Jul 6, 2020
David Gedalia, Atari-controlled Telescope
Listener Paul Somerfeldt sent me a blurb he found in a book titled
"The Dobsonian Telescope" by David Kriege and Richard Berry. The
book reads: "Computer-controlled Dobsonian telescopes entered
amateur astronomy in the late 1980s. An outstanding early example
was David Gedalia's 10-inch f/4.5 Dobsonian driven by an Atari
800XL computer, shown at the 1987 Riverside Telescope Makers
Conference. With the Atari driving altitude and azimuth
stepper-motors, the telescope would move automatically to
coordinates entered on the computer’s keyboard. David was a
third-year engineering student when he built this telescope."
I sought out David to find out more about his Atari-controlled
telescope.
This interview took place on May 29, 2020.
Photos of David with his telescope
The Dobsonian Telescope by David Kriege and Richard
Berry