homemade telescope focuser
A Beginner's Guide to Collimation - Gary Seronik Connect the Arduino USB cable and upload some test sketches. 11 years ago Parts List (the full story of acquiring the parts), The primary, secondary, spider and secondary holderDiscovery Optics. While I will freely admit that most astro-photography is WAY beyond me, you certainly do NOT need a $3200 camera to do so. PhotoPictureResizer_190723_214534574_crop_2558x3105_copy_1023x1242.jpg. I welded mine from steel square tubing. Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. When you want to focus, you just open the program and press focus. Stellafane The Focuser My telescope is the Orion ED80T-CF. 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. At this point, the scope was pretty much finished. narrow the frame. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. I am thankful to enjoy the inspiration, and the details, that you provide, as I will soon be constructing a Dobsonian Telescope. I had considered a Moonlite or Featherlite focuser, but I knew from my experience with my 6 inch scope that I wanted a 2 speed focuser, and the price tag of their 2 speed focusers scared me away. I tried this one first and found it wouldn't work for my application. For about $3 we can buy a tank valve kit that has a threaded 2" i.d. I call shenanigans on every picture in this post except for the the moon. Another vote for Pierre's helical Crayford design. That's pretty much the focuser. Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. The spider, or secondary mirror holder, will suspend the mirror in the optical path in order to direct light into the focuser. forward and back along with the drawtube when you focus, and you'll get I even began taking careful notes about needed supplies and plans for each piece of the truss tube scope. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. This combination has the best resolution (steps/revolution), so I didn't see any reason to build anything else. once. 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. These will be stored in your browser only with your consent and you have the option to opt-out. 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. With the DRV8825 and Arduino Nano plugged in, the basic board is complete. The Crayford focuser is a simplified focusing mechanism for amateur astronomical telescopes. Post 10 of the same LSDF focuser thread also links to Art Bianconi's archived 2008 original flush valve focuser posts. It would cost less and they have a very good reputation. To view, go here: http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ It was May 12th. Drawing lines between opposite corners of the tube box sides allowed me to locate the center point on each side. After looking at many focuser options with a big range of prices, I decided to order a GSO 2 speed Crayford focuser from ScopeStuff. 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. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! This allowed me to cut perfect identical circles. Inside the OTA is a ring of tightly fitting flocking paper that prevents any light getting in around the drawtube. The hole did need to be enlarged slightly by moving the bit within the hole , but in the end, the fit seems right. Perfect for visual observations with very heavy mirrors. Depending on your telescope, one of the Brackets that Robert has may work for you. Two of the holes for the bolts were blocked by knobs. Since these focusers were going side-by-side on a binocular I particularly like that the design can be integrated directly into the focuser board to make a very, very simple UTA. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. If you connect the 12V power with the barrel connector (right side of photo), the Nano should light up without the USB connection. Part numbers 351-4574 and 336-422. like, you can have as much focuser travel as you want no matter how 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. This resulted in a gear that wasn't true and "wobbled" a bit. In addition, we use third-party cookies to help us analyze and understand usage. Yet I was also becoming infected with aperture fever. I sourced my own Stepper motor and 1:150 reduction gearbox from RS, who are just up the road. So I decided to make my own, using my normal "blunder in naively and see what happens" approach to making things. Thanks for the great comment. Again from the main FILES page, go to "ASCOM DRIVERS" and download everything. Nice one. curated by us, the people behind Make: and the Maker Faire. This arrangement turns 100% true, no wobble. This combination has proved to be effective for all positions except when the tube is pointed directly up. I then ran a bead of glue on the mark, and after it dried I cut out the nylon up to the glue. Telescope Focusers | Orion Telescopes: Shop 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). If you're going for simple, have you considered a helical focuser? This means I can use FocusMax to do the focusing. my thoughts naturally gravitated toward a boxy focuser to go with it. I don't have the skills to build a focuser using a. 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? As it turned out, the mirror cell was too large to fit into my 14 inch sonotube. That helps with low-profile I really had to, since the underside of my telescope's focuser is all curves, no flat area for attaching the mounting bracket. But, like many of you I'm sure, the biggest reason I'm doing this is for the pure geeky fun of it! The plastic will ride on teflon pads, creating just enough traction for the telescope to avoid sliding on its own while not making it too difficult to point at things in the sky. One of the neat things about the square design is that the To get this arc, I actually moved the radius of the jig in by 1/8 inch. Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. Get hands-on with kits, books, and more from the Maker Shed, Skill builder, project tutorials, and more. You can view and download the full file here. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. Fast forward a few months to the next time I had the tube outside. The next day my wife called me at work to tell me a box had arrived with telescope stuff. Just to make sure I liked the stain, I applied some to a piece of scrap wood. Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. Measure the diameter of the exposed shaft. The version number "312" here may change if Robert posts new firmware. DIY Electric Focuser - ATM, Optics and DIY Forum - Cloudy Nights guarantee a response, but I'll do my best to answer everyone who writes We are now ready for some testing. 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. Im quite happy with the result, and the view in its large mirror is phenomenal. I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! - Bill. 100A81BF-2145-44D5-BC76-66DBF43BAD58.jpeg. The original Crayford Focuser is on display there. I only use the OTA. Building Your Second Homemade Telescope - Part 1 - HubPages The project creator Robert Brown made a good video on testing the board. 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. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches). Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. Measure twice, drill (Sorry you 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. an eyepiece. you could probably space the bearings 3/4" apart instead of 1" and mount 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. Share it with us! I began building it in the spring of 2008, but the bulk of the work was done in July of 2008 with first light occurring on July 25. Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this scope. The motor is much lighter than the geared motor. So, am curious to see what others have designed and built and proud to show off here on the homage to Crayford thread. I bought a 4" PVC Sewer pipe cap, used a hole saw to cut a 2.25" hole then attached the helical thing to the PVC cap. Tom's Homemade Telescope Page - Issac Newton Scope - Google This is my copy of the telescope that Sir Isaac Newton presented to the Royal Society of London in 1671, and is considered to be the first successful reflecting telescope. The little app is simple and works great. I like the old way of using stepper motors and other stuff introduced years ago by Mel Bartels, he is a master for me. on Introduction. control. Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base. a "rubbery" feel. 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. I did not wrap the tube until I had completed the base. And you can tell it's not a mosaic because the stars at the corners show coma/field curvature artifacts. For my project I needed a 14 inch diameter, and I had a tough time finding one. This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. 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. 7 years ago Homemade Electric Telescope Focuser - Stargazers Lounge My newtonian telescope, like most others, came fitted with a nasty rack and pinion focuser. the nylon screws going up from the bottom, but I found the knitting Or rather, I hated it. I got no response to phone calls or emails after another week, and decided to wait until the primary would be finished in another two weeks. Once you get it working, there's some calibration you need to do. When I looked at the costs, I seriously considered buying an Orion telescope instead of building my own. Sonotube (14 inch diameter, 12 feet long): $70, Focuser (GSO 2 speed low profile Crayford): $139, Total cost for supplies for this project: $1700. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock, http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4721255. It had been described by many as the most important recent volume for anyone planning to build a dob, and I have to agree. I got a different stain, tested it, and went back to work. Tom's Homemade Telescope Page - 14 inch dob - Google 4 years ago Or in my case, back to SolidWorks :-). 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. I don't *do* pretty. document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); Fire up focusmax, and shoot some images! I could not find a spacer to fit my 9/16 hole, so I bought the 11/16 spacer (1 1/8 long because that's what the store had) and a bit of the same size. Having an RS trade counter 2 miles away is such a luxury! At some point in the building process, my goal became to finish the scope by RocheStar Fest, an annual event of the Rochester Astronomy Club. Plan ahead by carefully weighing all components and approximating the center mass of the optical assembly. Upload that main sketch to the Nano. 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. Attach the ball head to the top board. on Introduction. 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. 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. After the second call, I received a response that it would be ready at the end of the following week. You need some purple bits 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. I wanted the long focal length for good contrast. It turns out the the extra 1/16 allowed far too much side to side movement between the rocker and ground board. While I applaud your building of a homemade Dob, (giving you the FULL benefit of the doubt here) your "friend" has provided photographs that make it look like you're trying to win by cheating. It has a 6mm shaft. The mirror box encloses the mirror cell and allows the entire telescope to rotate vertically. var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1008534-4"); focuser. There are a number of technical reasons why these photographs could not have come from this Optical Tube Assembly. I also figured that the extra expense was worth it, considering the amount of money I was investing in the project overall. The wood would cost the same, as would pretty much everything except the mirror, so why not spend a little more on the mirror and go BIG. A free program that lights childrens creative fires and allows them to explore projects in areas such as arts & drneilmb, thanks for sharing the focuser design. Once I decided to build a scope myself I had to decide on the aperture of the scope. You should now be able to drill the 4 holes at each corner. 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. It took yet another call a week later for the items to actually be mailed. They're fairly Most of these have one or two set screws. This sure is going to be a project I will work on. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. 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. Pierre's Helical Crayford gets my vote hands-down for elegant simplicity. I had talked with their owner about mirrors and mirror cells once, and I was very impressed by his knowledge of telescope building. Thanks again for the 'ible. For complete instructions on building a telescope such as this one, I strongly recommend buying a copy of The Dobsonian Telescope by David Kriege and Richard Berry. Be creative! The holes in the main bracket the match the holes in the plate are oversize to allow for this alignment. Slide the eyepiece into the focuser and try it out. Total cost for supplies for this project: It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? Before attaching the sides and front to the bottom with wood screws, I wanted to make sure those screws would not interfere with the Ebony Star ring that would be attached to the rocker bottom. larger diameter. I am well versed in technology, have all the tools necessary to build my own! What materials did you use? I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. Because thebasic movement and optics requirements are relatively simple, much of the design is left to the builder. The glue should keep the nylon from fraying. together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. 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. It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. The heaviest piece is 40 lbs, and the total scope weighs about 60 lbs (not counting the baffle). knitting needle where it goes through the hole, so it's not a big deal, Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. It's the same in form, but has a perfect, true 13.35mm hole. I'd be willing to bet that you could easily grind your own 12.5 inch next time and save some $$. surfaces to put the bearings in and a vee at the bottom that would hold How to make diy focuser pvc - YouTube I decided to order an aluminum mirror cell from University Optics instead so that the mirror could be supported at 9 different points. Every primary telescope mirror has a fixed focal length thats usually 4 to 6 times the width of the mirror. This motor is available on Amazon. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. 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. forces the knitting needle against the drawtube and the drawtube against Because mirror flexure can distort an image, supporting the mirror properly involves building a flotation cell. Only problem is if I put a diagonal it wants to rotate the helical part. Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? I plan to use an FTA over it in case an extension is needed. Thin-wall aluminum tubing is used to attach the mirror box to the secondary cage. I'm' glad I did, because I didn't like the first color that I had chosen. In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. 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. Thank you for your pages. Now attach the screw eyes and the rubber band on the side of the board. The base of the telescope should be a wide, sturdy square or circle of wood with teflon bearing pads matched to the ABS plastic ring of the rocker box. 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 have several of the books on building a Dobsonian Telescope. Tom's Homemade Telescope Page - DIY Craford Focuser - Google try { Thanks Peter. The diameter of the focuser is usually indicated in inches. the side of a rigid secondary cage. 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. 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. The belt and pulleys are off-the-shelf items available on Amazon. Your design is simple and nice. And a flat thing to put it all on 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. But -- you have to be careful that the mechanism is true and the motor does not have a load on it at any time, otherwise it will 'stall' and stop moving. The cutting diagram in (figure 1) shows how I cut the required pieces from two 60 X 60 pieces of Baltic Birch plywood, one inch thick, and one 5/8. If you go to buy all of the components for this project from dealers, you will see that you mostly have to buy at least 5 parts, sometimes bags of 50 parts! pageTracker._trackPageview(); 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. Primary telescope mirror aftermarket, homemade, or custom-made. was straight so I wouldn't get a wobbly knob. All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . 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 . #@$%^#@!!!!! Your astrophotographer friend may have included his own images from his setup. 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. 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. I have no idea how much mail this idea will generate, so I can't In the "ARDUINO FIRMWARE" folder, in it you will find a ZIP file "myFP2-Firmware 312-1.zip". The dimensions of the Tube Box Sides are based on the outer diameter of my tube14 3/16. A bit of a monster! A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. i got a email that someone built a telescope close to mine that has seen the stuff in the photos here is a link to his site http://www.synapticsystems.com/sky/scopes/Dob.htmlif i seem a bit rude please forgive me i just spent 12hrs in a plane i have jetlag and im sitting in a airport.i would like to thank lvlasertech for keeping this instructable lively and informative. 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! Unbelievable! Earthbound1 likes this #2 dave brock Mercury-Atlas I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. I made a similar helical focuser with a nice 2 inch thing I found in Classifieds. 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. It Obviously an open truss telescope. Thanks for your article. A week later the cell arrived (on schedule) from University Optics. The current needs to be adjusted on the DRV8825. Realizing that it could not be the University Optics cell already, I thought, Noit couldn't be but, in fact, it was. astronowanabe, Pierre Lemay, LarsMalmgren and. "); 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 think I got what I wanted and seems best solution for me. Headers for the LEDs, buzzer (2-pin) and temperature probe (3-pin). If not, you may need to design and print your own bracket(s), gears, and so on. but try for a snug fit if you can. 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. love to hear from people who are interested in this focuser design. This is the kind of simple off the shelf design I was looking for. he might just have a $3200 camera, they aren't very hard to come by. I don't have the skills to build a focuser using a. I ordered the focuser, received an immediate email confirming the order, and it arrived two days later. Once built, line the undersides of the arms with textured ABS plastic as a bearing surface. More Homemade Refractor Telescope DIY Erecting Prism Binoviewer Focuser here: Did you make this project? To cut the circles, I used a router with a straight cutting bit and a circle cutting jig. Im sorry to hear you couldn't make the contest. Trim off any unused fabric along the base. A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers I decided to order a mirror cell from them because the owner had talked about a new cell he was excited about. 1" Rack & Pinion Focuser. Homemade astronomy. (I didn't have the primary mirror yet). Also no obvious diffraction spikes in the m31 photo. DIY focuser design - ATM, Optics and DIY Forum - Cloudy Nights Not sure if it is available in the USA. 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. knob, and a drill press to make sure the hole for the knitting needle Concluding that I would not be able to buy a tube off the shelf, I found a couple of companies that took special orders on cardboard tubes. Telescope Magazine. The overall project is super cheap, we're building this thing for something like $50 in materials. the bearings, totally eliminating any flex. Helical is one of the option i am considering. I had chosen a boxy, rigid design for the binocular scope, so Here is a simple 3D printed helical focuser that cost just a few cents (assuming you have a 3D printer). I told them I was on my way. Homemade 12.5 Inch Dobsonian Telescope - Instructables This extra space would allow the tube to be repositioned within the tube box to rotate the eyepiece or balance the tube. I ground and figured the mirror with little troubles, making my focault tester, etc. I drilled holes for the screws that avoided the location of the ring, and attached the rocker bottom. The drawings are only approximately to scale. There was the expense, for one, but also the Make an account on JLCPCB.com, upload the Gerber zip file, that's it! 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. Here is a link to the main FILES area on Robert Brown's site. Keeping with the 'simple ' part of your request, here is a helical 2"/1.25" focuser made from std plumbing parts. on Step 3. Just as it was about to come into focus, the focuser bottomed out. The secondary holder is adjustable, so I could didn't have to get the location perfect. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality. Telescope Electronic Focuser : 16 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables A decent machinest will do a far better job, but, there is always a lot more pleasure to be gained per astrophoto when you make bits yourself. 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. We use cookies to continuously improve our websites for you and optimize its design and customization. It doesn't. A tilted focuser will have no effect on the image quality. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! To do this, the mirror cell needs to be supported by 3 large bolts, at least 2 of which are adjustable. Some of these are essential for the basic functionalities of our websites.
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