6-Inch Truss Tube Scope

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REFLECTING TELESCOPES THAT GIVE MORE SKY FOR LESS
FROM

6-INCH TRUSS TUBE TELESCOPE
by Stargazer Steve

A Six-inch f/5 Telescope offers the greatest performance available in a small package, whether the objects of interest are star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, or the moon, sun, and planets. Never is this more true than in the case of this Truss-Tube Telescope, which combines extreme portability with the classic performance of a 6 six-inch scope , elegance, and exceptional structural and dynamic stability.

This modest-sized scope has the rock-solid feel of a large truss-tube scope and moves with exceptional smoothness on its Teflon bearings. Like all six-inch scopes it gathers 900 times the light that your unaided eye can.

Truss-tube designs also allow the quickest possible cooling of the optics and “tube air” to the ambient evening temperature, which provides steady detailed images more quickly. (Some solid-tube scopes take two hours or more to cool down and overcome heat-blurring of the images. When the optics are cool, a “tube shroud” can be quickly put in place if stray light, dew, and field dust are concerns .

This is the first available 6-inch Truss Tube Telescope. The reason is a conventional Dobsonian mount would put the eyepiece of such a short-tubed telescope much too low for comfort. The ultra-low profile mount of the Stargazer Steve 6-inch Truss Tube Telescope integrates into the top of a widely-triangulated tripod of extreme strength and stability. This places the eyepiece within a very convenient height range (46 inches to 56 inches).

For all its lightweight-looking appearance, this is an extremely strong, steady, and smooth-moving scope. The Side Bearing Arcs fold to create a mirror case with a handle, simplifying safe transport of the primary mirror.

This Telescope is equipped with the only “Folding Truss” on the market. This speeds up and simplifies assembly, since you are dealing with one unit rather than eight separate aluminum tubes.

For overseas travel the three Bearing Arcs can be removed and the Top End (Secondary Cage) collapsed to reduce the scope to small, easily packed pieces.

Only a standard Phillips screwdriver and a 7/16" wrench are needed to do this.

A Video Manual explains how to assemble/disassemble and adjust the scope. However, this is not a Kit because I fully assemble and varnish these hand-crafted scopes before shipping.

The Six-inch Telescope comes with a free Rigel QuikFinder, which provides an extremely convenient way to aim the scope. It is lighter and easier to use than a Telrad.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Aperture: 6 inches = 152 mm

Focal Length: 30 inches = 762 mm (f/5)

Shipping Weight: 34 lbs

Weight in Service: 29 lbs (Scope: 19 lbs, Mount + Tripod: 10 lbs)

Shipping Container Dimensions: 7 inches x 18 inches x 30 inches

Tube Length: 28"

Truss Length: approximately 20 inches

Focuser: 2-inch machined aluminum “virtual helix” with 1 1/4-inch adapter
(This is a very solid and smoothly machined innovative component)

Standard Eyepiece: 17 mm Plossl giving 45 Power and a 1.1 degree field of view
(2 1/5 “moon diameters”)

Performance with optional 6 mm Plossl (High Power) Eyepiece:
127 Power, 0.39 degree field (3/4 of the full Moon)
Maximum magnification likely to provide additional detail on nights of rare atmospheric steadiness: 200 to 300 power according to conditions and observer experience.

Wide-field performance with Optional 25 mm 1 1/4-inch Wide-Angle Eyepiece:Magnification: 30 Power
Field of View: 2.3 degrees (4.6 moon diameters)
Exit Pupil: 5 mm

NOTE ON OPTICAL EXCELLENCE:

The optical quality of all our instruments is above average for the price.

Many manufacturers like to quote “wave figures” (1/8th wave or 1/10th wave etc) for their optics. However these statements can be misleading. The only reliable, accurate, and truthful way to provide these wave figures is to place the entire optical system in the light path of a large Optical Interferometer . This generally involves considerable expense of capital and time, and no manufacturer is providing this service for telescopes selling for under $5000.00 US.

In the absence of a full-system interferogram, our ethics prompt us to simply state that our telescopes offer above average performance for the price and are diffraction-limited. In addition our reputation for quality is based on a our decade-long history of providing high quality components and standing behind them and correcting any problems if they become apparent. I am personally accessible by phone or email. How many Telescope Designer/Manufacturers can truthfully say that?

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