A Lego Technic Telescope, based on Newton tube with equatorial mount. Features folding tripod with extendable legs, azimuth, altitude, right ascension and declination movements. With building instructions and package ready to build available.
Presentation
It is not a surprise, I am a big fan of space and astronomy. I have purchased years ago a Newtonian telescope and -to be honest- I do not use as much as I would, because of the weight, the size and the needed time to assembled and make the polar alignment. So, why not creating a smaller version with working axis ? It will not used to see the star, but being a nice space toy and decorating object. Here is the result.
This telescope is based on newton tube with equatorial mount. Which means, you need to make a polar alignment before pointing something to watch. And then , you only need to rotate the right ascension adjustment to follow a object. My Lego version is of course equipped with these rotation axis, with the altitude, azimuth, declination and right ascension adjustment but also some iconic details. It gives these dimensions as the result : 16.5cm (length) x 16.5cm (width) x 33.5cm (height).
The declination and right ascension movement are made using worm screw on 24t gears to ensure irreversibility of the movements. While the azimuth and altitude are friction based movements. The azimuth axis is simply made with a small turntable, while the altitude movement is controlled by friction linkage which gives two stable positions due to the weight of the tube.
The telescope is equipped with folding tripod with extendable legs made of sliding axle on friction beam. But also nice details like the counter weight, red dot finder, eye piece and cross section on the entrance of the tube, which make this type of telescope recognizable. It can also taken apart for storage as real, with removable tube, accessories, equatorial mount and folding tripod.
To talk more about the design process, I have started by making the tripod. Indeed, I wanted to make a small creation, in order to be proposed for sale on Buildamoc, that is why I have chosen a 3 studs wide for the leg of tripod with central sliding feet made with a axle. I have made then many prototypes for the folding mechanism in terms of scale, collision and building. After scaling this tripod, I have made the tube with accessories, and start working on the equatorial mount. I wanted to make the right ascension, declination and altitude adjustment as on the real one, with worm screw and gearing. I have succeeded for the declination and right ascension but not for the altitude which is friction based linkage on my Lego version, while using a screw on the real one, because of the available space. Despite this default, I am really satisfied with the building of the equatorial mount. Putting all these rotation movements in this small build was not easy to do, that is why this part is full of trick to attach the parts together and using half beam to respect the scale.
Pictures and Video
How to build ?
This creation is perfect for an astronomy and space lover, as a gift, or for decorating your interior with cool and simple Lego toy. That is why I wanted to propose it for sale on buildamoc in one package, with Lego genuine parts and PDF building instructions.
📕 You can either purchase the PDF instructions only on this shop and build it with your LEGO parts, or purchase the complete package including genuine LEGO parts plus PDF instructions, on Buildamoc shop. This is a perfect gift for Astronomy fan.
🎁 The whole package is also available from France though the company MEDAS on several website, astronome.fr, pierro-astro.fr, laclefdesetoiles.fr, promo-optique.fr, natureetdecouverte.fr, rueducommerce.fr.
🧩 The instruction contains the partlist at the end, but you can check individually on Rebrickable, or in the instructions previews below.
Here is some preview of the building instructions :
