|
|
-
Dream News - |
|
December 31st, 2018: Dream successfully produces custom f1.0 perforated
zeroDELTA lightweight substrate
for aerospace prime. |
|
|
|
This is the fastest mirror Dream
has produced to date, beating out a f1.376 Dream designed and
fully finished in-house in 2016. |
|
|
zeroDELTA lightweight
convex M2 for 20" f5.6 custom Dream R-C. |
Dream casts M2 for custom 20"
f5.6 Dream Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. |
|
Dream designed the full telescope,
optimizing the system for 100% illumination of the 52mm field,
using a custom wide field corrector, as well as fully baffled
for that field size. Like all Dream instruments, 95% of the structure
weight will be carbon fiber, including extensive use of Dream's
CFSC.
Both M1 and M2 are zeroDELTA lightweight mirrors, which
offers Dream customers unrivaled mechanical and thermal
stability in their demanding instruments. |
|
|
|
Test out complete for a 20"
f3.5 Dream Astrograph that will be part of a 5-year NASA program
for asteroid search & recovery. |
|
The instrument is optimized
for wide field and like all other Dream instruments uses carbon
fiber extensively in the structures, along with Dream's engineered
lightweight zeroDELTA mirrors for both the primary and secondary
mirrors. Since 2003 Dream has been designing and producing lightweight,
high stiffness and athermal instruments that have unrivaled performance
for their price point. They are designed from the ground up for
remote/robotic use and have the lowest maintenance of any instrument
in the world. |
Click on the
image to access raw test images and additional information about
this instrument. |
|
2018 |
|
|
2018 |
Dream is proud to be chosen to
produce a <10 pound 3-mirror carbon fiber alignment telescope
using zeroDELTA lightweight mirrors
for world's highest resolution telescope array. |
|
The customer requirements
called for an instrument that could not weigh more than 10 pounds
and would not shift focus over a 20°C temperature change.
Dream's instrument will weigh close to 5 pounds and should easily
maintain focus over the 20°C change due to Dream's 15+ years
of dedicated work combining our in-house carbon fiber with our
in-house engineered zeroDELTA mirrors; athermal instruments, including mirror
mounts. |
|
|
|
Two more zeroDELTA
fully generated & perforated primary mirror blanks ship to
European manufactuer. |
|
Two Dream zeroDELTA convex
secondary mirror blanks shipped to the same customer one month
earlier. |
|
2018 |
|
|
|
rocketry, IRAC,
Spaceport America Cup, soundingrocket.org-
2018 |
Dream ships custom 16" f3 atmospheric
telescope to Alaska. |
|
The telescope uses Dream's
two technologies; engineering lightweight mirrors and CF &
CFSC parts, assemblies and main assemblies. The 16.6" primary
mirror is 2.5" edge height yet weighs less than 10 pounds.
The secondary mirror is also a Dream zeroDELTA
lightweight mirror. These technologies are superb for ground,
air and space. |
The telescope will be used in numerous ground-based
locations. It will also fly inside NASA's Gulfstream V lear jet,
while doing high-altitude atmospheric research. The carbon fiber
has been coated to meet FAA/FAR flame regulations. Dream is also
currently (Feb 2018) working on rocket fuselage sections for
a US rocket lab. The rocket will reach speeds around Mach 2 and
also has requirements for higher temperatures. |
|
|
|
During the coldest weather in at least
25 years, Dream finishes two more zeroDELTA mirrors in its
dedicated and extremely stable polishing/testing room. |
|
Shown to the
right is a 20" f3.5 paraboloidal mirror; 3.0" edge
height, <20 pounds. |
Click on the
image to gain access to extraordinary videos that illustrate
the stability of both Dream's polishing/testing room and a large
zeroDELTA lightweight mirrors. |
|
2018 |
|
|
|
Elbit
Systems (Israel)
visits Dream to learn more about its core technologies and potential
use for space telescopes. |
|
- November 15th, 2017 |
|
|
|
European manufacturer receives first
Dream 10" f3 zeroDELTA
primary mirror blank for their Cassegrain telescopes. |
|
"Can I say: holy cow!!
This looks awesome!! Can't wait to get my hands on it." |
- after receiving high-resolution
photos prior to shipping the mirror out. |
"Just a quick update:
mirror blank was delivered. It looks marvelous. Thank You!" |
- November 10th, 2017 |
|
|
|
|
Dream finishes two more lightweight
aspheres: 16" f3.0 and 16" f3.75. |
|
Both mirrors were produced, fully
processed & finished in-house. |
They have the same smooth Mid-Spatial
Frequency (MSF) and surface roughness errors as shown on this page. |
- October, 2017 |
|
|
Custom carbon fiber structure for
25" R-C Cassegrain telescope using solid ULE (zero-expansion) mirrors. |
|
Carbon fiber backplate assembly. |
|
As with all Dream telescopes,
95% of the structure weight (telescope without optics)
is carbon fiber, with only 5% conventional metals. |
|
Update (late 2017/early 2018):
Dream will fly to Turkey to help our client install the solid
ULE mirrors in the carbon fiber telescope. |
|
Truly ruggedized
carbon fiber telescope structures designed and produced inside
Dream. These structures have an extremely low CTE and incredibly
high stiffness, which are enabling qualities for opto-mechanical
and electro-optical structures. |
|
Dream's carbon fiber technology
is not just good with Dream's engineered lightweight mirrors
but also quite ideal for zero-expansion mirrors as well, like
the ULE mirrors this telescope will be used with. |
|
|
SolidWorks view of full CAD
model of the telescope. |
|
|
|
Custom 16" f2 IR (Cassegrain) telescope
for USAF missile tracking using Dream's zeroDELTA technologies. |
M1 & M2 were Dream's engineered,
lightweight mirrors. |
|
|
Click above to read a white
paper describing how NASA lunar survey images were used to quantify
this telescope's resolution. |
Read the paper to learn how
close to nominal Dream was able to get the radii of M1 &
M2. |
|
|
|
|
|
Dream's zeroDELTA lightweight M1 weighed only 9.5 pounds and has no
decernable print through, a testament and the purpose of Dream's
extensive engineering and heritage. |
|
Dream also provided the nearly 16"
long, 6-lens IR relay, which included Ge, ZnS & ZnSe lenses
inside a carbon fiber barrel with carbon fiber lens spacers. |
|
SolidWorks slice view of
full CAD model of telescope. |
|
Athermal telescope using Dream's
in-house carbon fiber for 95% of the structure weight (telescope
without optics), with only 5% conventional metals. |
|
|
|
Dream did all work to M1 inside
our dedicated 7000 square foot facility in Nazareth, PA. This
includes: design & engineering, casting & annealing of
the raw mirror blank, generation, grinding and polishing/finishing, getting the radii of the asphere within 0.01%
of nominal. |
|
|
|
f1.376 |
|
The photo above shows the as-cast,
bubble-free mirror blank, prior to any work being done to it.
Dream can directly cast convex, plano and concave surfaces. |
|
Dream casts and finishes it's fastest
mirror to date, f1.376,
for an Adaptive Optics (AO) project. The
bubble-free mirror is six times lower in areal density than Hubble's
M1. This 16.7" physical
OD mirror weighs just 9.5 pounds and is nearly 6:1 aspect ratio
over its CA. |
|
This is was one of three mirrors
(396mm f1.376, 247mm f2.26
and 393mm plano) that Dream produced
for this client. Each was mounted in a dedicated CF and CFSC
mirror mount, engineered and fabricated inside Dream. |
|
|
|
|
Dream did all work to this mirror
inside our dedicated 7000 square foot facility in Nazareth, PA.
This includes: design & engineering, casting & annealing
of the raw mirror blank, generation, grinding and polishing. |
|
|
|
Dream delivers a fast &
demanding 300mm CA f3 (system f-ratio) Ritchey-Chrétien optical set for visual spectrum
application. |
M1
conic = -1.897, M2 conic = -98.450 |
These high departure lightweight
mirrors were designed and engineered from scratch, based on the
customer's support hardware and requirements. Dream took existing
designs from our library and modified them per the customer's
needs. Both mirrors were optimized through numerous, iterative
FEA, for both polishing displacement and gravity displacement.
Dream not only designs the mirrors but also casts, anneals and
can process them in-house. This allows Dream complete design
control, as well as empirical knowledge that is fed back into
current and future designs. We have been designing and engineering
lightweight mirrors since 2003. |
|
|
|
|
Dream engineered lightweight mirror
finished to higher quality level than Hubble's M2. |
|
* M2 for 24"
Dream Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. |
* Hyperboloidal convex DC mirror tested
with QED SSIa, using the 2nd most powerful interferometer on
the market. |
* L/125 RMS surface, minimum L/20 P-V surface
(632.8nm). |
* Better than 10/5 scratch/dig. |
* Radius off by only 15 microns; desired
- 629.4mm, actual - 629.385mm. |
The 40+ year master optician tested the mirror three times over
the course of five days to determine stability of the figure.
It never dropped below the above quality and showed the same
stability as hundreds of zero-expansion mirrors that the optician
has finished over their career. |
|
|
|
|
Dream's finished telescopes use more carbon
fiber than any other company in the world. 95% of the structure
weight is carbon fiber, with only 5% being traditional metals.
Other companies call their products
"carbon fiber telescopes" but they typically use 5-10%
CF and 90-95% traditional metals, with the vast majority of that
90-95% being high-CTE, inexpensive aluminum. |
Dream uses carbon fiber and especially
carbon fiber sandwich core in the following; |
---* Telescope
Tube |
---* Intergral
Tube Mounting Flange Plates |
---* M1 Supports |
---* M1 Conical
Baffle |
---* Backplate |
---* M2 Supports |
---* M2 Baffle |
---* Spider
Hub Plates, Including Actuator Support Plates |
---* Spider
Vane Load Spreader Plates |
|
|
|
|
"We shall look back and see how inefficient,
how primitive it was to work with thick, solid mirrors, obsolete
mirror-curves, ..." -
George Willis Ritchey 1928 |
JRASC,
Vol. XXII, No. 9, November 1928 |
|
|
2015: New polishing
& testing room complete. |
* The new space separates out initial generation
& grinding work from polishing. |
* The new space allows vertical testing,
including over the machines, which has both time and mechanical
advantages. Not to mention a substantial reduction in risk to
the engineered, lightweight mirrors. |
* The new space grows polishing and it's
required testing by a full magnitude. |
* It is the most insulated space within
Dream's three story building. Even interior walls are insulated.
Temperature and humidity are maintained to 68°F, +/-1°F
and 55%, +/-10% RH all year long. |
* We will continue fitting out the room
with equipment as we also work with new non-contact sensors that
have 20nm resolution, which will be used for numerous pieces
of equipment. |
* Generation & grinding is now double
it's original space. |
We are currently working on mirrors ranging from f1.376 to f5.5.
These mirrors are for everything from Newtonians to Dall-Kirkhams
to Classical Cassegrains to Ritchey-Chretiens. Dream can provide
full engineering for everything from the lightweight mirror to
the carbon fiber mirror support to optical design & analysis
using Zemax. We work on applications ranging from tracking telescopes,
LIDAR, LaserComm, Adaptive Optics (AO) and from UV to far IR. |
|
|
|
Independent pull out data on Dream's
stainless steel inserts. |
Dream's 29 gram (~1/16th of
a pound) inserts have an average pull out strength of 2995 pounds. |
In the first year of Dream it was quickly realized
that off-the-shelf inserts designed for composites did not come
close to the performance required for Dream's structure. We have
been making our own stainless steel inserts ever since. The data
shows off our level of expertise and the performance our customers
can expect. |
Click on the chart to the right
to see the results and additional information. |
|
|
|
|
|
2014 |
Three new thick-walled Carbon Fiber
skinned Sandwich Core (CFSC) tubes are made in the recently upgraded
composite oven. |
|
The OD of the tubes shown to
the left are 30", 30" and 20". The tube on the
far left is 80" tall for a 24" f3.5 Dream Astrograph.
The other tubes are for a 24" custom R-C Cassegrain telescope
and a 16" custom Dream Astrograph telescope. Dream uses
the thickest sandwich core because of the performance (stiffness) gains they produce. |
|
|
|
2014: Dream completes
upgrades to the largest composite oven. |
|
|
* Increased air flow with a new, 700 pound
3-phase blower. |
* Increased heat capacity with all new,
3-phase heating elements that are 3.3 times more powerful than
the originals. |
* The upgraded oven ramps faster and is
able to achieve higher temperatures than before. |
|
|
|
These upgrades are
needed because of Dream's continued growth and new capabilities
to supply meter-class telescopes. |
|
|
2014: Dream is proud to add three
more to our team. |
* Former Boeing Mechanical Engineer with
extensive FEA expertise with Carbon Fiber and CFSC. |
* Optical Engineer with 30+ years experience
in defense-related optical systems; Vis - LWIR. |
* Certified Composites Technician. |
|
To read their full bios, click
here. |
|
|
|
Early June 2014: Work is complete. 480 volt, 3-phase power is up and
running at Dream's new building. |
|
Three transformers had to be added to the local service in order
to provide Dream with the power it requires for new equipment,
upgrading the large composite oven and future equipment (growth)
at Dream. |
|
Dream is capable of everything
from creating the initial optical design to FEA of the lightweight
mirror blanks and dedicated carbon fiber mirror supports to providing
it's customers with completely finished opto-mechanical instruments. |
|
|
|
May 2014 |
The new, 3-phase, large casting & annealing
furnace arrives. |
The interior dimensions of the
new furnace are 1.4 meters in diameter by 0.9 meters in height. |
|
|
|
|
December 2013:
Congratulations to Tenagra
Observatories for winning the coveted Edgar
Wilson Award using a 16" f3.75 Dream Astrograph telescope
to discover six comets in 2013. |
Using one Dream telescope, Tenagra
discovered half of the comets found by all private observatories. |
|
|
|
|
|
September - November 2013:
Dream casts & anneals three ~24"
mirrors within three month's time.
The new building is already benefiting both Dream companies.
This highlights the reason Dream developed its own in-house casting
process; to take the place of vendors that could not deliver
these products. |
|
Dream is currently doing generation
work on these three mirrors, as well as various round and elliptical
mirrors. |
|
|
|
November 2013:
Dream successfully casts the f2.5 M1 and f2.78 M2 for a Dream
Telescopes' 24" telescope used for a NASA project. This telescope will receive lasercom from LADEE, a spacecraft that just last month started orbiting the Moon.
A basic overview can be found here. Additional information and a video can be
found here. |
|
|
|
|
|
displays 16" Dream engineered,
lightweight mirror at Optifab in Rochester,
NY the week of October 14th, 2013. |
|
Final figuring of this mirror
will be performed by QED Optics using their patented MRF
technology. |
|
|
2013:
Dream is currently polishing a custom 16" f3 lightweight
mirror that will fly aboard a Gulfstream V jet. This 2nd generation, completely bubble-free mirror is 16.5" physical OD,
2.5" tall and weighs 9.8 pounds.
The mirror is a double-conical design, that features back flanges. |
|
Because the carbon fiber telescope
will fly inside the cabin, it needs to pass FAA/FAR flame tests.
Dream has successfully passed coupon testing at Dream and also
at an independent lab. |
|
|
|
|
|
2013: Dream moves
into the new facility. It is the third space
Dream Telescopes has had since it was founded in 2003. Dream
occupies the entire 3-story building. It is three times larger
than the previous facility and almost seven times larger than
Dream's first space. It provides much needed utilities and space,
with room to grow. |
|
The space and additional features
that the new facility offer are needed as Dream continues to
become more vertically integrated, relying less on outside vendors. |
|
|
|
2013: Dream Telescopes
creates a new focuser for corrected Newtonian telescopes. Shown to the right is the new focuser with a
3-element coma corrector installed that is 4" OD, 6.25"
long. The focuser uses an actuator that can lift 91 pounds at
1.5 microns per step. The focuser's OD is 5.0" OD. It is
5.25" tall and weighs just 3.4 pounds, including the actuator.
Dream is currently designing a variation for a moving M2 on a
Dream Cassegrain telescope for a NASA project. |
|
The initial models and FEA (Finite
Element Analysis) were done using SolidWorks. The focuser was
also physically tested by projecting a laser 42.5 feet and measuring
deflections with up to 30 pounds of load installed. |
|
|
|
|
|
2013: Over the
past two years Dream has brought all
generation work in-house for Dream's
lightweight mirrors. Generation
work includes; plano-grinding the back of the mirrors (as well
as the face for plano optical face mirrors), edging, beveling
and grinding of convex and concave optical faces. Dream has designed
and built machines that are processing the mirrors using loose
abrasives, diamond-based tooling and computer grinding &
polishing machines. |
|
Dream is currently working towards
vertical testing that will occur over it's polishing/figuring
machines. In late November of 2013 4D
Technologies will be visiting Dream
to demonstrate one of their dynamic interferometers that is specifically
designed to show mid-spatial frequency errors. The demonstration
will show how it performs in Dream's facility and on multiple
Dream lightweight mirrors. |
|
|
|
|
August 14th, 2010: another Dream Astrograph
is born and enters Dream's thorough test out procedure. |
August 20th, 2010: 249 images later (20+Mb each), the telescope passes the
full battery of our tests
with flying colors. It is ready to ship to the customer. |
Click on either image to see
additional information and images. |
|
NEW
VIDEOS |
|
|
|
|
|
September, 2010 issue of Sky &
Telescope: published collaboration image using Dream Astrograph
telescope. |
|
Click on either image to see
additional information and higher resolution images. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
May-June, 2010: Latest 16" f3.75 Dream Astrograph
client received their telescope in Belgium and now has achieved
first light in their remote observatory in France. |
|
Click on either image to see
additional information and higher resolution images. |
|
|
|
|
|
May 19th, 2010: 16"
f3.75 Dream Astrograph discovers NEO on 15th night of use
at Tenagra Observatories.
Addional information can be found midway down on Tenagra's web
site.
UPDATE... June 6th, 2010: Tenagra
discovers second NEO with their 16" f3.75 Dream Astrograph.
On average it is discovering
35 new asteroids and about 400 existing asteroids and/or comets,
per
night! |
|
|
|
|
Dream Telescopes & Acc., Inc. is proud to be the
first company in history to offer a standard product line that
includes such extensive use of Carbon Fiber skinned Sandwich
Core (CFSC) in combination with
Dream's engineered lightweight mirrors (cellular).
Both technologies are designed, engineered and produced in-house.
Years of developing and in-field testing of complete systems
have culminated in very unique opto-mechanical capabilities and
expertise. Dream's products are far more efficient than decade
and even centuries-old technologies. |
|
Recent Images |
|
|
|
|
Click on either image to see additional Dream carbon
fiber skinned sandwich core tubes shipped to a Hawaii client
for more of their 16" f5 IR telescopes using solid ULE mirrors.
The telescope is used by the US Air Force. |
|
Each tube has 9 different internal,
knife-edge baffles. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dream Cellular, LLC debuts the new 24" engineered
lightweight mirror at a local trade show. The 28 pound optic
will become a part of the ultra-lightweight 24" f3.5 Dream
Astrograph. The telescope will be over six feet long, yet it
will weigh approximately 110 lbs. |
This optic has polishing and gravity displacement
performance 2.5x better than the previous 24" design, which
shows how far Dream Cellular has come in a very short time. |
|
Click on either image to learn
more. |
|
|
|
|
|
Dream is hired to design 1m telescope and facility
for cutting edge project. |
Prime Focus Corrector (PFC) is designed September,
2008. The first lens element will be 350mm in diameter. Detailed
analysis of PFC, including tolerances, is completed March, 2009. |
1m telescope, 40"
telescope, 40" primary mirror, 40" mirror, 1m mirror |
Click on either image to learn
more. |
|
|
|
|
|
Additional 24"
cellular primaries arrived October, 2008. |
|
The 24"
Dream Astrograph was redesigned to accomodate a custom
4" coma corrector. This gave Dream a chance to incorporate
new features that were not part of the original design. |
|
|
|
|
|
Click on either image to see the tubes and dovetails
that Dream has made for a 16" f5 IR telescope used by the
US Air Force. |
|
This is the same tube profile used on Dream's
16" f3.75 corrected telescope. |
|
|
|
|
|
Custom 3" sight tube, 3" Cheshire and 3"
AutoCollimator for the Dream
Astrograph line of telescopes are now in stock, as well as
the new wooden case for these tools. |
|
Click on either image to learn and see more. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The new 4" Off-Axis-Guider,
designed to mate directly with the custom
4" coma corrector, is shown to the left with the LodeStar
autoguider that weighs only 74 grams. |
|
You can read more about the 4" OAG by clicking
on either photo. |
|
|
|
|
|
11/9/07 - Sandwich core carbon fiber tube and 3" coma corrector
ready to ship to international client. |
|
|
|
3/2/07 - Sandwich core carbon fiber
tube and other carbon fiber products ship. |
3/9/07 - "My tube arrived in perfect
condition yesterday. It looks great and is a real piece of Art.
Thanks for great work in putting it together." Jon
T. |
6/2/07 - "The big difference is in
tube flex. There is none! I had tube flex with (my original)
metal tube version. This tube is rock solid." Jon
T. |
Click on the image to learn more about this product,
to see Jon's M104
image taken through this telescope and to see the first light
image through a 10" f5 Dream Astrograph Jon is currently
testing (August 2007). |
|
|
|
|
2/19/07 - Dream completes design/CAD work for 32" Danish
Project. |
|
Click on the image to learn more about this unique project. |
|
|
|
|
|
Carbon fiber mount for 7.75" minor axis lightweight elliptical
flat. |
|
|
|
11/28/06 - Dream is now the only US distributor of a modern cleaning
fluid. Click on the images to the left for additional information. |
|
In the last year this product has been used to clean everything
from the Hope Diamond to a Keck
hexagonal segment (now twice: January 2007). Over the next year
it will be used to clean a 4m mirror. |
|
3/22/07 - First Contact Spray now available. |
|
|
|
|
1/25-26/06 - Dream's large oven used to
cook 6' x 8' carbon fiber racing chassis. |
|
Click on the image to learn more about this item. |
|
|
|
|
|
1/4/07 - Dream is shipping new samples to a Denmark customer. |
|
Click on the image to see multiple products of Dream under extreme
loads. Shown to the left is a 6.8 pound arch under 240 lbs of
load. |
|
|
|
12/19/06 - Dream completes and ships electronic's
module for UAV. |
|
Click on the image to learn more about this project. |
|
|
|
|
12/1/06 - Dream shipped out a 16" OD carbon fiber sandwich
cored tube for a client in Switzerland. |
|
Click on the image for additional information and the client's note. |
|
|
|
|
10/06/06 - DuPont grants Dream permission to use Sandwich Core Chart. |
|
9/24/06 - receipt of CO2 snow gun for testing. |
- To see examples of CO2 snow cleaning in the optics industry,
look near the bottom of this
link. |
- Basic information here. |
- More detail on the process here. |
- Receipt of 50lb liquid CO2 tank: 9/29/06. |
|
|
|
|
|
10/10/06 - Dream's local roll off observatory is complete. |
- The observatory is a much needed facility for Dream. |
- Dream would like to thank Steve Mazlin for graciously allowing
the initial test out of the 16" Dream Astrograph at his
domed observatory. His patience and hospitality are greatly appreciated. |
- Additional photos here. |
|
|
|
PREVIOUS PROJECTS... |
|
Completed rapid CAD prototyping
for a customer's kick-off meeting with the US Navy. Meeting occured
one week after Dream was initially contacted by this customer.
Click on the image to the right for additional information. |
|
|
|
|
Dream was hired to do the initial design work for a unique roll
off structure to house a 38" telescope. The unique enclosure
was designed to be approximately 20 feet by 30 feet. A control
room will be housed at one end of the structure. |
|
|
|