If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. The next day, I called back to ask their opinion about the kind of spider and secondary holder to order. knitting needle where it goes through the hole, so it's not a big deal, Many sources point out that 10 inches is a kind of sweet spot in the balance between power and portability. I made a similar helical focuser with a nice 2 inch thing I found in Classifieds. Since my plan called for purchasing the mirrors and mechanical parts there were several decisions to be made and several vendors to contact. 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. 4 years ago I had already made a lightweight focuser for Showcasing amazing maker projects of 2022. Every primary telescope mirror has a fixed focal length thats usually 4 to 6 times the width of the mirror. On the bottom of the Bottom board is a ring of Ebony Star laminate that glides over the three teflon pads located directly above the feet on the ground board. Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? both sides. rod for the drive axle it would have a fairly fine motion. At this point, the scope was pretty much finished. Share it with us! You really need a step ladder even for my 10" when pointed overhead. Plus it comes in black, so The balance point determines the height of the rocker sides, so I had to get this far before I cut the wood for the base. I installed the spider first, about one inch down from the end of the square end of the tube. The little app is simple and works great. I had chosen a boxy, rigid design for the binocular scope, so experimented with various wires and rods and eventually decided that a Be creative! Having an RS trade counter 2 miles away is such a luxury! 1" Rack & Pinion Focuser. OK, no, I do not have a homemade Crayford focuser but am planning to build a 3 incher for next years 17" reflector telescope project and to hold my new 30mm ES 100 degree EP. Now attach the screw eyes and the rubber band on the side of the board. I am thankful to enjoy the inspiration, and the details, that you provide, as I will soon be constructing a Dobsonian Telescope. But who cares, really? Headers for the LEDs, buzzer (2-pin) and temperature probe (3-pin). That is dirt cheap compared to the cost of commercially available focusers, which can top $1000 and are much heavier than what we will build. Star Adventurer Pro Pack Counter Weight Bar Thumb Screw Upgrade. 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.
How to make diy focuser pvc - YouTube I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. I attached keepers 1 inches wide by 5 inches long, extending above the bottom of the arcs by about 1 inches. Page 1 of 2 - DIY focuser design - posted in ATM, Optics and DIY Forum: Hi I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6 F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. As I read the book I decided that I should build a 12.5 inch truss tube scope.
A Beginner's Guide to Collimation - Gary Seronik A bit of a monster! In addition, we use third-party cookies to help us analyze and understand usage. I laughed, packed up the cell with a long letter describing the series of events that led to the return, and put it in the mail. that is a great website that guy has some fantastic photos. A neet site: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM Cool instructable, Dude! 8 years ago This combination has proved to be effective for all positions except when the tube is pointed directly up. This proved fatal for the stepper motor! My newtonian telescope, like most others, came fitted with a nasty rack and pinion focuser. It was important that the two circles be identical because the edges had to match perfectly when glued together and the two side bearings had to be identical in order for the altitude motion to work well. 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. I knew that I would be returning the mirror cell to them, but just for fun I decided to see how it would fit in the tube. Fast forward a few months to the next time I had the tube outside. Another vote for Pierre's helical Crayford design. I could not find a spacer to fit my 9/16 hole, so I bought the 11/16 spacer (1 1/8 long because that's what the store had) and a bit of the same size. I ground and figured the mirror with little troubles, making my focault tester, etc. Step 3The Side Bearings and Rocker Sides. NEMA-17 Stepper Motor - see below, there are two options. on Step 5. Since these focusers were going side-by-side on a binocular As the authors describe the benefits of a truss design, it is hard to dispute their arguments. Several functions may not work. DIY Craford Focuser. Thanks again for the 'ible. I used one of these scrap pieces to draw an angle of 70 degrees to the edge of the arc so that I could later place the teflon pads on the arcs. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. As I mentioned on my binocular Share it with us! Please feel free to email me at the address on the right. A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. Once your telescope is assembled, drape black woven velveteen around the truss assembly, clipping it with safety pins. I paid the 50% deposit and dreamed of DSOs. I redrilled the holes for the mirror cell and got ready to wrap it. Yet I was also becoming infected with aperture fever. For my project I needed a 14 inch diameter, and I had a tough time finding one. While round tubing is sturdy, square tubing is easier to work with. When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well.
Homemade 12.5 Inch Dobsonian Telescope - Instructables Nice looking telescope. There are some test sketches in the "Tests" folder, start with those. I decided to order an aluminum mirror cell from University Optics instead so that the mirror could be supported at 9 different points. Unfortunately I don't have a 3d printer. It has become an indispensable piece of equipment for me that so beats hacking and filing PVC pipes etc. It may take you a while to adjust the image correctly, but it's not hard to do, just time consuming. 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. work really well, for a fraction of the cost of a commercial Crayford If you're not using heavy eyepieces, you probably don't need The plastic will ride on teflon pads, creating just enough traction for the telescope to avoid sliding on its own while not making it too difficult to point at things in the sky. I really had to, since the underside of my telescope's focuser is all curves, no flat area for attaching the mounting bracket. Earthbound1 likes this #2 dave brock Mercury-Atlas To hold the tube in place within the tube box, I used a combination of pieces of felt inside the box and wooden shims between the tube and the box. I was certain not to move the jig at all before cutting the second circle. installations. Download and unzip. "https://ssl." Here we see the following components installed: Notice we are NOT populating the parts of the board intended for Wifi or BLED. The next day, I centered the rocker on the rocker bottom (which had been cut using the same method as the side bearing circles), drawing perpendicular lines through the center of the rocker bottom to use as a guide, and tracing the position on the rocker bottom. on Introduction. They use a simple plywood mirror cell, stating that for an 8 inch mirror this cell will be adequate. Using plywood, make 4 attachment blocks to pair the trusses together and create a small ledge for the secondary cage to rest on while you secure it. Now I can simply insert the PVC cap on the end of a 4" pvc tube. Im sorry to hear you couldn't make the contest. Two such companies would not give me a price because the order of a single tube was too small. After cutting the circles for the side bearings, I set up the jig to cut the curved edges of the rocker sides. Knitting needles are I had talked with their owner about mirrors and mirror cells once, and I was very impressed by his knowledge of telescope building. Perfect for visual observations with very heavy mirrors. microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. The extra force will also I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. he might just have a $3200 camera, they aren't very hard to come by. The ARtemis module came in a kit form actually just two circuit boards one of which I had to source the parts, build and box myself. Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. As the telescope tilts toward the horizon, the mirror must be supported on its edge. I have no idea how much mail this idea will generate, so I can't Most people will want a knob on To cut the circles, I started with a depth of about 1/8 inch, then lowered the bit and cut a little more with each pass until I was through the board. This can be shimmed out with paper wrapped around the This makes for better sky photographs as the exposure time can be lengthened,. Trim off any unused fabric along the base. I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. Featured in the February, 2015 issue of Sky & guarantee a response, but I'll do my best to answer everyone who writes Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base.
How To Build A Dobsonian Telescope [Guide 2022] - DopeGuides think that design would be rigid enough under the weight of a diagonal The specific hardware used for this is described on the Building page. I first tried my 32mm plossl eyepiece. DO NOT drill out the holes in the board! i got a email that someone built a telescope close to mine that has seen the stuff in the photos here is a link to his site http://www.synapticsystems.com/sky/scopes/Dob.htmlif i seem a bit rude please forgive me i just spent 12hrs in a plane i have jetlag and im sitting in a airport.i would like to thank lvlasertech for keeping this instructable lively and informative. adapter set screws to slide into. This means I can use FocusMax to do the focusing. 7 years ago A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep I sourced my own Stepper motor and 1:150 reduction gearbox from RS, who are just up the road. PVC pipe makes great drawtubes. And bolt to scope 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 Lemay, thanks for sharing your simple and incredible design.
Homemade Electric Telescope Focuser - Stargazers Lounge Deep space photos like these require HOURS of exposure for each one. I tried to call, but the voice mail had a recording stating that the customer was unable to receive messages. I took the whole tube assembly outside. This motor is available on Amazon.
How to make a $30 DIY star tracker for astrophotography scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! I'm also going to focus on only one version of Robert's focuser (there are many). 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. To get a slide-fit in a 3D printed part, you normally make the hole 0.5mm larger than the shaft. I had cut the 12 foot tube in half in order to get it home in the first place, and a 6 foot section was the right size to work with for my f/5 12.5 inch. One of the companies I had considered as a supplier for the primary mirror was Anttler's Optical. Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. 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 called to express my concern and was told that it had all been packaged a few weeks ago and that it should have been sent.
The Crayford focuser is a simplified focusing mechanism for amateur astronomical telescopes. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler.
Orion Telescope Focusers | Buy Direct and Save! I also figured that the extra expense was worth it, considering the amount of money I was investing in the project overall. This allows for a small clearance between the outside of the tube and the inside of the tube box (14 3/8). It The motor is much lighter than the geared motor. I didn't bother reading his whole article to figure out what f/# he used) I am not trying to say that good AP isn't possible with a sonotube scope, (the 'friend' may very well have pulled it out of the dob mount, added rings and a dovetail, and mounted it on his CGE-Pro or comparable) but in this case it is unlikely.". You reach a point where the picture doesn't seem to change much, so you never know where the very sweetest spot in the focus is. Topics such as
These are mounted 120 degrees apart and use 4 inexpensive bearings to support the tube. on Introduction. small, it's surprisingly rigid. Inside the OTA is a ring of tightly fitting flocking paper that prevents any light getting in around the drawtube. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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. It turned out that they had an incorrect zip code and the package was still waiting to be sent. Nice one. My telescope is the Orion ED80T-CF. My guess is that photo was taken with a refractor. Total cost for supplies for this project: It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. It took about 3 weeks but, since Anttler's did not even reply to the Paypal dispute, I received a Paypal refund. Once Id built a CNC router, I embarked on my third telescope, featuring a 16 primary mirror with aluminum trusses, wide vertical bearing arcs, a steel front-adjustable mirror cell, and a rotating base. This motor is available on Amazon. Keeping with the 'simple ' part of your request, here is a helical 2"/1.25" focuser made from std plumbing parts. Helical is one of the option i am considering. Robert is a super guy and more than willing to help those who choose to follow in his footsteps. Ask Question Step 5: Stepper Motor Choice #2 - NEMA-17 Geared Stepper Motor If your optical train is heavy and the focuser has to bear it (see above) then this motor may be a better choice.
DIY Electric Focuser - ATM, Optics and DIY Forum - Cloudy Nights really stiff and light for their size, and even though a #2 is pretty Because mirror flexure can distort an image, supporting the mirror properly involves building a flotation cell. you don't need to paint it (or worry about paint flaking off it). 24 T-nuts, with matching 2 bolts and knobs, 8 Aluminum tubing, thin wall, 1 square, 4 lengths I got mine from Cycle 24, Black woven velveteen, 68 Cut it so it stretches along the 6 axis. The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP. my 12.5" trackball, but I didn't #2 knitting needle would be just about right. 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. The email bounced back to me. Building the mirror box is tricky, because the entire optical assembly (mirror cell, mirror box, trusses, secondary cage) must balance at the center of rotation of the arms. like, you can have as much focuser travel as you want no matter how I want to put my 12.5 mirror in a collapsible structure so I can haul it easy, Say a truss tube design, 7 years ago This combination has the best resolution (steps/revolution), so I didn't see any reason to build anything else. I used my router to "mill" a flat area for better contact with the focus adjustment rod. You will need to order one sized for your telescope's focuser shaft size. In order to check your measurements, you can construct jigs for your mirror cell and secondary cage, positioning them on a straight, adjustable track such as 2 planks of wood. And you can tell it's not a mosaic because the stars at the corners show coma/field curvature artifacts. the nylon screws going up from the bottom, but I found the knitting Download and check them out, I just grabbed the first one and printed it. I suppose that one could complete this project without these two tools, but it would be difficult to cut the pieces accurately enough for a good fit. The belt and pulleys are off-the-shelf items available on Amazon. A couple setscrews and you're up & running with an off the shelf solution. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. Since there is no drill bit that exactly matches the 13.1mm of the shaft, I had to do some rough enlargement of the hole. 11 years ago Attach the ball head to the top board. Before I wrapped the tube (and before I discovered the problem with the primary placement) I determined the balance point on the tube. Link to the motor speed controller kit:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=KC5225(a 5K external potentiometer will be required): http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=RP3508The drive motor:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=YG2734The gears:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=YG2736The motor forward/reverse switch:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ST0506The push button:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SP0711 haven't yet found any design elements that need improvement. The bigger upvc nut will be attached to focuser plate and longer threaded side will be used on it for the focusing. I found out pretty quickly that building my own telescope would only be a bargain if I made my own mirror and mechanical parts. After the pieces were glued together, I used a belt sander to smooth out any rough edges, being careful to keep both rocker sides and both side bearings exactly the same. It turns out that sonotubes are a stock item in 8 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch, and sometimes even 16 inch diameters. focusers for that project. The Crayford Focuser and DIY Focuser for Homemade Telescope By trukmeeilee in Circuits Cameras 3,461 3 1 Download Favorite By trukmeeilee Follow More by the author: The Crayford focuser is a simplified focusing mechanism for amateur astronomical telescopes.