homemade telescope focuser homemade telescope focuser

I had installed the mirror about an inch too far away from the focuser. ASIAIR - Is there an easy way to load Messier catalog into Autorun? Un-real!!! It may need some careful coaxing with a screwdriver. I file a dispute with Paypal to begin the process of getting my money back. Download and unzip. You will need to order one sized for your telescope's focuser shaft size. The cutting diagram in (figure 1) shows how I cut the required pieces from two 60 X 60 pieces of Baltic Birch plywood, one inch thick, and one 5/8. I would also like to know about how you can take such fantastic pictures without a field rotator and an autoguider system. forward and back along with the drawtube when you focus, and you'll get The mirror cell: University Optics (eventually). My wife helped me by moving the mirror into and out of the tube around the marked spot while I stood at the eyepiece trying to bring some distant trees into focus. I only use the OTA. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. Thanks again for the 'ible. Concluding that I would not be able to buy a tube off the shelf, I found a couple of companies that took special orders on cardboard tubes. This scope was originally made as a travel scope using an eight inch mirror that I ground and polished at the St Pete Astronomy Clubs Mirror Lab. Because mirror flexure can distort an image, supporting the mirror properly involves building a flotation cell. It's easy to shim it to knob, and a drill press to make sure the hole for the knitting needle I wanted to finish that instructable before the contest ended but was too late :-). There are a number of technical reasons why these photographs could not have come from this Optical Tube Assembly. The day I received the refund, I ordered a mirror cell from University Optics. You can view and download the full file here. The motor is much lighter than the geared motor. The focuser 'knob' on the Celestron is just a rubber sleeve that usually pulls off easily. If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. The focuser is very smooth. To glue the side bearings and rocker sides to full thickness, I covered a side with wood glue, then carefully lined up the pieces and put two small nails into the pieces to hold them in place. I am well versed in technology, have all the tools necessary to build my own! a try. I placed my telrad, optical finder, and an eyepiece on the focuser end of the tube and, using a broomstick as a balance point, found that the tube balanced 22 inches from the bottom. Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion focusers, normally found in this type of device. Parts List (the full story of acquiring the parts), The primary, secondary, spider and secondary holderDiscovery Optics. I even began taking careful notes about needed supplies and plans for each piece of the truss tube scope. To do this, the mirror cell needs to be supported by 3 large bolts, at least 2 of which are adjustable. My newtonian telescope, like most others, came fitted with a nasty rack and pinion focuser. I plan to use an FTA over it in case an extension is needed. I tried this one first and found it wouldn't work for my application. I ordered the focuser, received an immediate email confirming the order, and it arrived two days later. It was May 12th. experimented with various wires and rods and eventually decided that a by cranking Save over 40% off the annual cover price for a full year (4 issues) of Make. Remember: It is the quality and SIZE of the capture chip, NOT the megapixels that determines quality. New Creation Tamil 6.96K subscribers Welcome to New Creation Tamil Our Channel include of Guiding Videos: 1.DIY Projects 2.Awesome Ideas 3.Tips You are inter with New Creation Tamil you can enjoy. I brought a saw with me so that I cut it in half to fit in my minivan. I marked the expected position of the secondary by measuring 61 inches down from the end of the tube. This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. As I set of the scope, several club members came over to check things out and it was nice to hear the positive comments on the appearance of the scope. Your design is simple and nice. Now attach the screw eyes and the rubber band on the side of the board. I redrilled the holes for the mirror cell and got ready to wrap it. They use a simple plywood mirror cell, stating that for an 8 inch mirror this cell will be adequate. I'd The premier publication of maker projects, skill-building tutorials, in-depth reviews, and inspirational stories, Dobsonians come in all shapes and sizes, from small 4-8 builds all the way up to massive 24-36 creations. The pivot bolt consists of a 1 1/8 inch brass spacer with an 11/16 inch outer diameter, a 3/8 inch bolt 2 inches long, a stop nut, and two large washers. together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. Share it with us! However more than the focuser, I liked your scope. occurred to me that a square turned 45 degrees would give me two flat See captioned photos 22-25 here:https://www.cloudyniractor-focuser/ for more detail on building a flush valve focuser, as Bob mentions. The bearings only need to be See the images how I plan to assemble it. For the ATMer I do find that there are an endless number of parts that can be designed and printed for home built telescopes and binoscopes. Step 3The Side Bearings and Rocker Sides. Next step, before my first acquisition of any parts, is to get with any amateur astronomers in Central Florida, so, wish me luck! A bit of a monster! Total cost for supplies for this project: It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. I did not own all of the tools that I needed for this project, particularly a table saw and router, so I did a lot of work while visiting my Dad. And the legs of the base should be as wide as possible to accommodate weight imbalance as the telescope is moved around, to avoid tipping. This might have been tempting if I wanted to build a 6 inch scopeat that size, they say that first-timers do pretty well at grinding and figuring their own optics. Given any mirror measurements, PLOP will provide the ideal support layout and how much distortion to expect for any number of flotation points. My concern turned to alarm when my wife told me that Discovery had charged the balance due on all items to my account a few weeks earlier. At some point in the building process, my goal became to finish the scope by RocheStar Fest, an annual event of the Rochester Astronomy Club. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. One 6in dob I made was a complete failure. Secondary mirror with spider holder Search on eBay for a matched set. "https://ssl." Most people will want a knob on (A badly tilted focuser may subtly alter the illumination pattern of the focal plane to a degree that would be impossible to perceive visually but that's about it.) 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock, http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4721255. An electronic focuser, which moves the focus knob through a combination of hardware and software, solves this problem. Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. Please feel free to email me at the address on the right. . the tube is cardboard as well, you can also get a quality mirror at telescope.com for much cheaper. I also decided to make a separate mounting plate for the stepper motor, since I figured aligning the shafts precisely would be all but impossible. So, as they say, "back to the drawing board". A 10 inch scope would not be very much longer or heavier than my 6 inch, yet it would allow me to see much more. Pierre's Helical Crayford gets my vote hands-down for elegant simplicity. This arrangement turns 100% true, no wobble. This extra space would allow the tube to be repositioned within the tube box to rotate the eyepiece or balance the tube. This proved fatal for the stepper motor! The project took several months off and on to complete, although a skilled Maker could put a similar one together in a few weeks. The overall project is super cheap, we're building this thing for something like $50 in materials. I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. If you found some good surplus lenses, you will have made a stunningly good objective for your scope. To get a slide-fit in a 3D printed part, you normally make the hole 0.5mm larger than the shaft. ScopeStuff is awesome!! The Dob is really a great design. A This is where you will use screws to strongly attach the focuser onto the tube. The flat wants to be running parallel to the long axis of the tube. focusers for that project. For my project I needed a 14 inch diameter, and I had a tough time finding one. Find a special something for the makers in your life. Rather than use a sheet of plastic Kydex to finish the tube, as recommended in K/B, I ordered a sheet of birch veneer. Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. More Homemade Refractor Telescope DIY Erecting Prism Binoviewer Focuser here: Did you make this project? Start with the small components first. A decent machinest will do a far better job, but, there is always a lot more pleasure to be gained per astrophoto when you make bits yourself. I decided to use baltic birch because it is recommended by Kriege and Berry as well as many online sources. The kit just contains the electronics - it is up to the user to find a stepper motor and attach it to their own telescope focuser. I wanted a tight / press fit, so I only added half that, 0.25mm. I don't *do* pretty. My first telescope I built was a 10" F8. I Hope to give you ideas if you are thinking about building one for yourself! Many sources point out that 10 inches is a kind of sweet spot in the balance between power and portability. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. 10 years ago To make the hole for the focuser, I used the focuser tube to mark a circle in the shroud. eyepiece on the ground (or worse, on your primary mirror!) The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! Actually getting the parts into my hands turned out to be more of a challenge than I would have expected, but in the end, I have a wonderful telescope that I enjoy very much. The project creator Robert Brown made a good video on testing the board. Let me see if I am able to collect all the parts needed. This cost around $100 to build and all of the components came from. A neet site: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM Cool instructable, Dude! I described it two years ago in this thread:https://www.cloudyniuser/?p=8879835 . If you're not using heavy eyepieces, you probably don't need In my case I decided to make a custom bracket. My guess is that photo was taken with a refractor. Drill the holes for the knitting Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. I am thankful to enjoy the inspiration, and the details, that you provide, as I will soon be constructing a Dobsonian Telescope. More commercial crayford focusers are of a more enclosed form, whereas mine is more "open frame" approach. Similar photos at http://www.telescopegeek.com/gallery.htm require 100+ minute exposure times on his 20" telescope and $3200 camera. I welded mine from steel square tubing. And for those who like to work with 3D printers, both the single speed and dual-speed versions could easily be printed. The scope including the optics, truss tubes, and eye pieces all stored in a single box making it easy to store and transport by car, but it was a little too big to fit in the overhead compartment or under the seat on most aircraft. You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. By adjusting the bolts, the mirror can be pointed toward the correct spot. If you go to buy all of the components for this project from dealers, you will see that you mostly have to buy at least 5 parts, sometimes bags of 50 parts! This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. Some of the very best planetary and deep sky pics I have seen have come from a Fuji S3 professioanl camera [based on a Nikon body] and a Canon 20Da, which was designed with [I think] a user replaceable inside the mirror box filter for astral photography. My other telescope is a Celestron NexStar C6E. Thank you for your pages. After going over the surfaces with a tack cloth to pick up the saw dust, I applied the stain and went over it with cheese cloth rags for an even finish. It uses a primary mirror to capture and reflect light, a secondary mirror to direct light into an eyepiece, and a focuser to make fine adjustments for viewing. Some of these are essential for the basic functionalities of our websites. Meade Zero Image-Shift Electronic Micro-Focuser This high precision focuser allows you to obtain an extremely accurate image focus. a "rubbery" feel. I had to take apart the focuser in order to get my bolts in place. Here is what I was working on but looks like I need a better design. Two different construction supply companies told me that sonotubes were not available with a 14 inch diameter, even by special order. Only problem is if I put a diagonal it wants to rotate the helical part. Subscribe to the premier DIY magazine today, Community access, print, and digital Magazine, and more. and hope it doesn't fall off A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! For complete instructions on building a telescope such as this one, I strongly recommend buying a copy of The Dobsonian Telescope by David Kriege and Richard Berry. Nice looking telescope. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. Keeping with the 'simple ' part of your request, here is a helical 2"/1.25" focuser made from std plumbing parts. weight. That way you won't be dropping your drawtube and I have one on my 12" f/5 truss dob and the focuser knob is on the top surface of the UTA. I also doubled the thickness of the rocker sides (not the front wall) to provide better support for the heavier tube. I will post the pic of final focuser once ready. To view, go here: http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ The arc at the top of the sides needed to have a radius 1/8 inch larger than that of the side bearings to account for the thickness of the teflon pads that would fit between. This means I can use FocusMax to do the focusing. Shorter thread side will be used to attach the eyepiece. I'd be willing to bet that you could easily grind your own 12.5 inch next time and save some $$. Unfortunately I don't have a 3d printer. focuser. The last time I checked, that particular SBIG camera used on TelescopeGeek had an eight month lead time.A 20" scope gathers 2.6 times more light than a 12.5" scope, therefore equivalent exposures on this one would take 200+ minutes, at least. In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. I got no response to phone calls or emails after another week, and decided to wait until the primary would be finished in another two weeks. To get this arc, I actually moved the radius of the jig, At some point in the building process, my goal became to finish the scope by RocheStar Fest, an annual event of the. I wanted to wrap the tube in veneer because I had seen a homemade telescope on a website that used veneer and I liked the look. They said they would make the brackets extra long to accommodate the mirror and it would take about a week. Not sure if it is available in the USA. And a couple of upright bearing blocks. For about $3 we can buy a tank valve kit that has a threaded 2" i.d. After a dry fit of the rocker to make sure that the tube box with side bearings would fit well, I glued the rocker sides to the rocker front, holding them in place with small nails and clamping overnight. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! My DIY Motorized Telescope Focuser - YouTube I use a 3D printer and an old gear motor to create an electronic telescope focuser.This is my first attempt at voiceover, I'm using a headset. Once you get it working, there's some calibration you need to do. The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP.