This allowed me to cut perfect identical circles. Deep space photos like these require HOURS of exposure for each one. After picking up a copy of The Dobsonian Telescope by David Kriege, I built my first telescope with a 12-diameter mirror, then later tackled a 12 lightweight scope. Then it was time to stain and finish. This is my copy of the telescope that Sir Isaac Newton presented to the Royal Society of London in 1671, and is considered to be the first successful reflecting telescope. The version number "312" here may change if Robert posts new firmware. Helical is one of the option i am considering. Shorter thread side will be used to attach the eyepiece. Move the jigs until you can comfortably place a variety of eyepieces in the focuser and get a sharp image, then carefully measure the separation distances. Attach the ball head to the top board. Once your telescope is assembled, drape black woven velveteen around the truss assembly, clipping it with safety pins. Drill the holes for the knitting I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. This allows for a small clearance between the outside of the tube and the inside of the tube box (14 3/8). 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. 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. off the bearings. See the images how I plan to assemble it. This is the upper tube that contains the flat secondary mirror, Telrad finder, and focuser. They even offered to send the spider, secondary holder, and secondary mirror immediately so that I could begin working on the tube while I waited for the primary. I made this Crayford style focuser using plywood scraps and surplus bearings. More Homemade Refractor Telescope DIY Erecting Prism Binoviewer Focuser here: Did you make this project? spambots that search the internet for addresses to send junk mail to.) 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. I sanded all parts of the telescope with 220 grit sandpaper followed by 400 grit, making a very smooth surface to apply the stain. Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. However more than the focuser, I liked your scope. This motor is available on Amazon. Dobsonians come in all shapes and sizes, from small 4-8 builds all the way up to massive 24-36 creations. It takes the unknown out of focusing, and is easy to re-focus between filters, or refocus several times during a long exposure run as the world cools down. I ground and figured the mirror with little troubles, making my focault tester, etc. But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! To make the hole for the focuser, I used the focuser tube to mark a circle in the shroud. 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. Just drill holes in both ends and mount the lenses. 4 years ago This consists of a small black box of electronics. You will need to order one sized for your telescope's focuser shaft size. This will determine the size of the coupler you will use to connect the stepper motor. that is a great website that guy has some fantastic photos. 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. Contact cement is permanent, so the only solution would be to replace the tube! 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. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. on Step 5, 9 years ago and hope it doesn't fall off Sonotube (14 inch diameter, 12 feet long): $70, Focuser (GSO 2 speed low profile Crayford): $139, Total cost for supplies for this project: $1700. For my project I needed a 14 inch diameter, and I had a tough time finding one. Similar photos at http://www.telescopegeek.com/gallery.htm require 100+ minute exposure times on his 20" telescope and $3200 camera. Just as it was about to come into focus, the focuser bottomed out. Rack & Pinion: For many years the standard focuser was of the rack-and-pinion type - a small pinion gear moved the flat toothed rack that was attached to or built into the moving focusing tube that holds the eyepiece.However, this geared system was far from ideal, with some wobble due to the friction fit between the fixed and moving tubes and backlash due to the gears. This project is based on Robert Brown's "Arduino ASCOM Focuser Pro2 DIY". Two different construction supply companies told me that sonotubes were not available with a 14 inch diameter, even by special order. Staples or finishing nails work fine, but be sure they dont bump up above the surface of the plastic. 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. During assembly, youll attach the trusses to the mirror box, then sit the secondary cage on top and bolt everything in place. 7 years ago This cost around $100 to build and all of the components came from. 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 Many sources point out that 10 inches is a kind of sweet spot in the balance between power and portability. All i did was supply the telescope as far as his camera equipment i dont know what he used i never saw it all i know is he had my scope for about a month while i was traveling and he gave me these photos. It has become an indispensable piece of equipment for me that so beats hacking and filing PVC pipes etc. 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. Thanks again for the 'ible. 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. Cost is $25 - $30, and you will have 5 PCBs in about a week. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. 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. They eyepiece height ended up being about 5'10" high at zenith. Robert Brown did an excellent video on how to work out your stepper motor requirements. I also wanted to strengthen and protect the cardboard tube. I am a retired USAF electronics engineer, and might even do much of the construction of the base with welded structural tubing, as, I do have a complete metal working shop besides my wood shop, here. A free program that lights childrens creative fires and allows them to explore projects in areas such as arts & It has a 6mm shaft. To place the primary mirror, I installed the secondary and installed the primary in the mirror cell. on Introduction. The diameter of the focuser is usually indicated in inches. drneilmb, thanks for sharing the focuser design. I drilled the holes in the center of the ground board and rocker bottom using a 9/16 bit, thinking that I needed the extra 1/16 so that the spacer could move. Im quite happy with the result, and the view in its large mirror is phenomenal. I told them to take their time and get it right. CNC files (optional) Download the Sketchup files. 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. I will have a lot of fun building my homemade 12.5 inch Dobsonian Telescope!!! DIY Truss Dob input: How to design truss? Brandon Lawler is a hobbyist telescope Maker and an active member of the Central Texas Astronomical Society. ASIAIR - Is there an easy way to load Messier catalog into Autorun? Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!). This was to allow the circle cutting jig to be attached to the board to cut the arcs from a center point of 25 inches above the ground. Until I see photos of this scope setup for these pictures and an explanation of the exact equipment used, I cannot believe that these pictures were taken with this OTA. Once I had my design set, I was ready to buy the parts. A smart collection of books, magazines, electronics kits, robots, microcontrollers, tools, supplies, and more Feel free to take on that part if you like, but you're on your own :-). 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. The glue should keep the nylon from fraying. I did not glue the bearings to the tube box in case I needed to adjust the position later. Ideally, the spacer would be 1 inch long and have a smaller diameter, but I didn't get this one right the first time. So, for my telescope I used a 6mm to 5mm coupler available on Amazon. Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? 1N5408 3A Diode (you may need to make the pins smaller to fit through the holes in the board. I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. 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. It was May 12th. I am using scrap upvc pipe material. Your design is simple and nice. Earthbound1 likes this #2 dave brock Mercury-Atlas The 48 inch width of the veneer was close enough to the diameter of the tube that I used it as is. The holes in the main bracket the match the holes in the plate are oversize to allow for this alignment. 8 years ago A couple setscrews and you're up & running with an off the shelf solution. Here is a simple 3D printed helical focuser that cost just a few cents (assuming you have a 3D printer). With adapters for any Meade 1x200-ACF or LS model, and chord to plug into focuser port. A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers I installed the spider first, about one inch down from the end of the square end of the tube. We use cookies to continuously improve our websites for you and optimize its design and customization. Share it with us! Most people will want a knob on It's rigid, lightweight, and Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. Use the externalMirror Edge Support Calculatorto decide whether to use a two-point, four-point (whiffletree), or sling support. I wasn't there so i can be 100% but i do not think my friend was lying to me and i believe the pictures are from my telescope my kids use it for stargazing a lot i have seen some deepspace but i use it mainly for sketching the moon and i like to view solar flares. I do have another tube that can be used around the drawtube, but it doesn't really add anything. The secondary holder is adjustable, so I could didn't have to get the location perfect. The day I received the refund, I ordered a mirror cell from University Optics. I don't have the skills to build a focuser using a. You will have to line up the diagonal and primary so that you see a centered image of the sonotube opening and the spyder in the eyepiece hole. I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. I did run into a small problem with the focuser. The focal length of the mirror is 61 inches. Trim off any unused fabric along the base. Finally, I glued a strip of Ebony Star laminante to the curves edge of each side bearing using contact cement, using a flush edge bit on a router to bring the edge of the laminate even with the edge of the wood after the cement had set. The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP. Another thing, the resolution on the Dumbell nebula seems a bit too high for that telescope. All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . The hole did need to be enlarged slightly by moving the bit within the hole , but in the end, the fit seems right. Next, attach the eyepiece and the focuser to the top part of the telescope tube. I used one of the top scraps from the rocker sides to mark an angle of 70 degrees from the center of the arc to the curved cut in order to properly space 1 X 7/8 teflon pads on the arcs. Pierre Lemay, thanks for sharing your simple and incredible design. Two such companies would not give me a price because the order of a single tube was too small. An electronic focuser, which moves the focus knob through a combination of hardware and software, solves this problem. I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6" F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. This is the first telescope that I have built. The focuser knob had two set screws. (Sorry you 1/4" x 20 bolt, and the nylon bolt end against the smooth knitting Interfaced with a computer, so the computer can make the decisions about where the best focus is. 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. Step 4Attaching the Side Bearings and assembling the Rocker. 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. I'm' glad I did, because I didn't like the first color that I had chosen. I have several of the books on building a Dobsonian Telescope. flexing. We were careful to press out any bubbles as we went, but when the job was done we found that there were multiple bubbles in the veneer. weight. This one is based on the DRV8825 driver chip and a NEMA-17 stepper motor. Also no obvious diffraction spikes in the m31 photo. Save over 40% off the annual cover price for a full year (4 issues) of Make. Thanks for your article. the side of a rigid secondary cage. The focuser shaft on the telescope is 13.1mm in diameter. I ordered the focuser, received an immediate email confirming the order, and it arrived two days later. This sure is going to be a project I will work on. It stalled when tension on the belt increased. I got a different stain, tested it, and went back to work. One of the neat things about the square design is that the Finally, I attached Keepers to the sides of the rocker at the bottom of the arcs using screws and glue. I want to make this direct drive system work. These are mounted 120 degrees apart and use 4 inexpensive bearings to support the tube. Featured in the February, 2015 issue of Sky & I first tried my 32mm plossl eyepiece. I also have an extended photographic build diary of this telescope posted on Imgur. In addition, we use third-party cookies to help us analyze and understand usage. astronowanabe, Pierre Lemay, LarsMalmgren and. I called to express my concern and was told that it had all been packaged a few weeks ago and that it, For complete instructions on building a telescope such as this one, I strongly recommend buying a copy of, After cutting the circles for the side bearings, I set up the jig to cut the curved edges of the rocker sides. ill ask him for a detailed list of what he used and when i get that ill post it here for you. really stiff and light for their size, and even though a #2 is pretty If you enter it in the next contest please let me know and i will make sure to vote for you. If you connect the 12V power with the barrel connector (right side of photo), the Nano should light up without the USB connection. 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. 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. I took the whole tube assembly outside. surfaces to put the bearings in and a vee at the bottom that would hold I bought a 4" PVC Sewer pipe cap, used a hole saw to cut a 2.25" hole then attached the helical thing to the PVC cap. I only do functional. I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. While I applaud your building of a homemade Dob, (giving you the FULL benefit of the doubt here) your "friend" has provided photographs that make it look like you're trying to win by cheating. It is named after the Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society, Crayford, London, England where it was invented by John Wall, a member of the astronomical society which meets there. Given any mirror measurements, PLOP will provide the ideal support layout and how much distortion to expect for any number of flotation points. I decided to use baltic birch because it is recommended by Kriege and Berry as well as many online sources. 10 years ago 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. This arrangement turns 100% true, no wobble. Edited by howardcano, 24 May 2020 - 09:29 PM. Bill, Impressive work and great idea about LSDF focuser. SDO/HMI Continuum Image on 2023.03.04 at 1259 UT, Remote computer working with no extra networking. A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. Rock Paper Scissors Using Tinkercad Circuits and Arduino, Punchy the MECH & the Autonomous Fight Club, PCB (printed circuit board) - download the, DRV8825 - stepper motor driver chip/board - again, clones available on. Best Wishes, Reply I have no dog in this hunt whatsoever, but if people are impressed by these photographs and vote for it because of them when there's no proof that this scope generated the photos and there IS data to the contrary (see below), then that's certainly not fair to the other contestants. 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. Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. During on-site assembly, attach each truss to its mounting T-nut using a bolt with a thumbscrew knob. I pointed it at distant trees and had no problem bringing the image into focus with all of my eyepieces. 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. If you wanted to really go low-profile with this design, They're fairly Because mirror flexure can distort an image, supporting the mirror properly involves building a flotation cell. forward and back along with the drawtube when you focus, and you'll get But, especially on cold evenings, the focus may go out in the middle of the night. 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. I attached three feet equally spaced on top of the ring, and on the opposite side attached teflon pads 1 X 1 directly above the feet using very small brads and countersinking the brads below the surface of the teflon. I have no idea how much mail this idea will generate, so I can't Attach the eye piece to another cardboard piece and pass it through the hole from the inside of the tube. You need a drawtube of course. To test the concept I used a short piece of two inch PVC for the draw tube. Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. Find a special something for the makers in your life. If you're not familiar with Arduino, watch some tutorial videos. The core of the telescope, the steel mirror cell holds and adjusts the heavy, curved primary mirror. I started with a spacer that with a inch outer diameter. The little app is simple and works great. The telescopes size is classified by the size of its mirror. 10 inch or 12 inch. : "http://www. It is not very powerful, it will not supply enough torque if you put any load on it or have a heavy optical train (like I do) and the focuser has to "pull" it upward when the telescope is vertical. A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. 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. . 11 years ago Let me see if I can get similar plumbing parts here. . Whether you need a basic rack-and-pinion telescope focuser for your homemade telescope project or a premium Crayford-type model with dual-speed focusing as a performance upgrade, you have come to the right place. 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. After waiting for the stain to dry for a day, I applied polyurethane in two coats, going over the surface with 0000 steel wool between coats. he might just have a $3200 camera, they aren't very hard to come by. Or in my case, back to SolidWorks :-). focusers for that project. Carve out a hole on the top part of the sonotube first. A project collaboration and documentation platform. It may take you a while to adjust the image correctly, but it's not hard to do, just time consuming. The bigger upvc nut will be attached to focuser plate and longer threaded side will be used on it for the focusing. 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. Star Adventurer Pro Pack Counter Weight Bar Thumb Screw Upgrade. Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. This NEMA-17 direct drive stepper motor is available from Adafruit and many other sellers. Place the focuser, draw the position of the screws with a pencil and remove the focuser. I found a used 16 primary on eBay. Please feel free to email me at the address on the right. The specific hardware used for this is described on the Building page. Thanks for the great comment. Rock on! The basic points I wanted to cover: What did I end up with? larger diameter. I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! I did not wrap the tube until I had completed the base. The current needs to be adjusted on the DRV8825. (Technically, it should have been 62.5 for a 12.5 inch f/5, but when the mirror came it had a note on the back that the focal length was 61 inches.) My secondary is 4; for tips on choosing size, click here. LVLaserTech is right please do not vote for the pictures my instructable is for the build of the telescope not the quality of the photos.and as i said before i was not there is there a possibility that he sent me the wrong photos sure is there a possibility that he used a different mount than the one i saw sure is there a possibility that he is lying to me me about what he did sure. Not sure how your toilets are built over there, but here they use what is called a tank flush valve. Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base. The mirror itself must also be able to tilt in three dimensions in order to aim its light at the secondary mirror (a process called collimation). It turns out the the extra 1/16 allowed far too much side to side movement between the rocker and ground board. 11 years ago You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. We all know the problems with focusing. If you don't want to go that route, contact me at gary.hethcoat@gmail.com since I have a lot of spare parts and I can sell you a "kit" with a PCB and only the parts you need. Every primary telescope mirror has a fixed focal length thats usually 4 to 6 times the width of the mirror. a "rubbery" feel. I'm also going to focus on only one version of Robert's focuser (there are many). To cut the circles, I used a router with a straight cutting bit and a circle cutting jig. The drawings are only approximately to scale. I tried this one first and found it wouldn't work for my application. This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. It is used to setup water outlet from overhead water tanks. Start with the small components first. I then attached the Ebony Star ring using contact cement. A bit of a monster! I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. The spider, or secondary mirror holder, will suspend the mirror in the optical path in order to direct light into the focuser. Nice one. If not, you may need to design and print your own bracket(s), gears, and so on. His passion is using CAD design and his homemade CNC router to bring large wood projects to life. 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! A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. like, you can have as much focuser travel as you want no matter how I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. I set things up in daylight and collimated the scope. And for those who like to work with 3D printers, both the single speed and dual-speed versions could easily be printed. Before I wrapped the tube (and before I discovered the problem with the primary placement) I determined the balance point on the tube. I particularly like that the design can be integrated directly into the focuser board to make a very, very simple UTA. With an outer diameter of 14 3/16, I cut the Tube Box sides 15 5/8 and 14 5/8slightly less than my extra inch extra on each side. This is the kind of simple off the shelf design I was looking for. My first telescope I built was a 10" F8. Let me see if I am able to collect all the parts needed. Rather than use a sheet of plastic Kydex to finish the tube, as recommended in K/B, I ordered a sheet of birch veneer. The cell from Anttler's, for which I had received a refund, had arrived. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. 4 years ago Realizing that it could not be the University Optics cell already, I thought, Noit couldn't be but, in fact, it was. I decided to order an aluminum mirror cell from University Optics instead so that the mirror could be supported at 9 different points. The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! This focuser (see pic at bottom) was motorised by me several years ago, but the motorised system didn't give me very fine control, and the motor running at fast speed tended to make the Artemis camera crash. Nice looking telescope. It's easy to shim it to A neet site: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM Cool instructable, Dude! It As the thread shows you could also build the dual speed version, all made of plywood, if you feel ready to tackle a slightly more complex project for a cost of about 5$ more. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00.
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