1. 6” f/5 tabletop telescope
MOONSILVER V:
6” f/5 tabletop telescope
By Ross Sackett
Commissioned for my brother-in-law Matthew, my design challenge was to build a compact telescope that fits in an airline-legal carry-on duffle, with enough room to spare for a weekend’s worth of clothes, a compact star atlas, and red LED flashlight.
This telescope is the fifth in my Moonsilver series, featuring a lightweight single-pole structure, compact focuser board and secondary assembly, and hybrid Dobsonian-fork mounting. Like a standard Dobsonian this is an “alt-az” telescope that moves vertically in altitude and horizontally in azimuth. However, unlike a conventional Dobsonian telescope, instead of two altitude arcs this design replaces one of the arcs with a pivot tightened by a tensioning knob, making it easier to hold the scope pointed at a particular elevation.
It uses a conventional Newtonian optical design, with a 6” f/5 primary mirror and small flat secondary. The commercial 1-1/4” helical crayford focuser is lightweight and compact.
The telescope is built of solid African mahogany and Baltic birch plywood covered in mahogany veneer. The dobsonian bearings are high-pressure laminate (Formica) running on Teflon pads. The azimuth and altitude pivots are brass bolts run through bronze bushings with brass washers and plastic knobs with nylon locking inserts.
Focuser-secondary assembly
Pole
Mirrorbox-stock
Base
Red-dot finder
Eyepiece lock
Focuser lock
Secondary mirror
(partly hidden)
Glare shield
Lid
Stock
Primary mirror
Altitude arc
Azimuth knob
Altitude pivot and
Knob (hidden)
Base
Mirrorbox
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