LFAST 20x telescope: design and testing

LFAST (Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope) is planned to provide a cost-efficient way to provide a large collecting area for spectroscopy by duplicating large numbers of small (0.76m aperture “unit” telescopes, each equipped with a prime focus corrector feeding an optical fiber. The design of each telescope is driven by the need to minimize costs while achieving adequate performance, through the innovative use of low-cost commercial components and industrial manufacturing processes. Sets of twenty unit telescopes are mounted together on a single, compact tracking ALT-AZ “20x” telescope mounting, using a lightweight steel truss frame and driven by pairs of commercial slew-bearing worm drives.