I really had to, since the underside of my telescope's focuser is all curves, no flat area for attaching the mounting bracket. Home centers and hardware stores did not carry large sizes. Not sure if it is available in the USA. I will get good 30-40 mm focusing range. The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. focusers for that project. Perfect for visual observations with very heavy mirrors. And for those who like to work with 3D printers, both the single speed and dual-speed versions could easily be printed. The curved sides of the Side Bearings are also covered with strips of Ebony Star that glide on the teflon pads on the curved edges of the Rocker Sides (figure 3). 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. Nice work and great instructable! Trim off any unused fabric along the base. Inside the OTA is a ring of tightly fitting flocking paper that prevents any light getting in around the drawtube. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! The drawings are only approximately to scale. guarantee a response, but I'll do my best to answer everyone who writes an eyepiece. It turns out the the extra 1/16 allowed far too much side to side movement between the rocker and ground board. Slide the eyepiece into the focuser and try it out. 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. I also wanted to buy the other mechanical partsmirror cell, spider, secondary holder, and focuserso that the performance of these pieces was not limited by my skills. 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. Just to make sure I liked the stain, I applied some to a piece of scrap wood. 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. homemade Crayford focuser. Download and unzip. Plus it comes in black, so Yet I was also becoming infected with aperture fever. After looking at many focuser options with a big range of prices, I decided to order a GSO 2 speed Crayford focuser from ScopeStuff. $299.99 More About Telescope Focusers The company has a reputation for excellent optics, and it was neither the most expensive, nor the least. Meade Zero Image-Shift Electronic Micro-Focuser This high precision focuser allows you to obtain an extremely accurate image focus. This combination has proved to be effective for all positions except when the tube is pointed directly up. I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. You will look through these as you rotate the wheel. The pieces were cut down to 15 3/8 and 14 3/8, allowing just under 1/8 inch on each side. As the thread shows you could also build the dual speed version, all made of plywood, if you feel ready to tackle a slightly more complex project for a cost of about 5$ more. Some of these are essential for the basic functionalities of our websites. Focuser (GSO 2 speed low profile Crayford): $139 Ebony star strips: 2 @ $10 Ebony star ring: $59 Teflon strip: $11 Telrad base: $10 Baltic Birch " sheet (60X60): $42 Baltic Birch 5/8" sheet (60X60): $48 Circle cutting jig: $30 Birch Veneer (4X8 piece): $65 Hardware, stain, other supplies: $80 Total cost for supplies for this project: $1700 A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep Finally, attach your polar alignment device and align it with the hinge. tube and nut that fits the outside threads. During on-site assembly, attach each truss to its mounting T-nut using a bolt with a thumbscrew knob. So I decided to make my own, using my normal "blunder in naively and see what happens" approach to making things. It took yet another call a week later for the items to actually be mailed. Once built, line the undersides of the arms with textured ABS plastic as a bearing surface. Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. 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. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. I'm also going to focus on only one version of Robert's focuser (there are many). Measure the diameter of the exposed shaft. an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. 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. All that remained was to design and print a bracket, and buy the needed parts. Most of these have one or two set screws. I have several of the books on building a Dobsonian Telescope. Earthbound1 likes this #2 dave brock Mercury-Atlas the side of a rigid secondary cage. 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. 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. This means you lose much of the night's images. It wouldn't be a two-speed design, but if I used a thin enough on Step 5, After much debit and doubt i have taken the photos down cause i cannot be 100% sure that they were taking from my scope as i was not there to verify them and i do not want my contest entry to be based on photos and not the build process. 11 years ago 1" Rack & Pinion Focuser. After the second call, I received a response that it would be ready at the end of the following week. Attach the eye piece to another cardboard piece and pass it through the hole from the inside of the tube. After you've done that, put a couple of tiny pan-head screws All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . Above youll find an interactive 3D rendering of the Sketchup file I used to design and cut all of the parts for my telescope. How to build a 12.5 inch closed tube Dobsonian telescope. This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. } catch(err) {}, SH-232 Sharpless sh-232, sh-231, sh-233, sh-235, NGC2174 Monkey Head Nebula, Sharpless 252, Sh2-252, HDW3 Hartl-Dengel-Weinberger 3 PN G149.4-09.2, SH-198 Sharpless 198, Soul Nebula, IC1848, NGC281 IC11, Sharpless Sh2-184, Pacman Nebula, SH2-173 SH2-173 Phantom of the Opera LBN 593, SH2-168 Sharpless HII regions. I decided that my best option was to scale up their 8 inch design for a 12.5 inch scope and sacrifice the portability and easier storage of a truss scope for something that I felt confident in building myself. You need to order it sized for your focuser shaft size. It doesn't. A tilted focuser will have no effect on the image quality. 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. Unfortunately I don't have a 3d printer. I ended up modifying it a bit after printing. Measure twice, drill 10 inch or 12 inch. Drawing lines between opposite corners of the tube box sides allowed me to locate the center point on each side. The diameter of the focuser is usually indicated in inches. Using heavy grit sandpaper I brought back the surface of the keeper enough for the side bearings to fit inside the felt pads. Step 3The Side Bearings and Rocker Sides. The next day, I called back to ask their opinion about the kind of spider and secondary holder to order. They're fairly I built a second set of electronics, and I had the NEMA 17 Direct Drive motor left over since it didn't work for my Orion ED80T-CF refractor. Be creative! Once your telescope is assembled, drape black woven velveteen around the truss assembly, clipping it with safety pins. small, it's surprisingly rigid. "); The bigger upvc nut will be attached to focuser plate and longer threaded side will be used on it for the focusing. on Step 5, 9 years ago haven't yet found any design elements that need improvement. I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! . I tried all of my other eyepieces and found that I could bring the image into focus in the other eyepieces, but it was very near the bottom of the focuser travel. Also no obvious diffraction spikes in the m31 photo. At their suggestion, I also ordered a 2.6 inch secondary mirror. astronowanabe, Pierre Lemay, LarsMalmgren and. I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. On the cutting diagram, you can see that the side bearings were cut 26 inches long. After the second call, I received a response that it would be ready at the end of the following week. More commercial crayford focusers are of a more enclosed form, whereas mine is more "open frame" approach. If you're not using heavy eyepieces, you probably don't need 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. By adjusting the bolts, the mirror can be pointed toward the correct spot. The spider, or secondary mirror holder, will suspend the mirror in the optical path in order to direct light into the focuser. Obviously an open truss telescope. Use the externalMirror Edge Support Calculatorto decide whether to use a two-point, four-point (whiffletree), or sling support. 1/4" x 20 bolt, and the nylon bolt end against the smooth knitting The original Crayford Focuser is on display there. To make the hole for the focuser, I used the focuser tube to mark a circle in the shroud. Share a cool tool or product with the community. This allows for a small clearance between the outside of the tube and the inside of the tube box (14 3/8). Like i said these are not my photos and i cannot coment on exactly how he set it up as i was not there all i can say is i saw the mount he used when he picked up the telescope. The specific hardware used for this is described on the Building page. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. I also figured that the extra expense was worth it, considering the amount of money I was investing in the project overall. eyepiece on the ground (or worse, on your primary mirror!) Rock on! Read the documentation though, there are a lot of functions and options. This sure is going to be a project I will work on. I didn't receive any confirmation email after a few days, so I tried to send them an email. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. It just 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. The current needs to be adjusted on the DRV8825. I don't *do* pretty. The motor is much lighter than the geared motor. Again from the main FILES page, go to "ASCOM DRIVERS" and download everything. This motor is available on Amazon. If the telescope rotates forward or backward on its own, then the mirror box is too deep or too shallow. The length of the Rocker Front also had to be changed so that the outside edge of the Side Bearings matched the outside edge of the Rocker Sides precisely. After researching several possible sources for a primary mirror, I decided to order an f/5 12.5 inch mirror from Discovery Optics. Edited by Pierre Lemay, 25 May 2020 - 08:10 AM. This NEMA-17 direct drive stepper motor is available from Adafruit and many other sellers. the bearings, totally eliminating any flex. 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. The Focuser and other items: (Scope Stuff). 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. This is where you will use screws to strongly attach the focuser onto the tube. Thanks again for the 'ible. Nice looking telescope. It's the same in form, but has a perfect, true 13.35mm hole. The 48 inch width of the veneer was close enough to the diameter of the tube that I used it as is. Plan ahead by carefully weighing all components and approximating the center mass of the optical assembly. You should now be able to drill the 4 holes at each corner. This means I can use FocusMax to do the focusing. 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 have built a homemade electric focuser for my Celestron 8SE using a radio control hobby servo and some spare parts. knitting needle where it goes through the hole, so it's not a big deal, Several of my Recent Images have been focused with this system. 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. An electronic focuser, which moves the focus knob through a combination of hardware and software, solves this problem. That way you won't be dropping your drawtube and If you're not familiar with Arduino, watch some tutorial videos. It's rigid, lightweight, and My plan for wrapping the tube seemed good, but I am not too pleased with the final result. A couple setscrews and you're up & running with an off the shelf solution. To interface with the computer, I have used the Artemis Focuser module from Steve, Arthur and Co. the nylon screws going up from the bottom, but I found the knitting Keeping with the 'simple ' part of your request, here is a helical 2"/1.25" focuser made from std plumbing parts. Telescope Magazine. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. Deep space photos like these require HOURS of exposure for each one. In addition, we use third-party cookies to help us analyze and understand usage. 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. 11 years ago CNC files (optional) Download the Sketchup files. can't click on it or copy and paste it; it's a graphic file to thwart 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. 1N5408 3A Diode (you may need to make the pins smaller to fit through the holes in the board. Here we see the following components installed: Notice we are NOT populating the parts of the board intended for Wifi or BLED. I will have a lot of fun building my homemade 12.5 inch Dobsonian Telescope!!! Share it with us! As the telescope tilts toward the horizon, the mirror must be supported on its edge. DIY Truss Dob input: How to design truss? Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. To get a slide-fit in a 3D printed part, you normally make the hole 0.5mm larger than the shaft. To get this arc, I actually moved the radius of the jig in by 1/8 inch. Have you made any mods on it since you built it? 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. initiatives for the next generation of makers. 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. 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 hole is made slightly larger than the shaft, this is normal. the drive shaft close against the drawtube. There are some test sketches in the "Tests" folder, start with those. Step 4Attaching the Side Bearings and assembling the Rocker. Thin-wall aluminum tubing is used to attach the mirror box to the secondary cage. stronger, but would give me a coarser focus action because of their 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. Line the underside of the rocker box with a ring of ABS plastic to allow it to ride on the base. The focuser is very smooth. 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. I built mine entirely from CNC-cut plywood, and fastened it together with 2 bolts. If you mess up, you can turn the hole into a slot, but avoid When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well. If you wanted to really go low-profile with this design, Having an RS trade counter 2 miles away is such a luxury! 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. I ordered the focuser, received an immediate email confirming the order, and it arrived two days later. 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. Did you make this project? 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. Next step, before my first acquisition of any parts, is to get with any amateur astronomers in Central Florida, so, wish me luck! Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this scope. 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. 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. The flat wants to be running parallel to the long axis of the tube. The focuser shaft on the telescope is 13.1mm in diameter. installations. I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality. I first tried my 32mm plossl eyepiece. And a flat thing to put it all on The email bounced back to me. 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. 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. These are mounted 120 degrees apart and use 4 inexpensive bearings to support the tube. document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); In the "ARDUINO FIRMWARE" folder, in it you will find a ZIP file "myFP2-Firmware 312-1.zip". This consists of a small black box of electronics. pageTracker._trackPageview(); PVC pipe makes great drawtubes. a "rubbery" feel. I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. Im sorry to hear you couldn't make the contest. Install on Windows 10, this part is pretty straightforward. This is the mirror box for my 16", with Jim doing a bit of cleanup sanding. So I was looking for a cheap, light-but-sturdy design for a The day I received the refund, I ordered a mirror cell from University Optics. Depending on your telescope, one of the Brackets that Robert has may work for you. Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. I told them I was on my way. I pointed it at distant trees and had no problem bringing the image into focus with all of my eyepieces. 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 My guess is that photo was taken with a refractor. Thanks for the great comment. var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? I'd The focuser is the part of the telescope that holds the eyepiece or camera, and by moving in or out, closer or farther from the . control. Best Wishes, Reply The little app is simple and works great. I was inspired to build telescopes during a trip out to McDonald Observatory in west Texas, where I saw a 36 fork-mounted telescope, tiny in comparison to the huge research telescopes at the site. Share it with us! I used a hole saw to cut a wooden plug to fit inside the on Step 5. Let me see if I can get similar plumbing parts here. I paid the 50% deposit and dreamed of DSOs. 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. To place the primary mirror, I installed the secondary and installed the primary in the mirror cell. Realizing that it could not be the University Optics cell already, I thought, Noit couldn't be but, in fact, it was. Now attach the screw eyes and the rubber band on the side of the board. a 3/4" thickness. 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. I wanted the long focal length for good contrast. This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. They said they would make the brackets extra long to accommodate the mirror and it would take about a week. my 12.5" trackball, but I didn't 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. Most people will want a knob on As the authors describe the benefits of a truss design, it is hard to dispute their arguments. 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. but try for a snug fit if you can. that is a great website that guy has some fantastic photos. 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. Nice one. The part is very strong! think that design would be rigid enough under the weight of a diagonal But I wanted a larger mirror, and, at that size, grinding my own was not an option. I'll use an aluminum tube for the finished draw tube but for now the plastic tube . To do this, the mirror cell needs to be supported by 3 large bolts, at least 2 of which are adjustable. It turns out that sonotubes are a stock item in 8 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch, and sometimes even 16 inch diameters. drneilmb, thanks for sharing the focuser design. But, like many of you I'm sure, the biggest reason I'm doing this is for the pure geeky fun of it! together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. This project is based on Robert Brown's "Arduino ASCOM Focuser Pro2 DIY". Download the Gerber Files. Finally it was etched in caustic soda, and anodised matt black. The focal length of the mirror is 61 inches. surfaces to put the bearings in and a vee at the bottom that would hold Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. Showcasing amazing maker projects of 2022. If you connect the 12V power with the barrel connector (right side of photo), the Nano should light up without the USB connection. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches) Lighter than the existing focuser. Well, it sort of looks like a focuser.. See pictures below. His project is very well documented. This simple homemade device will reduce star trails far better than if the camera was mounted on a tripod alone. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. I did not glue the bearings to the tube box in case I needed to adjust the position later. 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. Newton, and others including James Gregory and Laurent Cassegrain, believed that a reflecting telescope would not be affected by the chromatic aberration that affected .
Willie Miller Obituary, Heavy D'' Sparks Net Worth 2020, Body Found In Jamestown Ny, Horseheads Town Court, Articles H