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Suggestions for a Home-Built Telescope

Posted by Cliff on from the stargazing-on-new-year's-eve dept.

hodet asks: "I would like to know if anyone here has built or are planning to build their own telescope. My plan right now is to build an 8" F/6 Dobsonion Reflector based on these plans. The same design can also be found here. The base has been cut and the primary and secondary mirrors are to be ordered shortly. Since I plan on making a few modifications to this design I'd like to know if anyone here has done anything similar or totally original and what thoughts and suggestions you may have. I know it may be cheaper and easier to buy one from Meade, but that's not what I'm looking for."

3 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Make vs. Buy by DynaSoar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've made a 6" reflector, and I've bought one. You don't make a telescope to have a telescope, you make it to make it. It's the process that's important. The fact that you end up with a telescope is almost secondary. It's sort of a spiritual thing, when you spend hours and hours grinding, and consider those who've done the same over the centuries.

    --
    "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
  2. a few links by Councilor+Hart · · Score: 3, Informative

    can be found at dumbo
    Although a few might be outdated.
    Good luck.

  3. I made a scope from these plans by ghamerly · · Score: 5, Informative
    I made a a scope from these plans -- pretty much the same scope that you want to build (8"). I built it in summer 2002. You can see my scope (including pics) here: http://www.cs.ucsd.edu/~ghamerly/personal/astro/te lescopes.html I have some advice on this page, which I will repeat/expand on here:
    • For me, making the telescope was all about the experience of learning & having a project -- not saving money. I believe I could've bought a better telescope for less money than I spent on making mine (not including the cost of time spent).
    • The plans are quite good and complete -- though I still had to improvise quite a bit when I didn't have exactly the same materials. However, improvising turned out to be some of the most fun, since it was problem-solving.
    • On a more technical note, one of my improvisations forced me to place the secondary mirror closer to the main mirror than it really should have been, therefore I lost about 3/4" of the main mirror. This is something to be aware of. This was mostly due to my naivete, and the plans don't really mention this issue. When placing the secondary mirror, take time to really consider your main mirror, focal length, and *the size of your secondary mirror*.
    • The mirror collimation design (3 bolts on a board) works really well, I think, for how simple the design is.
    • I bought my mirrors from E-scopes, and was happy with them. I bought teflon from Rob Teeter at Teeter's Telescopes, and I recommend them.
    • The tube can be had from a local construction surplus store -- it's called Sonotube (brand name) in the industry, and it's used to pour concrete pillars. I was afraid that 1/8"-thick would be too thin, and I considered going with 1/4", but 1/8" turned out to be fine (and much lighter).
    • I'm extremely happy with my telescope, and while it isn't perfect, I had so much fun making it, and it's so easy to use. I had no sooner finished it than I wanted to make a larger one. :)
    • Here are 6 pictures taken of the moon with this telescope (just holding my camera up to the eyepiece with my hand): 1 2 3 4 5 6

    Good luck, and have fun!