Some of the best telescope buying advice I was ever given was to only buy a scope as big as you can carry/setup by yourself. It's hard to find time in one's schedule to take a scope somewhere, but it can be next to impossible to align schedules with another person. At least for a scope meant to take somewhere. Most people don't have a permanent setup though, so it's a pretty decent thing to consider.
The weight is only part of the equation, but also consider if it takes more than two hands to assemble.
Definitely agreed. So we realised this later, we were initially of the opinion to operate it from our lab but later did we get the idea to have bag straps to atleast make it a little bit more portable. Right now, we have been able to carry the entire setup individually, definitely a cumbersome task but people around us have been helpful.
But as you rightly said to buy a scope as big as you can carry by yourself, this is something we would work on it in the near future.
The question probably shouldn't be "is it less expensive" but "is it a better value".
The general sentiment behind these 3d printed telescopes are that you'd generally get better quality and potentially better QoL features at the same cost of buying some commercially available options.
From the Hadley project
>The mission here is to make an attractive alternative to the shoddy, hard to use "hobby-killer" scopes in the $100-200 range.
I need to build a Dobson mount for my old homemade 8" F 5.5 Newton ... Why doesnt have a mount ? Well, it had 2 mounts in the past. It was built by my father, and we moved to another house, we need to ditch the mount. I managed to save the tube and the parts, and lately built an adapter to be attached to an EQ6 mount that I was allowed to use with a university astronomical association.
3D printing does help a lot, you can probably scour the internet especially around printables and all but my biased opinion would be to get your hands dirty with wood as much as possible. You get to learn a lot!
So we have added a red dot finder to which we have adjusted our mirrors, identifying objects in the night sky is now wayyyy easier.
The next thing in the list would be to get solar filters and observe sun.
"Ease of carrying the telescope with bag straps"
I like this, but...
Some of the best telescope buying advice I was ever given was to only buy a scope as big as you can carry/setup by yourself. It's hard to find time in one's schedule to take a scope somewhere, but it can be next to impossible to align schedules with another person. At least for a scope meant to take somewhere. Most people don't have a permanent setup though, so it's a pretty decent thing to consider.
The weight is only part of the equation, but also consider if it takes more than two hands to assemble.
Definitely agreed. So we realised this later, we were initially of the opinion to operate it from our lab but later did we get the idea to have bag straps to atleast make it a little bit more portable. Right now, we have been able to carry the entire setup individually, definitely a cumbersome task but people around us have been helpful. But as you rightly said to buy a scope as big as you can carry by yourself, this is something we would work on it in the near future.
Have a look also at https://www.printables.com/model/268580-hadley-telescope-off...
Here is a 6in f/5 travel truss dob kit by my friend :
https://www.printables.com/model/1325533-smallest-telescope-...
Wallace, my 6” f/2.8 :
https://www.printables.com/model/997327-wallace-6-f28-telesc...
And my tiny but mighty 3” f/4 : https://www.printables.com/model/1475113-76300-pocket-dobson
Wallace is built, but Gromit, a 16.5” F/3, is under progress. Working on the mirror and CAD :)
I have no idea that it is possible to 3D print telescopes. Is this less expensive?
The question probably shouldn't be "is it less expensive" but "is it a better value".
The general sentiment behind these 3d printed telescopes are that you'd generally get better quality and potentially better QoL features at the same cost of buying some commercially available options.
From the Hadley project
>The mission here is to make an attractive alternative to the shoddy, hard to use "hobby-killer" scopes in the $100-200 range.
Yep, my experience is that cheaper scopes are so shoddy I've regretted giving them away.
It’s not really the telescope you’re printing, but some custom fittings to assemble metal rods into a telescope.
People have been making telescopes with this method before 3D printing existed. They just used something else for all the little dodads.
Mirror: https://curiosity-telescope.netlify.app/
I need to build a Dobson mount for my old homemade 8" F 5.5 Newton ... Why doesnt have a mount ? Well, it had 2 mounts in the past. It was built by my father, and we moved to another house, we need to ditch the mount. I managed to save the tube and the parts, and lately built an adapter to be attached to an EQ6 mount that I was allowed to use with a university astronomical association.
Where would one go to learn about/find resources on the types of 3d printers best used for a telescope project like this?
3D printing does help a lot, you can probably scour the internet especially around printables and all but my biased opinion would be to get your hands dirty with wood as much as possible. You get to learn a lot!
Site appears down. any mirrors?
https://web.archive.org/web/20260308091545/https://curiosity...
https://curiosity-telescope.netlify.app/
Yes it has mirrors
Apparently a 6" primary one. There's also a secondary one as well. /s
really good budget build! I love the photos!
What's the next upgrade?
Well well well,
So we have added a red dot finder to which we have adjusted our mirrors, identifying objects in the night sky is now wayyyy easier. The next thing in the list would be to get solar filters and observe sun.
"This deployment is temporarily paused"
https://curiosity-telescope.netlify.app/ - Updated
Great telescopes. It is a great vision to be in Space. Humanity can all be in space soon.