11 years ago Not worth the effort, price is tooo high. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. An Altitude Azimuth mount would also require a field rotator.There's no way these were taken with an Orion GoTo Mount. Plus it comes in black, so you don't need to paint it (or worry about paint flaking off it). This arrangement turns 100% true, no wobble. Two of the holes for the bolts were blocked by knobs. They use a simple plywood mirror cell, stating that for an 8 inch mirror this cell will be adequate. This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. But I wanted a larger mirror, and, at that size, grinding my own was not an option. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. Since these focusers were going side-by-side on a binocular Homemade 12.5 Inch Dobsonian Telescope - Instructables weight. rod for the drive axle it would have a fairly fine motion. Homage to Homemade Crayford Focusers - Cloudy Nights DIY focuser design - ATM, Optics and DIY Forum - Cloudy Nights I first tried my 32mm plossl eyepiece. Brandon Lawler is a hobbyist telescope Maker and an active member of the Central Texas Astronomical Society. Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. The secondary holder is adjustable, so I could didn't have to get the location perfect. A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep We all know the problems with focusing. It took yet another call a week later for the items to actually be mailed. Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. an eyepiece. For the ATMer I do find that there are an endless number of parts that can be designed and printed for home built telescopes and binoscopes. by cranking 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. 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. Just as it was about to come into focus, the focuser bottomed out. I will have a lot of fun building my homemade 12.5 inch Dobsonian Telescope!!! surfaces to put the bearings in and a vee at the bottom that would hold Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . 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. 10 years ago It may take you a while to adjust the image correctly, but it's not hard to do, just time consuming. Step 4Attaching the Side Bearings and assembling the Rocker. 8 years ago I attached them with very small brads, countersinking the brads. Tom's Homemade Telescope Page - Udder Nonsense - Google When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well. Those are the last screws to be tightened. I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. Homemade Electric Telescope Focuser - Stargazers Lounge on Step 5, 9 years ago To place the primary mirror, I installed the secondary and installed the primary in the mirror cell. Pretty dry but important! 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. Dobsonian telescopes are popular with amateur telescope makers for their ease of design and construction, portability, and their use of large optical mirrors. For about $3 we can buy a tank valve kit that has a threaded 2" i.d. Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base. The overall project is super cheap, we're building this thing for something like $50 in materials. I also have an extended photographic build diary of this telescope posted on Imgur. 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. Nice looking telescope. If your optical train is heavy and the focuser has to bear it (see above) then this motor may be a better choice. I feel it is a wonderful thing to free oneself from the "store-bought" world, as Tombaugh did, and to use your imagination and skills to develop your own, personal way of viewing the sky. 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. Also no obvious diffraction spikes in the m31 photo. Just to make sure I liked the stain, I applied some to a piece of scrap wood. 11 years ago Be creative! Rock on! accessible by all ages and skill ranges. case you need more focuser travel than you thought. If you're going for simple, have you considered a helical focuser? Here are a few photos of the "bracket", which is a simple 3D printed plate that mounts to the telescope's focuser ring, and serves as a mount for the stepper motor. You will look through these as you rotate the wheel. They said they would make the brackets extra long to accommodate the mirror and it would take about a week. try { Several clamps were used to hold the pieces together overnight. Carve out a hole on the top part of the sonotube first. The Crayford Focuser and DIY Focuser for Homemade Telescope This motor has a 5mm drive shaft. I have built a homemade electric focuser for my Celestron 8SE using a radio control hobby servo and some spare parts. guarantee a response, but I'll do my best to answer everyone who writes 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. Given that you can make the drawtube any length you 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. We are now ready for some testing. The plate has slotted screw holes for tensioning the 6mm belt. Share it with us! To get a slide-fit in a 3D printed part, you normally make the hole 0.5mm larger than the shaft. I used the "LEDandBuzzer" and "TestStepsDRV8825" tests. I've been using the above pair SDO/HMI Continuum Image on 2023.03.04 at 1259 UT, Remote computer working with no extra networking. Now I can simply insert the PVC cap on the end of a 4" pvc tube. This is the first telescope that I have built. 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. Dobsonians come in all shapes and sizes, from small 4-8 builds all the way up to massive 24-36 creations. can't click on it or copy and paste it; it's a graphic file to thwart 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. While a sling or whiffletree provide the best edge support, a two-point edge support is much easier to construct. Primary telescope mirror aftermarket, homemade, or custom-made. 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. Since my plan called for purchasing the mirrors and mechanical parts there were several decisions to be made and several vendors to contact. They suggested a construction supply place on the other side of the city that I had not called yet. Robert Brown did an excellent video on how to work out your stepper motor requirements. Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. And a flat thing to put it all on Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. 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. The original Crayford Focuser is on display there. I installed the spider first, about one inch down from the end of the square end of the tube. 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. 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. The basic points I wanted to cover: What did I end up with? document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); To get this arc, I actually moved the radius of the jig in by 1/8 inch. Keeping with the 'simple ' part of your request, here is a helical 2"/1.25" focuser made from std plumbing parts. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! 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. The bearings only need to be Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. Fast forward a few months to the next time I had the tube outside. After looking at many focuser options with a big range of prices, I decided to order a GSO 2 speed Crayford focuser from ScopeStuff. Here is what I was working on but looks like I need a better design. I had to take apart the focuser in order to get my bolts in place. Contact cement is permanent, so the only solution would be to replace the tube! Having an RS trade counter 2 miles away is such a luxury! off the bearings. Before I wrapped the tube (and before I discovered the problem with the primary placement) I determined the balance point on the tube. Use the externalMirror Edge Support Calculatorto decide whether to use a two-point, four-point (whiffletree), or sling support. an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. I'll use an aluminum tube for the finished draw tube but for now the plastic tube . If you are (for example) doing a focuser for a catadioptric telescope like a Celestron C-8 or similar, the focus knob has no load on it so this smaller, lighter motor will do the trick. 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. Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. Similar photos at http://www.telescopegeek.com/gallery.htm require 100+ minute exposure times on his 20" telescope and $3200 camera. var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1008534-4"); I had initially allowed for more of a gap, but realized once I cut the pieces and held the tube inside them that my gap was too large. I am thankful to enjoy the inspiration, and the details, that you provide, as I will soon be constructing a Dobsonian Telescope. 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. you don't need to paint it (or worry about paint flaking off it). . Connect the Arduino USB cable and upload some test sketches. This extra space would allow the tube to be repositioned within the tube box to rotate the eyepiece or balance the tube. 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. occurred to me that a square turned 45 degrees would give me two flat It has become an indispensable piece of equipment for me that so beats hacking and filing PVC pipes etc. 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. The heaviest piece is 40 lbs, and the total scope weighs about 60 lbs (not counting the baffle). Feel free to take on that part if you like, but you're on your own :-). (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches) Lighter than the existing focuser. on Introduction. Telescope Magazine. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. I attached keepers 1 inches wide by 5 inches long, extending above the bottom of the arcs by about 1 inches. Using heavy grit sandpaper I brought back the surface of the keeper enough for the side bearings to fit inside the felt pads. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. Homemade astronomy. Nice work and great instructable! 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. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. Using plywood, make 4 attachment blocks to pair the trusses together and create a small ledge for the secondary cage to rest on while you secure it. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. It has reminded me of one of my long term aims to make a telescope that has been buried by the demands of the rest of my life! I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. I don't *do* pretty. flexing. So I was looking for a cheap, light-but-sturdy design for a I did not glue the bearings to the tube box in case I needed to adjust the position later. You should now be able to drill the 4 holes at each corner. Thanks for your article. stronger, but would give me a coarser focus action because of their This resulted in a gear that wasn't true and "wobbled" a bit. Now attach the screw eyes and the rubber band on the side of the board. I want to make this direct drive system work. 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. Once built, line the undersides of the arms with textured ABS plastic as a bearing surface. Tips If you've got a 1.25 inch focuser, You can also use it for an objective. This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. Get hands-on with kits, books, and more from the Maker Shed, Skill builder, project tutorials, and more. This allowed me to cut perfect identical circles. It seems to I ordered the focuser, received an immediate email confirming the order, and it arrived two days later. In the sub-folder "Cases" you will see many variants of the case for the DRV8825 based focusers. I'm also going to focus on only one version of Robert's focuser (there are many). On the bottom of the Bottom board is a ring of Ebony Star laminate that glides over the three teflon pads located directly above the feet on the ground board. I then temporarily installed the secondary mirror so that I could measure the approximate distance to the center of the secondary in order to locate the holes for the focuser. We moved the operation to a nearby park and got a focused image of the most distant trees (300-400 yards away) quite easily. Unbelievable! he might just have a $3200 camera, they aren't very hard to come by. Did you make this project? DIY Electric Focuser - ATM, Optics and DIY Forum - Cloudy Nights Because mirror flexure can distort an image, supporting the mirror properly involves building a flotation cell. Position "0" is with the focuser all the way IN (at least for a refractor). Your astrophotographer friend may have included his own images from his setup. Newton, and others including James Gregory and Laurent Cassegrain, believed that a reflecting telescope would not be affected by the chromatic aberration that affected . Another vote for Pierre's helical Crayford design. The box should be deep enough to allow the mirror box to swing all the way down. with a genuine question or comment about the design. Post 10 of the same LSDF focuser thread also links to Art Bianconi's archived 2008 original flush valve focuser posts. Or rather, I hated it. both sides. But who cares, really? The current needs to be adjusted on the DRV8825. So, I duplicated the aluminum gear pulley in SolidWorks, and printed it out. You really need a step ladder even for my 10" when pointed overhead. I will post the pic of final focuser once ready. Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome of this project - focusing is now a joy. 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. Let me see if I am able to collect all the parts needed. 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. 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 also figured that the extra expense was worth it, considering the amount of money I was investing in the project overall. It interfaces to the computer via USB and comes with an ASCOM driver. I had the thought that as long as I was going to build it I should build it as big as I could afford. 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. 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. This sure is going to be a project I will work on. In addition, we use third-party cookies to help us analyze and understand usage. It has a 6mm shaft. Coupler for NEMA-17 Stepper Motor (also two choices, see below), LM7808 Voltage Regulator with TO-220 package -, Mini On/Off 3-pin 2-position slide switch -, Headers and wire (miscellaneous sizes and gauges), these are important so you can replace the component if it is damaged, LM7808 voltage regulator w/TO-220 heat sink package, 2-pin headers for 12V power and on/off switch. I told them I was on my way. More commercial crayford focusers are of a more enclosed form, whereas mine is more "open frame" approach. Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. I only use the OTA. The diameter of the focuser is usually indicated in inches. I suspected that the company was either in trouble or no longer in business. I'd A homemade 16 inch dob lightweight telescope, DS-4 - XMission 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. This is the upper tube that contains the flat secondary mirror, Telrad finder, and focuser. If the telescope rotates forward or backward on its own, then the mirror box is too deep or too shallow. The mount and tripod are pretty much useless for astrophotography. ill ask him for a detailed list of what he used and when i get that ill post it here for you. Easy DIY motorized battery free telescope focuser - YouTube 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. tube and nut that fits the outside threads. Membership connects and supports the people and projects that shape our future and supports the learning 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. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. It's rigid, lightweight, and Telescope Electronic Focuser : 16 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables 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. Download and check them out, I just grabbed the first one and printed it. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. I decided to order a mirror cell from them because the owner had talked about a new cell he was excited about. I do it with aluminium alloy, aluminium tube and nice work. Picture of DS-4. The next day my wife called me at work to tell me a box had arrived with telescope stuff. DO NOT drill out the holes in the board! Once your telescope is assembled, drape black woven velveteen around the truss assembly, clipping it with safety pins. 11 years ago Helicals are adaptable to both refractors and reflectors, but do not "play nice" with zoom eyepieces because "zooming" becomes a two handed operation to avoid changing focus. on Step 1, Richards in our local astronomy club. To test the concept I used a short piece of two inch PVC for the draw tube. Most people will want a knob on When you figure out The Dob is really a great design. And, once your telescope is finished, be sure to join a local astronomy club to learn more about the sky and share your hobby with others. I do have another tube that can be used around the drawtube, but it doesn't really add anything. Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this scope. Inside the OTA is a ring of tightly fitting flocking paper that prevents any light getting in around the drawtube. The little app is simple and works great. So, am curious to see what others have designed and built and proud to show off here on the homage to Crayford thread. I wanted a tight / press fit, so I only added half that, 0.25mm. You need a drawtube of course. My guess is that photo was taken with a refractor. until a 2" eyepiece or 1.25" adapter is snug. The email bounced back to me. I made a similar helical focuser with a nice 2 inch thing I found in Classifieds. You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches). What materials did you use? Remember: It is the quality and SIZE of the capture chip, NOT the megapixels that determines quality.
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homemade telescope focuser