My amateur telescope making page

Another Up-sized "Deep Space Scope" Design

Home | Astronomy | DS-5


DS-3 and DS-4 have ended up being such successful homebuilt telescopes that I decided to create a 20 inch homemade telescope using the same ultralight design.  This web page holds the results of these efforts. 

The original design and requirements page is located at DS-5 Design and brainstorming notes.  My 16" is located here: DS-4

I also decided that this web page would generally just describe WHAT I did to make this lightweight telescope, not HOW I did it.  Weights and dimensions are near the bottom of this page.

I added a conclusions and results section at the bottom of this web page.

To see how to create a "Deep Space Scope", see my DS-3 Deep Space Scope Design page.   


Mirror cell parts. This will be an 18 point suspension. Point locations were calculated using Plop.


Mirror cell parts put together.


Mirror cell parts painted.


Mirror box bottom, with cell laid in place.


Mirror box. Total dimensions are 22"X22"X5".


Mirror box and mirror cell. Total mirror box and cell weight is about 15 pounds. Theory is that the mirror will be around 35, bringing the total to 50 lbs.


The upper cage. A wire spider and homemade secondary holder goes in the middle.


The upper cage and trusses, together. My neighbor is in the background for scale. The trusses are somewhere around 6" too long in this picture.


The total telescope in it's stored/travel configuration.  The cement mirror will be replaced with a quality mirror from OWL (Optic Wave Labs).


Total telescope:

Weight - Actuals

Name
Weight
Mirror, mirror box, no bearings
unknown lbs
Mirror, mirror box and bearings unknown lbs
Trusses
unknown lbs
Secondary cage
unknown lbs
Rocker box with base
unknown lbs
Total Telescope weight
unknown lbs
Total weight of the OTA (Optical Tube Assembly)
unknown lbs
Total weight of heaviest item (mirror and mirror box)
unknown lbs

Dimensions

Height of eyepiece at zenith
unknown
Size of mirror box and base, no secondary cage, no bearings
unknown
Size of mirror box and base, secondary, no bearings unknown
Size of mirror box and base, secondary, and bearings unknown
Length of trusses
unknown



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