Design of a Dobson Telescope and Guiding System

The Dobson Telescope

The starting point of my project is one reference book written by Albert Highe Engineering, Design and Construction of Newtonian Telescopes. This title explains the theory and construction of a telescope for the budding amateur astronomer. The inherent advantages of the dobsonian telescope, named after John Dobson are low cost, portability, ease of fabrication and big aperture. This was essential as John Dobson wanted to ease the access of the universe to the general public, making as many sidewalks demonstrations as possible. The book takes a more modern approach to telescope making. The first part of the book explain all the theory and testing procedure to create a desing with superlative technical specifications, customization to user's needs and ease of use. All these features cannot be found in products currently available in the market. I will adapt the suggested construction process recommended by the author to digital fabrication. Although useful, the book doesn't show how to built the guiding system for tracking stellar objects. In addition to the design of the telescope, I will design and built a motorising system that will track celestial objects.

The Final project

This project will extend well beyond the Fab Academy 2018 class. There will be design decisions and experimentation for the many stages of construction before the end product is ready. As such, the Final Project page will be separated in the following sections: The Base, The Rocker Base, The Lower Optical Assembly and The Upper Optical assembly. In addition to this, Tracking System will describe the design and construction process of said system and Interface the interface. This will be a long ride.