Printed in Anycubic Black ASA. Cool project 😎
Travel Telescope 114mm (Updated version)
Beginner friendly telescope that can be collapsed down and fit into a small backpack for easy travel or backyard use.
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updated January 21, 2025
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I found myself having to regularly move the center of gravity of the telescope to accommodate my phone mount when taking pics (and larger, heavier eyepieces). To make balancing the telescope easier, I built a 20x20 extrusion accessory box ( https://www.printables.com/model/1145699-20x20-extrusion-accessorizor-extrusion-hangar-syst), which now allows me to put counterweights to the bottom of the telescope that counters the additional added weight at the eyepiece holder. This allows me to seamlessly switch between heavy and light eyepieces, and seamlessly switch between phone photography and visual observation. Also, sliding the box on the extrusion bar allows for fine tuning of the counterweight. Hope this helps other users.
@rjmann_2596092 Hey thanks for the feedback! A couple things to fix this are outlined in the updated user manual I'll mention them here too. You can flip the middle segment around if your adding a lot of weight to fix the balance, otherwise for smaller changes you can slide the point where the two extrusions meet in the middle segment. Using your accessory looks like it definitely could also work too! Hope this helps!
@Anders_2179631 Thanks for that clarification. Yes, I understand that the two axial extrusion rods can slide (and the middle portion can flip), which helps tune the balance for a selected eyepiece. However, I needed a counterbalance when switching between two eyepieces with very different weights (e.g., changing eyepieces or when attaching a phone mount). In that situation, using a counter balance is necessary.
Really well designed, had a lot of fun building it, it was really fun project!
I made a few little tweaks, namely changed the mounting to fit my tripod and I designed a crayford focuser to fit it, inspired by the one designed by @aeberbach. Would be happy to share the focuser design once I have adjusted some of the tolerances. :) (edited)
@JagerBombasti_415675 Hey nice build, really glad it turned out good! Thanks for the feedback and I really like your focuser design and look forward to trying it out!
Great design! I made a couple for my extended family and they are stoked. I wanted to share a few accessories for my version that you may find useful (especially for @Anachronist, who was looking for a primary mirror cap). The link follows; feel free to use in your future designs: https://www.printables.com/model/1138829-accessories-for-the-anders-114-travel-telescope
@rjmann_2596092 Thank your for the feedback! Ill be sure to try out your accessories you made, they look like they could help, thanks for sharing those! I'm glad your liking the model and thanks for the support!
@Anders_2179631 I made another accessory that clips/bundles the four extrusion rods together so they don't rattle around individually in my backpack. Hope this helps! Here is the model: https://www.printables.com/model/1153970-4-5-and-6-extrusion-bundling-clip-20x20-aluminum-e
I love this design. I'm in the process of printing it out.
Do you have any plans to design a telescope for big(ger) lens(es)?
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@polymerbear_423024 Check out the Hadley telescope, and the associated discord. There's a parametric design available.
@BakerBelays_1632774 Wonderful, thank you
is it able to view some of the closer planets, like saturn, jupiter, venus, and mars?
@moleculecrtr_1215658 Jupiter and Saturn would be great targets! You should be able to make out pretty good detail for Jupiter and Saturn. Mars is significantly smaller and much harder make out details even with a bigger telescope. Venus is also an amazing target, while the surface is covered by clouds you should definitely be able to see the different phases since Venus is an inferior planet (Closer to the sun).
@Anders_2179631 sweet! i've gotta make this ASAP in that case. just have to scrape up the funds...
Looking at this, I have to ask, are the mirrors protected in any way, or do you just have to be careful not to let anything touch them? If they're exposed, what do you do about dust? The only reflecting telescope I ever used was a Celestron 8, which has the mirrors sealed inside. (edited)
@Anachronist When not in use It can be really easily disassembled in about 30 seconds as shown in the 2nd photo. (I recommend to disassemble it when not in use but I may add additional mirror covers in the future.)
Do you mind posting a picture of it collapsed as if you were to travel with it? I would greatly appreciate it.
@larsoncarl_2086864 Of course! The second photo shows it in its collapsed configuration. This can easily fit into a backpack, I will be uploading more photos soon!
I've had a blast building and using this telescope. It is well-designed and extremely portable. I even use this telescope for long-range shooting. I printed the OTA on my X1C in Bambu Labs Black ABS with no issues. I have been enjoying nightly stargazing, looking for the moon and planets (Saturn & Jupiter mostly). The build is very straightforward and once assembled you realize how great (and simple) the Newtonian reflector is. Thanks for this great design!
@jasonslay_275266 Thank your for the positive feedback, that's amazing that your enjoying it! Those are some great photos of the Moon, I look forward to seeing what kind of other photos you can get with it! (edited)