homemade telescope focuser homemade telescope focuser

A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! Lining up this center point with the center of the top of the side bearing, I brought the corner of the side bearing up to the edge of the tube box and attached it with screws. I didn't receive any confirmation email after a few days, so I tried to send them an email. It was easy enough to drill a hole and tap threads for a I had the thought that as long as I was going to build it I should build it as big as I could afford. The cage should be a hollow cylinder about wider than the mirror, with the focuser mounted directly facing the secondary mirror. (I didn't have the primary mirror yet). I tried this one first and found it wouldn't work for my application. The focuser knob had two set screws. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. A smart collection of books, magazines, electronics kits, robots, microcontrollers, tools, supplies, and more This Instructable describe the planning, design, and parts of the scope, as well as the process of building The scope. Staples or finishing nails work fine, but be sure they dont bump up above the surface of the plastic. This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. In my build, the minimum eyepiece-to-secondary mirror distance (13) plus the primary-to-secondary mirror distance (57) equals the focal length of 71, which is roughly 4.5 times the width of the 16 mirror. If you wanted to really go low-profile with this design, Using a compass I drew circles on the top and bottom of the ground board to mark the inside and outside of the teflon ring on the bottom of the rocker bottom. See above, this motor does not produce a lot of torque, but you don't need much for this application since there is no 'load' on the focusing shaft. I ground and figured the mirror with little troubles, making my focault tester, etc. The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! Instead of the rack and pinion, they have a smooth spring-loaded shaft which holds the focus tube against four opposing bearing surfaces, and controls its movement. Measure twice, drill can't click on it or copy and paste it; it's a graphic file to thwart We are now ready for some testing. Your choice here will be recorded for all Make.co Websites. You won't need to write any sketches from scratch, but you will at least need to figure out how to upload them to the Nano. The rocker arms must also have guides to keep it on the track; flat metal 12 braces lined with ABS plastic work nicely. Drill the holes for the knitting You should now be able to drill the 4 holes at each corner. Be creative! The cell from Anttler's, for which I had received a refund, had arrived. My secondary is 4; for tips on choosing size, click here. I brought a saw with me so that I cut it in half to fit in my minivan. They have many items for ATMers and I had frequently visited their website when planning my scope. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. That way you won't be dropping your drawtube and Some of these are essential for the basic functionalities of our websites. It interfaces to the computer via USB and comes with an ASCOM driver. Here are a few photos of the "bracket", which is a simple 3D printed plate that mounts to the telescope's focuser ring, and serves as a mount for the stepper motor. This combination has proved to be effective for all positions except when the tube is pointed directly up. From everything I had read, I expected that getting a sonotube would be as easy as running to any hardware store and picking it up. Bill, Impressive work and great idea about LSDF focuser. In scaling up the K/B 8 inch design, I made a few changes that, I hope, will improve the design for 12.5 inch aperture. After you've done that, put a couple of tiny pan-head screws Thin-wall aluminum tubing is used to attach the mirror box to the secondary cage. Sh2-169 and Sh2-168, IC5146 Cocoon Nebula, Caldwell 19, Sh 2-125. 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. This sure is going to be a project I will work on. I had designed the tube box so that there would be an extra inch around the tube. This is because my router bit was inch and the arc would be cut by the outside edge of the bit (where the circle had been cut by the inside edge.) This software creates a model of your telescope by measuring out of focus star sizes at various points. When you add the minimum distance from the eyepiece to the secondary mirror together with the distance from the secondary mirror to the primary, the total length should be the primary mirrors focal length. 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. I was annoyed to have made the mistake, but very glad that I checked the position on stars before wrapping the tube in veneer. Look down through the empty focuser. This motor has a larger shaft diameter (8mm) and is quite a bit heavier overall than the direct drive motor, mainly because of the gearbox. Dozens of projects in every issue covering electronics, craft, fabrication, and more, Learn tips and skill-building tutorials from experts in the maker community. Brandon Lawler is a hobbyist telescope Maker and an active member of the Central Texas Astronomical Society. My homemade motorized telescope focuser for Celestron C8. These have slop as you change direction, you can't do fine adjustments, they weigh a ton, and can flex alarmingly over time. Finally, attach your polar alignment device and align it with the hinge. Since my plan called for purchasing the mirrors and mechanical parts there were several decisions to be made and several vendors to contact. Once I had my design set, I was ready to buy the parts. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. I really had to, since the underside of my telescope's focuser is all curves, no flat area for attaching the mounting bracket. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. You need some purple bits While a sling or whiffletree provide the best edge support, a two-point edge support is much easier to construct. I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. So I decided to make my own, using my normal "blunder in naively and see what happens" approach to making things. If you're not familiar with Arduino, watch some tutorial videos. There are a number of technical reasons why these photographs could not have come from this Optical Tube Assembly. I was finishing this inner debate when I got a copy of the book The Dobsonian Telescope by Kriege and Berry as a Christmas gift. It features 2 semicircular arms, and mounting points for the trusses (T-nuts are fine), as well as a lid to keep the mirror safe when the telescope is not in use. spambots that search the internet for addresses to send junk mail to.) In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. After researching several possible sources for a primary mirror, I decided to order an f/5 12.5 inch mirror from Discovery Optics. I do have another tube that can be used around the drawtube, but it doesn't really add anything. 10 years ago was straight so I wouldn't get a wobbly knob. it sticks into your light path. It took about 3 weeks but, since Anttler's did not even reply to the Paypal dispute, I received a Paypal refund. However more than the focuser, I liked your scope. I drew a guide line straight down the side of the tube and cut the veneer to length with one extra inch on each side68 inches long. CNC files (optional) Download the Sketchup files. I began building it in the spring of 2008, but the bulk of the work was done in July of 2008 with first light occurring on July 25. I took the whole tube assembly outside. The mount and tripod are pretty much useless for astrophotography. focuser. Primary telescope mirror aftermarket, homemade, or custom-made. I'd be willing to bet that you could easily grind your own 12.5 inch next time and save some $$. and an eyepiece. Knitting needles are haven't yet found any design elements that need improvement. I particularly like that the design can be integrated directly into the focuser board to make a very, very simple UTA. As the thread shows you could also build the dual speed version, all made of plywood, if you feel ready to tackle a slightly more complex project for a cost of about 5$ more. The side bearings are each made from 2 identical semicircles of 5/8 inch plywood glued together to make a thickness of 1 inches. on Introduction. The base of the telescope should be a wide, sturdy square or circle of wood with teflon bearing pads matched to the ABS plastic ring of the rocker box. If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. Rather than use a sheet of plastic Kydex to finish the tube, as recommended in K/B, I ordered a sheet of birch veneer. Step 4Attaching the Side Bearings and assembling the Rocker. We all know the problems with focusing. I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. Edited by Pierre Lemay, 25 May 2020 - 08:10 AM. homemade Crayford focuser. This consists of a small black box of electronics. I have no idea how much mail this idea will generate, so I can't weight. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. I have seen some VERY impressive photos similar to those, taken with Nikon D700 and D300 cameras, with the proper filters- and mounts- on a quality scope. This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. I had initially allowed for more of a gap, but realized once I cut the pieces and held the tube inside them that my gap was too large. var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1008534-4"); crafts, science & engineering, design, and technology. larger diameter. All Dobsonian telescope projects are unique buildshere are the notes from my latest version to help get you familiar with the process and determine how youll design yours. control. I had considered using a clear finish alone, but decided to use a dark red finish on the base and a clear finish on the tube, just because I like the look. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. It turns out the the extra 1/16 allowed far too much side to side movement between the rocker and ground board. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. Using a compass, I drew lines for the inside and outside of the Ebony Star ring on the top and bottom of the rocker bottom. I The focuser is very smooth. I was still doing some construction on the morning of the event, but I succeeded in making first light on that clear, dark night in late July. The shroud made from two 22 inch tall containers came out short, so I had to add an eleven inch strip of nylon. Very simple and portable. A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. Feel free to take on that part if you like, but you're on your own :-). Or in my case, back to SolidWorks :-). The bearings only need to be The wood would cost the same, as would pretty much everything except the mirror, so why not spend a little more on the mirror and go BIG. I waited until dark and pointed the scope at the sky. I hate focusing. accessible by all ages and skill ranges. But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. 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. As I continued to read, however, I was struck by the many complications of the design and, frankly, how many ways I could screw it up. The last chapter of the book describes a plan for an 8 inch sonotube dob with a few design elements from their truss design, and, as I read that chapter, the simplicity of its construction was very appealing. I have one on my 12" f/5 truss dob and the focuser knob is on the top surface of the UTA. telescope page, I wasn't really eager to buy two commercial Crayford Post 10 of the same LSDF focuser thread also links to Art Bianconi's archived 2008 original flush valve focuser posts. knitting needle where it goes through the hole, so it's not a big deal, The specific hardware used for this is described on the Building page. A 6 in primary mirror does not have enough weight to make the dob stable. These are mounted 120 degrees apart and use 4 inexpensive bearings to support the tube. It take automatic control of the CCD camera and focuser, and dances around magically on the screen, arriving at perfect focus within about 30s to 3 minutes depending on where you started from. "); small, it's surprisingly rigid. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!) Participated in the Celestron Space Challenge. The belt and pulleys are off-the-shelf items available on Amazon. needle to be just a little too flexible for the weight of a diagonal and Several of my Recent Images have been focused with this system. A neet site: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM Cool instructable, Dude! Make the hole diameter fairly snug, too. Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. large in diameter (1.6") so that adds to the fine-ness of the focus Step 3The Side Bearings and Rocker Sides. Edited by sunrag, 28 May 2020 - 10:44 PM. $299.99 More About Telescope Focusers Rock Paper Scissors Using Tinkercad Circuits and Arduino, Punchy the MECH & the Autonomous Fight Club, Soft-sensor-saurus | an E-textile Soft Sensor Soft Toy With LED Light. This means I can use FocusMax to do the focusing. On that noteWARNING:do not look directly into the sun and never point a telescope into the sun without proper filtration you can damage your telescope and burn your retinas and possibly go blind i am not a astrophotographer so i cant comment on the quality of the pictures since there is so much doubt on the photos i will gladly take them down. the tube is cardboard as well, you can also get a quality mirror at telescope.com for much cheaper. I then temporarily installed the secondary mirror so that I could measure the approximate distance to the center of the secondary in order to locate the holes for the focuser. Cost is $25 - $30, and you will have 5 PCBs in about a week. I ended up modifying it a bit after printing. His passion is using CAD design and his homemade CNC router to bring large wood projects to life. Drawing lines between opposite corners of the tube box sides allowed me to locate the center point on each side.