Lightweight telescope design

[PatrickO]

Which type of OTA design has the lightest weight for a given aperture? 

Thanks 

[Guest]

Probably a truss design since it can be broken down into pieces. 

[PatrickO]

3 minutes ago, Mike Q said:

Probably a truss design since it can be broken down into pieces. 

Thanks. 

I'm asking just about the Optical Tube Assembly. 

I'm guessing cadiotropic design of some sort. 

[Stu]

8 minutes ago, PatrickO said:

Thanks. 

I'm asking just about the Optical Tube Assembly. 

I'm guessing cadiotropic design of some sort. 

Cats and Maks are relatively heavy. I would bet that an aluminium tubed Newtonian of some sort would likely be lightest for the aperture.

[Peter Drew]

Probably a OOUK short focus Newtonian.     🙂

[Guest]

Well since we are talking just metal tubes ... I would go with a newt 

[Guest]

So i went to Orions website quick and took a peek.  The OTA of a 10 inch dob weighs 34 pounds.  The OTA of a 10 inch RC weighs 35 pounds and the OTA of a Meade LX200.... 65 pounds.  I will admit i would have thought the RC would have weighed more then that. Just as a point of reference and not to leave the fracs out, a 130mm (5 inches) frac OTA weighs 22 pounds. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by Mike Q

[cajen2]

I think it depends on the size. I chose 6" as an example:

Frac: 10.6 kg (Bresser 152 short f/l)

Dob: 8.3 kg (Bresser 6")

Classical Cass: 5.8 kg (StellaLyra 6")

Ritchey-Cretien: 5.6 kg 

All OTA plus accessories only. So at this aperture, it seems the cats are the lightest.

 

[Froglord]

I'd go for a Newtonian with some of the tube 'missing'. For example, the Sky-Watcher Flextube 150p has a 6" aperture and an OTA weight of 8 pounds (3.6kg):

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-tabletop-dobsonian.html

[Stu]

8 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

I think it depends on the size. I chose 6" as an example:

Frac: 10.6 kg (Bresser 152 short f/l)

Dob: 8.3 kg (Bresser 6")

Classical Cass: 5.8 kg (StellaLyra 6")

Ritchey-Cretien: 5.6 kg 

All OTA plus accessories only. So at this aperture, it seems the cats are the lightest.

 

Orion Optics tubes are aluminium and they quote 4.5kg for their 6” VX6 including rings.

[cajen2]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

Orion Optics tubes are aluminium and they quote 4.5kg for their 6” VX6 including rings.

But notoriously flimsy....

I don't know how much Magnus' carbon fibre tube weighs....not much, I'd imagine.

[Stu]

7 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

But notoriously flimsy....

I don't know how much Magnus' carbon fibre tube weighs....not much, I'd imagine.

Not really, I have an 8” f8 which is fine, would rather the light weight than a heavy steel tube. It did suffer a bit of a disaster when it fell over in the wind, but actually the tube itself sprung back into shape very easily, it was only the top ring which was permanently bent.

[bosun21]

I would most definitely prefer an aluminum tube if given the choice. The steel tubes just add unnecessary weight. My 12” tube alone weighs 19.5kg.

[Louis D]

Probably a travel Dob would give the most aperture per kg.