the procedure to star align, I by passed the preliminaries and went straight to button motor control.  Motors are louder than the Celestron's Dec & R.A. gears, but it all worked fine and did what I wanted.

Not desiring to spend hours testing this scope out this evening, it was just a Moon and Jupiter brief visual test for 1/2 hour...

Moon was portrayed well, sharp and bright.  (Meade over sizes it's mirrors, so this 10" scope is really about 10.25").  Looking down the tube, the corrector has some dust...no big and the mirror looks great.

Along with the Scope, Terry willed the Chicago Astronomer his 1.25" eyepiece collection and I popped in a Variable ScopeTronics Maxview 40mm eyepiece and very satisfied with the views. ..

  

It was getting chilly and it's a work day, so back into it's JMI case it goes for another evening where I have more time to really put it through it paces and learn it's ways.  When I organize the Chicago Astronomer Academy, I will have this scope permanently mounted on it's Equatorial mount and leave it set-up...ready for exploration.

   

Astro Joe
www.chicagoastronomer.com