3D printed newtonian travel scope

[VilleM]

Hey folks! After my observing trip to Tenerife I have been playing with an idea to bring even bigger scope with me next time. However there is not alot of ultra-compact telescopes available that would fit in my luggage.

Goals for this project are:

• Small form factor
• Easy assembly
• Rigid enough for visual astronomy
• Light weight
• Affordable, easy to make design for community

So lets get started! Yesterday I printed the secondary mirror assembly. It will fit a standard Sky-Watcher focuser with 80mm wide, 5mm deep flange. This part requires no supports, and I try to keep every other part the same way for easy printing. I printed this with my Bambu Labs P1P printer in PETG. The spider vanes came out great, they feel really solid. I plan to use 20mm aluminum tube to get the desired length for the tube as it is affordable, easy to cut, available in any hardware store and also cheap.
For the optics, the primary and secondary mirror are from Amazon. I plan to use 114mm primary and 50x35mm secondary mirror. They only set me back ~50€ which is really cheap. While I wait for them to arrive I can print out the OTA.

All of the files will be uploaded to Thingiverse as this project goes on, if anyone wants to make their own.

Stay tuned for updates! 😎

Edited January 22 by VilleM

[VilleM]

V1 for most if not of the parts are now designed! I'm currently printing them, it will be interesting to see how they work in practice and if they need any modifications to their dimensions. Also on the second picture you can visualize how the entire thing will come together.

[VilleM]

First photos of the assembled frame, here you can also see how the telescope folds in a smaller space for transportation. 😎