I have been working on this 10 inch Travelscope to take on a 6 week holiday to the Northern Territory. The mirrror is home made - plate glass F6 and used to live in a heavy cardboard tube and plywood mount.
This design is based on Greg Babcock's 12 inch described here:
http://synrgistic.com/astro/telescopes/traveler.htm
I used Albert Highe's idea of a connecting ring so the poles could be halved in size.
The scope is nearly finished. I used it last night for the first time and was generally happy with it. It is very light and easy to set up and take down. In use I add a sheet of plastic to the upper ring for baffling.
I need to add some detachable legs to the ground board as it tips occasionally due to the small footing.
I had a lot of help with this. Bruceaust CNC routed the plywood for me. Members of the Instrument Making section of the ASV offered lots of suggestions and Ken Beard (section director) tidied up the poles on his lathe for me so they fit together better.
We leave next Saturday so will need to have everything completed by then. Any suggestions for improvement though are very welcome.
Rod.