The Extreme 30" Aluminum-Titanium Scope



The 30" Telescope



This is a monster telescope! It is a 30" f/4.5 with optics from Nova. As with all of our scopes it has the Astrosystems spider and secondary holder, with a dew heater for the secondary. Finishing off the optical path we have installed a beautiful red Moonlite Focuser (I love their work, and they are fellow Pennsylvanians!)





Mirror Box: 194 lbs. (110 lb. mirror, 84 lb. box)


This is the engine compartment of a telescope. The primary mirror lives in here supported by the mirror cell. The altitude bearings are mounted to the sides and the bottom truss pole mounts anchor here too.

Rocker Box: 83 lbs.


The rocker box supports the mirror box and allows it to pivot horizontally and vertically. In a large scope you want this box to be as low profile as possible to help reduce the number of steps up the ladder when viewing.

photo © Mike Renner

Truss Assembly: 7 lbs.


The truss assembly consists of 4 pairs of 1" titanium tube, each pair being joined at the top.

Upper Cage: 16 lbs.


This is where the focuser, the secondary mirror and the finder scopes are mounted. A connecting ring is used secure the tops of the 4 pairs of tubes, then the cage is installed with your feet on the ground.

First Daylight:


Here are a few pics of the process of sighting in the primary for the first time to determine final truss tube length.

Finished Scope: 300 lbs.


Here's the completed project. How fun it was, maybe there's a 40" in my future 8^)