No single telescope design is ideal for all user scenarios. When it comes to making telescopes myself, I thought it also wise to develop a progression of telescope design projects through which I can refine my craft rather than shoot for a homerun on my first telescope construction project since high school.

U15527 First Round of Telescope Designs on Paper, J.A. Crawford, Oct. 2009 (4.9 MB)

Paul Baker Telescope Configuration

Designs considered thus far include:

• Paul Baker variants
• Aplanatic Gregorian
• Ritchey-Chretien
• Flat-Field Schmidt Cassegrain
• Houghton Cassegrain
• Lurie-Houghton

U15526 Cassegrain Paraxial Design Parameters, J.A. Crawford, Oct. 2009

U15228 Paul Baker Telescope Focal Length Relationships, J.A. Crawford, Oct. 2009

U15522 Reflection from Spherical Surface, J.A. Crawford, Oct. 2009