Several clamps were used to hold the pieces together overnight. But, especially on cold evenings, the focus may go out in the middle of the night. Again from the main FILES page, go to "ASCOM DRIVERS" and download everything. 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. Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this scope. Rock on! I have no idea how much mail this idea will generate, so I can't I then ran a bead of glue on the mark, and after it dried I cut out the nylon up to the glue. It has a 6mm shaft. Thanks Bob. 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. 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. Similar photos at http://www.telescopegeek.com/gallery.htm require 100+ minute exposure times on his 20" telescope and $3200 camera. It seems to : "http://www. 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. 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. A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. Someone is pulling someone's leg here. When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well. Thin 1/16 Kydex plastic should be cut to length to line the inside of the cage as a baffle to block outside light. Thanks for your article. 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. Here's a detailed response from a thread at CloudyNights:http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4721255 "The image scale is wrong on the M31 image, fits too much of the galaxy in for even a 35mm chip. Above youll find an interactive 3D rendering of the Sketchup file I used to design and cut all of the parts for my telescope. The telescopes size is classified by the size of its mirror. I used my router to "mill" a flat area for better contact with the focus adjustment rod. 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. 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. It took about 3 weeks but, since Anttler's did not even reply to the Paypal dispute, I received a Paypal refund. Participated in the Celestron Space Challenge. I Hope to give you ideas if you are thinking about building one for yourself! 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. 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. An electronic focuser, which moves the focus knob through a combination of hardware and software, solves this problem. (The 8 inches from the center of the secondary to the field stop in the focuser is the same 8 inches from the center of the focuser to the top of the tube.) (I didn't have the primary mirror yet). Have you made any mods on it since you built it? As it turned out, the mirror cell was too large to fit into my 14 inch sonotube. the bearings right at the edge of the frame, reducing the frame to installations. You should watch (and bookmark) this video. 5 weeks after I had ordered the mirror, I called to ask about its status. After the second call, I received a response that it would be ready at the end of the following week. Electronics and software automate the process of taking pictures. 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. But by this time I had thought about building my own scope for several weeks, and getting one off the shelf seemed pretty boring by comparison! I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! 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. on Introduction. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. A few months later I ordered some other things from Scopestuff, including strips of Ebony Star laminate for the side bearings, a ring of Ebony Star for the rocker bottom, a strip of teflon to cut pieces for the ground board and side bearings, and a new base for my Telrad finder. With the DRV8825 and Arduino Nano plugged in, the basic board is complete. I told them I was on my way. 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. Nice work and great instructable! How to build a 12.5 inch closed tube Dobsonian telescope. on Introduction, Very nice build nikon20. I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. that is a great website that guy has some fantastic photos. The diameter of the focuser is usually indicated in inches. I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6" F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. 4 years ago 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. DIY Truss Dob input: How to design truss? Shorter thread side will be used to attach the eyepiece. the side of a rigid secondary cage. It interfaces to the computer via USB and comes with an ASCOM driver. Inside the OTA is a ring of tightly fitting flocking paper that prevents any light getting in around the drawtube. The box should be deep enough to allow the mirror box to swing all the way down. This consists of a small black box of electronics. eyepiece on the ground (or worse, on your primary mirror!) Carve out a hole on the top part of the sonotube first. It's the same in form, but has a perfect, true 13.35mm hole. There are a number of technical reasons why these photographs could not have come from this Optical Tube Assembly. The next day, I called back to ask their opinion about the kind of spider and secondary holder to order. Funny how the bigger they are the better for dobs. It stalled when tension on the belt increased. The only thing on the list that was a bit difficult to find was baltic birch plywood, which had to be special ordered from the lumber yard. Drawing lines between opposite corners of the tube box sides allowed me to locate the center point on each side. an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. astronowanabe, Pierre Lemay, LarsMalmgren and. 11 years ago After a few weeks of no communication from them, no ability to phone or email them, and no mirror cell arriving. Finally it was etched in caustic soda, and anodised matt black. It is used to setup water outlet from overhead water tanks. A couple setscrews and you're up & running with an off the shelf solution. 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. 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. really stiff and light for their size, and even though a #2 is pretty So, I duplicated the aluminum gear pulley in SolidWorks, and printed it out. I carefully cut exactly through the center of each side bearing circle to make my semicircles. One of the neat things about the square design is that the Motion is very smooth. 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 first tried my 32mm plossl eyepiece. The little app is simple and works great. 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. 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. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. I wanted a tight / press fit, so I only added half that, 0.25mm. Obviously an open truss telescope. Read the documentation though, there are a lot of functions and options. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. I built mine entirely from CNC-cut plywood, and fastened it together with 2 bolts. . needle so the knitting needle will be snug against the drawtube without I started with a spacer that with a inch outer diameter. Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. Finally, I attached Keepers to the sides of the rocker at the bottom of the arcs using screws and glue. Two of the holes for the bolts were blocked by knobs. I am well versed in technology, have all the tools necessary to build my own! Next, attach the eyepiece and the focuser to the top part of the telescope tube. The bearings only need to be A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! I attached small felt pads to the inside of the keepers to protect the side bearings from scratches, but discovered that the side bearings would not fit because of the thickness of the pads. Here is what I was working on but looks like I need a better design. a "rubbery" feel. Rather than use a sheet of plastic Kydex to finish the tube, as recommended in K/B, I ordered a sheet of birch veneer. Fire up focusmax, and shoot some images! Bill, Impressive work and great idea about LSDF focuser. I also wanted to strengthen and protect the cardboard tube. 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. 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. The focuser shaft on the telescope is 13.1mm in diameter. As I understand, you are using it for a refractor. Since these focusers were going side-by-side on a binocular That helps with low-profile accessible by all ages and skill ranges. Find a special something for the makers in your life. If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. I'm only hoping to supplement it a bit with some info and pictures aimed at those with limited skills (such as myself) :-) I'm not an electrical engineer, I'm more of a software guy with some limited knowledge of electronics and basic soldering and assembly skills. The overall project is super cheap, we're building this thing for something like $50 in materials. I welded mine from steel square tubing. on Step 5, 9 years ago 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. 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. The company has a reputation for excellent optics, and it was neither the most expensive, nor the least. This combination has the best resolution (steps/revolution), so I didn't see any reason to build anything else. Fast forward a few months to the next time I had the tube outside. The base and the rocker box in my telescope are secured with a skate bearing assembly but could be more simply attached with a bolt through the center. Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base. I am thankful to enjoy the inspiration, and the details, that you provide, as I will soon be constructing a Dobsonian Telescope. This is not recommended for shared computers. 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. When they arrived, they were beautifully and carefully packaged with the secondary already installed in its holder. I did not glue the bearings to the tube box in case I needed to adjust the position later. I had to take apart the focuser in order to get my bolts in place. 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. While I will freely admit that most astro-photography is WAY beyond me, you certainly do NOT need a $3200 camera to do so. We tried this in our back yard, but found that it was too difficult to aim both the tube and the moving mirror at distant trees in our suburban yard. I decided to order a mirror cell from them because the owner had talked about a new cell he was excited about. What materials did you use? You simply glue or screw the 'nut' part to your scope OTA, and thread the tube part in/out to focus. To view, go here: http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ 4 years ago The hole did need to be enlarged slightly by moving the bit within the hole , but in the end, the fit seems right. Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion focusers, normally found in this type of device. Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion Part numbers 351-4574 and 336-422. A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers Secondary mirror with spider holder Search on eBay for a matched set. case you need more focuser travel than you thought. When I ordered the cell, I paid through paypal, which immediately deducts money from my checking account. on Step 1, interesting build, its just like my old Odyssey brand scope from the mid 1990's. 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. until a 2" eyepiece or 1.25" adapter is snug. Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. Our websites use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Newton, and others including James Gregory and Laurent Cassegrain, believed that a reflecting telescope would not be affected by the chromatic aberration that affected . Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. Look down through the empty focuser. I attached keepers 1 inches wide by 5 inches long, extending above the bottom of the arcs by about 1 inches. Another thing, the resolution on the Dumbell nebula seems a bit too high for that telescope. The rocker sides are each made of two identical pieces of inch plywood glued together, creating two sides one inch thick. Or rather, I hated it. Telescope Magazine. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches). Let me see if I am able to collect all the parts needed. Some quick tips to note if you are making a homemade telescope are: 1. Once the pieces were cut and I held them around the tube, I decided to cut them a bit smaller because the extra space was too much. like, you can have as much focuser travel as you want no matter how It is size 1.25 inch with a clear inside dia-meter. knitting needle where it goes through the hole, so it's not a big deal, This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. weight. . I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. So, as they say, "back to the drawing board". But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. 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. surfaces to put the bearings in and a vee at the bottom that would hold together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. I tried this one first and found it wouldn't work for my application. I have built a homemade electric focuser for my Celestron 8SE using a radio control hobby servo and some spare parts. The silly colours are mainly due to me experimenting with various clothes dyes in the anodising. 100A81BF-2145-44D5-BC76-66DBF43BAD58.jpeg. Upload that main sketch to the Nano. 7 years ago Total cost for supplies for this project: It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. 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. Because thebasic movement and optics requirements are relatively simple, much of the design is left to the builder. The hole is made slightly larger than the shaft, this is normal. pageTracker._trackPageview(); I also doubled the thickness of the rocker sides (not the front wall) to provide better support for the heavier tube. I had the thought that as long as I was going to build it I should build it as big as I could afford. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!). I plan to use an FTA over it in case an extension is needed. Drill the holes for the knitting 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 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. I described it two years ago in this thread:https://www.cloudyniuser/?p=8879835 . Make the hole diameter fairly snug, too. I did not wrap the tube until I had completed the base. Once built, line the undersides of the arms with textured ABS plastic as a bearing surface. 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.". Topics such as Before I wrapped the tube (and before I discovered the problem with the primary placement) I determined the balance point on the tube. While round tubing is sturdy, square tubing is easier to work with. You can view and download the full file here. Before you do this, the stepper motor will probably move, but it will make a 'stuttering' sound instead of moving smoothly. forces the knitting needle against the drawtube and the drawtube against 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. small, it's surprisingly rigid. It's rigid, lightweight, and The focuser is very smooth. It was May 12th. Now I can simply insert the PVC cap on the end of a 4" pvc tube. occurred to me that a square turned 45 degrees would give me two flat NEMA-17 Stepper Motor - see below, there are two options. Download and check them out, I just grabbed the first one and printed it. $299.99 More About Telescope Focusers control. Remember: It is the quality and SIZE of the capture chip, NOT the megapixels that determines quality. I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. Contact cement is permanent, so the only solution would be to replace the tube! Just drill holes in both ends and mount the lenses. For my project I needed a 14 inch diameter, and I had a tough time finding one. Home centers and hardware stores did not carry large sizes. If you want a Crayford focuser with a knob instead of turning the draw tube, then Jerry Oltion's designhttp://www.jerryoltixycrayfords.htm using box frames and knitting needle drive shafts is also a fairly easy build. These have slop as you change direction, you can't do fine adjustments, they weigh a ton, and can flex alarmingly over time. I found out pretty quickly that building my own telescope would only be a bargain if I made my own mirror and mechanical parts. my thoughts naturally gravitated toward a boxy focuser to go with it. I will have a lot of fun building my homemade 12.5 inch Dobsonian Telescope!!! Also, I will work with my computer geek buddies, so that we eventually automate it using Linux on a Rock64, to run kstars for tracking, on INDI. You need a drawtube of course. a try. His project is very well documented. The day I received the refund, I ordered a mirror cell from University Optics. A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep 1" Rack & Pinion Focuser. A neet site: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM Cool instructable, Dude! I have several of the books on building a Dobsonian Telescope. 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. 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. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches) Lighter than the existing focuser. Here is a link to the main FILES area on Robert Brown's site. 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. 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. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. I do have another tube that can be used around the drawtube, but it doesn't really add anything. I told them to take their time and get it right. Measure twice, drill That evening I spent most of my time rediscovering the many DSOs around Sagittarius, especially the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid Nebula. After cutting the circles for the side bearings, I set up the jig to cut the curved edges of the rocker sides. 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. This is where you will use screws to strongly attach the focuser onto the tube. once. It just To cut the circles, I used a router with a straight cutting bit and a circle cutting jig. I'm also going to focus on only one version of Robert's focuser (there are many). 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. The glue should keep the nylon from fraying. Two different construction supply companies told me that sonotubes were not available with a 14 inch diameter, even by special order. As I read the book I decided that I should build a 12.5 inch truss tube scope. Likewise, the side bearings are made of two identical semicircles of 5/8 inch plywood glued together, creating side bearings that are 1 inches thick. by cranking Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? I'd be willing to bet that you could easily grind your own 12.5 inch next time and save some $$. Edited by Pierre Lemay, 25 May 2020 - 08:10 AM. I paid the 50% deposit and dreamed of DSOs. I will get good 30-40 mm focusing range. During on-site assembly, attach each truss to its mounting T-nut using a bolt with a thumbscrew knob. var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1008534-4"); 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. 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. Only problem is if I put a diagonal it wants to rotate the helical part. This motor is available on Amazon. Or in my case, back to SolidWorks :-). Thanks again for the 'ible. PVC pipe makes great drawtubes. I only do functional. To interface with the computer, I have used the Artemis Focuser module from Steve, Arthur and Co. think that design would be rigid enough under the weight of a diagonal Drill a hole and attach the ball head using a shorter 1/4" 20 bolt. The rocker arms must also have guides to keep it on the track; flat metal 12 braces lined with ABS plastic work nicely. Just to make sure I liked the stain, I applied some to a piece of scrap wood. 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. Once you get it working, there's some calibration you need to do. 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 only use the OTA. 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. 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.
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homemade telescope focuser