Show HN: Curiosity – DIY 6" Newtonian Reflector Telescope

A DIY Newtonian reflector telescope with dobsonian mount. A fun to do hobby project taking us closer to the moon and beyond. A lot of plans ahead on how to make it much better and portable but this was the first time me and my friend implemented or rather built a telescope.

Have a look at what all we have captured.

curiosity-telescope.vercel.app

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79 points

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big_Brain69

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a day ago

19 comments

dylan604 ・ 15 hours ago

"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.

yehoshuapw ・ a day ago

Have a look also at https://www.printables.com/model/268580-hadley-telescope-off...

  • shamaz65 ・ a day ago

    I have no idea that it is possible to 3D print telescopes. Is this less expensive?

    • BadJo0Jo0 ・ 17 hours ago

      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.

      • muyuu ・ 15 hours ago

        Yep, my experience is that cheaper scopes are so shoddy I've regretted giving them away.

    • labcomputer ・ 11 hours ago

      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.

archerjax ・ 16 hours ago

Where would one go to learn about/find resources on the types of 3d printers best used for a telescope project like this?

CubicalOrange ・ 2 hours ago

really good budget build! I love the photos!

What's the next upgrade?

Zardoz84 ・ a day ago

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.

shamaz65 ・ a day ago

Great telescopes. It is a great vision to be in Space. Humanity can all be in space soon.