homemade telescope focuser

I marked the expected position of the secondary by measuring 61 inches down from the end of the tube. Realizing that it could not be the University Optics cell already, I thought, Noit couldn't be but, in fact, it was. 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. See above, this motor does not produce a lot of torque, but you don't need much for this application since there is no 'load' on the focusing shaft. The flat wants to be running parallel to the long axis of the tube. Post 10 of the same LSDF focuser thread also links to Art Bianconi's archived 2008 original flush valve focuser posts. 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. Since these focusers were going side-by-side on a binocular At this point, the scope was pretty much finished. 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. I am thankful to enjoy the inspiration, and the details, that you provide, as I will soon be constructing a Dobsonian Telescope. 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. When you add the minimum distance from the eyepiece to the secondary mirror together with the distance from the secondary mirror to the primary, the total length should be the primary mirrors focal length. both sides. This software creates a model of your telescope by measuring out of focus star sizes at various points. If you connect the 12V power with the barrel connector (right side of photo), the Nano should light up without the USB connection. If you enter it in the next contest please let me know and i will make sure to vote for you. Share it with us! Not worth the effort, price is tooo high. once. I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! The cost is a bit more than some of the other combinations, but by only $10 or $20. Since my plan called for purchasing the mirrors and mechanical parts there were several decisions to be made and several vendors to contact. Edited by Pierre Lemay, 25 May 2020 - 08:10 AM. But, especially on cold evenings, the focus may go out in the middle of the night. The wide square footprint would make it pretty stable when mounted to 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. My DIY Motorized Telescope Focuser - YouTube Once built, line the undersides of the arms with textured ABS plastic as a bearing surface. love to hear from people who are interested in this focuser design. 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. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. It wouldn't be a two-speed design, but if I used a thin enough I had the thought that as long as I was going to build it I should build it as big as I could afford. Save over 40% off the annual cover price for a full year (4 issues) of Make. I didn't receive any confirmation email after a few days, so I tried to send them an email. it sticks into your light path. 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. We then spread contact cement over the remaining veneer and tube surface, waited for the glue to dry, and carefully rolled the tube over the veneer. It's rigid, lightweight, and Unfortunately I don't have a 3d printer. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! This scope was originally made as a travel scope using an eight inch mirror that I ground and polished at the St Pete Astronomy Clubs Mirror Lab. Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. Helical is one of the option i am considering. It's easy to shim it to exactly 2" with adhesive labels placed one at a time inside the tube until a 2" eyepiece or 1.25" adapter is snug. 11 years ago I used a hole saw to cut a wooden plug to fit inside the 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). Total cost for supplies for this project: It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. on Step 3. The email bounced back to me. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. Both cameras have fairly small megapixels by todays' standards, and are certainly obsolete, but do the job extremely well! 10 years ago 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. Not sure if it is available in the USA. Below are cutting diagrams and diagrams of the rocker and tube box with side bearings. I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. (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.) 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 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. I am using scrap upvc pipe material. But I wanted a larger mirror, and, at that size, grinding my own was not an option. The dimensions of the Tube Box Sides are based on the outer diameter of my tube14 3/16. It turns out the the extra 1/16 allowed far too much side to side movement between the rocker and ground board. an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. Before you do this, the stepper motor will probably move, but it will make a 'stuttering' sound instead of moving smoothly. If you're going for simple, have you considered a helical focuser? I attached keepers 1 inches wide by 5 inches long, extending above the bottom of the arcs by about 1 inches. Measure twice, drill You should watch (and bookmark) this video. Sonotube (14 inch diameter, 12 feet long): $70, Focuser (GSO 2 speed low profile Crayford): $139, Total cost for supplies for this project: $1700. Im sorry to hear you couldn't make the contest. Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base. Thin 1/16 Kydex plastic should be cut to length to line the inside of the cage as a baffle to block outside light. Robert Brown did an excellent video on how to work out your stepper motor requirements. This is the first telescope that I have built. So, am curious to see what others have designed and built and proud to show off here on the homage to Crayford thread. Just drill holes in both ends and mount the lenses. Here is what I was working on but looks like I need a better design. Finally, I attached Keepers to the sides of the rocker at the bottom of the arcs using screws and glue. 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. A Beginner's Guide to Collimation - Gary Seronik I plan to use an FTA over it in case an extension is needed. I called in the order and explained that I would be using a mirror two inches thick. Most of these have one or two set screws. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock, http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4721255. All in all it seemed like a pretty robust design, so I gave it 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. 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. The premier publication of maker projects, skill-building tutorials, in-depth reviews, and inspirational stories, Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. 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. Im quite happy with the result, and the view in its large mirror is phenomenal. I centered the focuser 8 inches from the top of the tube, using a 2.5 inch hole drilling saw with smaller holes for the bolts that would hold the focuser. Some of these are essential for the basic functionalities of our websites. I installed the spider first, about one inch down from the end of the square end of the tube. If you're not familiar with Arduino, watch some tutorial videos. Look down through the empty focuser. (I didn't have the primary mirror yet). I got a different stain, tested it, and went back to work. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches). 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. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. Secondary mirror with spider holder Search on eBay for a matched set. I decided to order an aluminum mirror cell from University Optics instead so that the mirror could be supported at 9 different points. The 48 inch width of the veneer was close enough to the diameter of the tube that I used it as is. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!). Just as it was about to come into focus, the focuser bottomed out. When you figure out 5 weeks after I had ordered the mirror, I called to ask about its status. You really need a step ladder even for my 10" when pointed overhead. In my build, the minimum eyepiece-to-secondary mirror distance (13) plus the primary-to-secondary mirror distance (57) equals the focal length of 71, which is roughly 4.5 times the width of the 16 mirror. I carefully cut exactly through the center of each side bearing circle to make my semicircles. 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. They eyepiece height ended up being about 5'10" high at zenith. Best Wishes, Reply I did not wrap the tube until I had completed the base. The pieces were cut down to 15 3/8 and 14 3/8, allowing just under 1/8 inch on each side. help eliminate slippage when the focuser is pointed straight upward. It has a 6mm shaft. If the telescope rotates forward or backward on its own, then the mirror box is too deep or too shallow. I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6" F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. A homemade 16 inch dob lightweight telescope, DS-4 - XMission One 6in dob I made was a complete failure. Pierre's Helical Crayford gets my vote hands-down for elegant simplicity. 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.". I only do functional. 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. His project is very well documented. I have no idea how much mail this idea will generate, so I can't 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. 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. 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. Because thebasic movement and optics requirements are relatively simple, much of the design is left to the builder. 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. Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. try { too far. I'd 100A81BF-2145-44D5-BC76-66DBF43BAD58.jpeg. My secondary is 4; for tips on choosing size, click here. Meade Zero Image-Shift Electronic Micro-Focuser This high precision focuser allows you to obtain an extremely accurate image focus. This motor is available on Amazon. A week later the cell arrived (on schedule) from University Optics. I'm' glad I did, because I didn't like the first color that I had chosen. Homemade astronomy. I phoned in the order in the last week of February and was told that it would take about 4 weeks to deliver the mirror. Upload that main sketch to the Nano. 11 years ago 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. on Introduction. the interior diameter is just a nudge over 2". Once its cut to length, drill a hole through each end of the tubing with a drill press. This Instructable describe the planning, design, and parts of the scope, as well as the process of building The scope. $299.99 More About Telescope Focusers Another vote for Pierre's helical Crayford design. Read the documentation though, there are a lot of functions and options. I used the "LEDandBuzzer" and "TestStepsDRV8825" tests. DIY Truss Dob input: How to design truss? can't click on it or copy and paste it; it's a graphic file to thwart I pointed it at distant trees and had no problem bringing the image into focus with all of my eyepieces. To get this arc, I actually moved the radius of the jig in by 1/8 inch. Funny how the bigger they are the better for dobs. This extra space would allow the tube to be repositioned within the tube box to rotate the eyepiece or balance the tube. I told them I was on my way. weight. Tips If you've got a 1.25 inch focuser, You can also use it for an objective. This book describes in great detail the steps to build a large aperture truss tube dob, focusing on scopes with a 12.5 to 40 inch mirror. PhotoPictureResizer_190723_214534574_crop_2558x3105_copy_1023x1242.jpg. This allowed me to cut perfect identical circles. What materials did you use? This resulted in a gear that wasn't true and "wobbled" a bit. 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. Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . the bearings, totally eliminating any flex. eyepiece on the ground (or worse, on your primary mirror!) Dobsonians come in all shapes and sizes, from small 4-8 builds all the way up to massive 24-36 creations. Made of plywood, the rocker box supports the mirror box on 1 teflon pads, allowing it to rotate vertically. an eyepiece. I suspected that the company was either in trouble or no longer in business. This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. 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 . Two such companies would not give me a price because the order of a single tube was too small. Thanks again for the 'ible. Topics such as I decided to use baltic birch because it is recommended by Kriege and Berry as well as many online sources. I also wanted to strengthen and protect the cardboard tube. This might have been tempting if I wanted to build a 6 inch scopeat that size, they say that first-timers do pretty well at grinding and figuring their own optics. I first tried my 32mm plossl eyepiece. If you're not using heavy eyepieces, you probably don't need Share it with us! You will need to remove the regular focus knob on your telescope's focuser. the tube is cardboard as well, you can also get a quality mirror at telescope.com for much cheaper. And for those who like to work with 3D printers, both the single speed and dual-speed versions could easily be printed. 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. 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. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!) Thanks for the great comment. This motor is available on Amazon.

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