Tiny Telescope - a pocket sized Dobsonian

Could it be the smallest 4" telescope in the world?
I build this little Dobsonian as a scale model of my 16" f/4 Propdob. Initially just for fun and for display purpose only, but it appeared to work just fine! I brought it as an extra telescope on one of my observing trips to La Palma, and I made quite a few observation and sketches through it.
Visit www.roelblog.nl (in Dutch) to find more info.

[@Obsidian762]

Wow! This makes me want to build my own cat sized telescope.

[@woody5109]

Be clear, you can buy them way cheaper then you can build them. However, it’s not always about money, it’s very satisfying and rewarding to build something like this. This guy is a great craftsman, don’t kid yourself, he knows what he’s doing. Great job.

[@aliceinwonderland8314]

I'm not convinced, but it could be my perspective is a bit warped cos I'm in the middle of an engineering degree. The biggest issue/cost is likely to be the parabolic mirror at the base and getting it's maths right. The rest of the raw materials look relatively cheap and could easily be made with a bit of carefully planning, drilling, and a hacksaw. I reckon you could make similar for under £200. Considering all the truss tube dobsonians I can find start at £800 but are usually a couple thousand, it'd be cost effective. I can find cheaper dobsonians, but they're not collapsible.

[@Roelarex]

@@aliceinwonderland8314 Good parabolic mirrors this size are not that expensive. I did not make the mirrors myself, but salvaged them from a Skywatcher table top Dobsonian, those are widely available used for under 100 Euros/Dollars.

[@lllllsp1d3rlllll]

No I looked u can't buy one I need one as a truck driver cous I don't have room in my semi for a telescope

[@Edubarca46]

Beautifulo,. Wherer can I buy the kit or where can I get plans to make one?

[@dirkcornelis5708]

Craftsmanship and art. I think I saw a small scope like this when I visited a few years ago.

[@Roelarex]

Yes you did!

[@RazorChrist]

I see you found the cat nebula. That dob is adorable! (The cat too)

[@tarange02]

That’s pretty awesome! If you put a raspberrypi zero and a cam on it, you could stream full HD video on your iPad with that. I think I’ll try that for the summer.

[@kriseckhardt5148]

I totally love this! However I have never heard creepier music on the internet!

[@joeshmoe7899]

Is this sold on Aliexpress yet?

[@gazorbpazorbian]

OMG I LOVE THIS! I have a CNC, could you share the design so I make one my self? where did you get the mirror! what can you see with it?

[@chasehorton2324]

It's 100 mm aperture and and a 6 inch starter scope is 150mm so its not too bad especially for the size. For the amount of light amplification, binoculars normally have an aperture of 75mm to put it in perspective, so it should be decently better than binoculars.

[@springbloom5940]

This is pretty cool, so Im biting my tongue and trying very hard not to be 'that chick', about the very serious technical problems.

[@СанСанычХабаровск]

Это что? Сувенирный телескоп ?

[@lllllsp1d3rlllll]

You should build these and sell them I would love one just a little bigger there are none on the market I'm a truck driver and I don't have room for a telescope but I love astronomy.

[@meeponinthbit3466]

I click nerdy videos that have cats in their thumbnails.

[@techer6374]

Это самая странная музыка, что я слышал :-|

[@Gunk8642]

Music sounds much better at 1.5 speed

[@_stardust62]

Cats will never work for the police...

[@lllllsp1d3rlllll]

After my research u could of gotten a hole lot more focal length for the same size mirror

[@comunistasuave]

Omg this music came direct from hell

[@gruffcube]

420TH SUB LESSSS GOOOOOOOO

[@xe1zlgg]

It is possible to buy from you this telescope ?

[@ConcealedWeapon]

Nice telescope, but the music is terrible

[@CosmicgirlAstro]

Wow that's Amazing ! I would deffo buy something like this !

[@rosaluks644]

A telescope video turning into a cat video - nice!

[@blue2824]

Wow, I love this!

[@bibliotecologiaymas.cienci4201]

Just excellent!

[@ZeeshanKhan-ud4bt]

Frome where i can buy it

[@MikeWolfs93]

Grand Prestige +1

[@rosaluks644]

The “scale cat” at the end is a nice touch

[@MrPixelspin]

Great little telescope. Clever and well made!

[@ПитерКоэн]

🤭👍🤣гарна ідея! Я думаю що у кожного астронома любителя повинен бути такий телескоп. 🤭😉✌️😆

[@ASTROindi]

Good One.

[@bridgetfredrick6656]

Do you ever sell these?

[@jonathanhansen3709]

Cute little travel scope. 102mm would allow you to track down all the Messier objects if you know where they’re at.

[@fcostheta5523]

Could you share the blueprint and how did you find the mirrors?

[@Roelarex]

Sorry. I dont have any blueprints. The mirrors are salvaged from a Skywatcher Virtuoso tabletop Dobsonian.

[@tjzambonischwartz]

You are truly a mad man.

[@lfcdan1]

That's awesome! You're very talented!

[@gregwing6409]

Amazing job! Cheers-Greg

[@owenllewellyn5692]

I see you aren't biased- you own a dob and a cat. Lovely project.

[@chrisshelton3504]

Brilliant an beautiful!

[@junglejim7664]

How many of the Messier objects has the cat found?

[@stevebrooks6144]

This is so cool 👍

[@Astrofrank]

Cute telescope, could be commercially successful, too.

[@MountainFisher]

I have a Zhumell100 F4 tabletop and it is only adjustable by the secondary mirror. Had to use shims to keep it aligned.

[@annaoaulinovna]

can you share drawings of parts.

[@Luftbubblan]

Very nice, love that you built it like a proper full-size one :D

[@hoshizoraclub_]

今度は小さい！ 工作が正確で丁寧ですね！

[@xe1zlgg]

I am in love again !!!... with this tiny little scope..

[@edwardhandrich6043]

Brilliant design and it looks amazing.

[@kiritengineer7506]

Excellent sir ji

[@kencur9690]

Can you see planets in the Andromeda Galaxy with this?

[@springbloom5940]

All of them

[@3DPrinting_And_More2515]

I'm curious if it works, there's no pictures.

[@Roelarex]

This type of telescope is purely for visual use. Like binoculars it's not designed for photography. Some sketches of objects seen through this telescope can be found here: www.roelblog.nl/2019/11/twee-messiertjes-met-de-summierian-m8-en-m22/

[@borcz100]

glorious!

[@satyajitbhadraroy7723]

Nicely done. Great show!!

[@aasifkamaal4507]

Awesome

[@johnnycash4034]

😂 you have the biggest and the smallest of these. Pretty cool 😎 Whatever the chances of you sharing the files? I'd like to build my kid one.

[@Roelarex]

Haha, thanks! I once had a 76mm Dob, but it had an other design... I get lots of messages from people asking if I would send them my plans for building a telescope. Even if I would like to, I couldn’t - my “plans” are mostly scribbles, incomplete, messy and totally unusable for anyone but myself. For those who want to use my designs, feel free to do so but please understand that all I can provide are the pictures on this website: www.roelblog.nl

[@johnnycash4034]

@@Roelarex no worries. Should be easy enough to build from scratch. Thanks for uploading and such. Have a great day

[@dienachtwache]

Amazing, i love it.

[@Nottsboy24]

Pretty cool 👌🔭

[@fernandodearaujo3694]

Very cool. Great!

[@fififilou9966]

Very good 👍👍👏

[@Asifkhan31416]

Excellent. 👏👏

[@Sergey_Sergeev]

Cute!

[@nordmende73]

Fine Art!

[@remblankenburgh]

Geniaal :-)

[@FP-fb6jk]

Geweldig, Roel! Gebruik je ‘m ook?

[@Roelarex]

Jazeker! Ik had ik 'm al eens mee naar La Palma als "extra" telescoopje. Dit soort beelden kun je er dan mee zien: www.roelblog.nl/2019/11/schets-pleiaden-boven-de-kraterrand-la-palma/

[@lornaz1975]

Are those .965 or 1.25 eyepieces? Not that .965 are bad if they are. Some of the best eyepieces ever made have been that size.

[@Roelarex]

They are 0.965" Japanese orthoscopic eyepieces. Indeed pretty good, but of course with a somewhat limited field of view. I choose a small focuser because it simply looks better: the scope is meant to be a scale model of my 12" Propdob.

[@lornaz1975]

@@Roelarex I figured it was the simple focuser too. Those .965 focusers sometimes had friction fittings like yours. That is what tipped me off to it being that size. You did a great job. Where did you get the primary mirror?

[@Roelarex]

The primary mirror is from a Skywatcher Heritage 100p. It's also a f/4, like the 12". The tiny secondary is from a 76mm Skywatcher Infinity.

[@lornaz1975]

@@Roelarex Cool! Thanks for showing us!

[@vietnamastronomicalassocia8189]

Do you sell it?

[@Roelarex]

No, I do not sell any of my telescopes...

[@wordclock707]

@@Roelarex These would fly off of the shelves. The ultimate functioning desk decoration for telescope geeks, and a great lightweight set-up for camping and backpacking!