I have been thinking of building a telescope by myself for many years. With my new Ultimaker 3, I can finally launch this project and make my dream come true.
There are two types of Newtonian telescope which can be easily made by hand. One is Dobson telescope and the other is Horseshoe telescope. I hope this telescope can automatically track target object (planet) and take photography. The Horseshoe type seems a better choice than Dobson.
There is already a successful project called Ultrascope which utilizes 3D printer (3DP) to build some structures. Ultrascope is an open source project. Variants are Ultrascope Explorer, Ultrascope Explorer Plus and Ultrascope Odyssey. The design files can be found on Onshape. You can create a free account to login Onsahpe. I think it should be a good starting point.
But after reviewing the CAD files, I encounter some issues.
- The primary mirror seems not adjustable. It is very important to collimate the optical axis of the primary mirror, secondary mirror and eyepiece. So, it is very strange that there isn't adjustable mechanism.
- The secondary mirror has additional three adjustable screws. I think it will make trouble when collimating light path because you have to adjust six screws!
- The base structure is designed for 45˚ declination. But I live in Taiwan, I will need 25˚. This means I have to redesign these parts.
- All the components (parts) are designed based on the origin of the final assembly. This will cause very small calculation error when transforming coordinate. And the error will cause the 3DP slicing program fail to work for some layer height configuration.
- The cost of laser-cut is pretty expensive. It costs USD 180 in Taiwan. I would like to replace all laser-cut parts by 3DP.
Due to these issues, I think it would be better to redesign all the models.
Utrascope Focus
The whole system can be divided into four assemblies and one motor controller as described in the following pages.
BOM and 3D models can be found at this link.
Please see the file README.md for BOM table. You can view it with any MarkDown editor. The design files are provided in the CAD sub-folder. To view the whole system, open file "CAD/Telescope Assembly.sldasm". These files are actually shared from my Google Drive. You can add the link to your Google Drive so that they will be updated automatically.
To simplify the final assembly process, some threads are directly printed. There are some tricks when printing 3D models.
To simplify the final assembly process, some threads are directly printed. There are some tricks when printing 3D models.
Please notice that the project is still in the very beginning stage. Most models are not fully verified yet. They will be updated frequently and without notice.
The project is just for fun, not for commercial purpose. All the design files are provided for free. You can do whatever you want with these files. But take it at your own risk.
The project is just for fun, not for commercial purpose. All the design files are provided for free. You can do whatever you want with these files. But take it at your own risk.
