Connect the Arduino USB cable and upload some test sketches. Thanks for the great comment. I am thankful to enjoy the inspiration, and the details, that you provide, as I will soon be constructing a Dobsonian Telescope. 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. The project took several months off and on to complete, although a skilled Maker could put a similar one together in a few weeks. microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. 4 years ago 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! Depending on your telescope, one of the Brackets that Robert has may work for you. Im quite happy with the result, and the view in its large mirror is phenomenal. Since these focusers were going side-by-side on a binocular A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6" F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. 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. When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well. It The email bounced back to me. Trim off any unused fabric along the base. on Introduction. 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. All that remained was to design and print a bracket, and buy the needed parts. Let me see if I can get similar plumbing parts here. 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. As the authors describe the benefits of a truss design, it is hard to dispute their arguments. I told them I was on my way. This one is based on the DRV8825 driver chip and a NEMA-17 stepper motor. document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); Share it with us! was straight so I wouldn't get a wobbly knob. 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. Robert Brown did an excellent video on how to work out your stepper motor requirements. I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. The Dob is really a great design. Share a cool tool or product with the community. More commercial crayford focusers are of a more enclosed form, whereas mine is more "open frame" approach. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. Stellafane The Focuser On that noteWARNING:do not look directly into the sun and never point a telescope into the sun without proper filtration you can damage your telescope and burn your retinas and possibly go blind i am not a astrophotographer so i cant comment on the quality of the pictures since there is so much doubt on the photos i will gladly take them down. I will get good 30-40 mm focusing range. Tom's Homemade Telescope Page - DIY Craford Focuser - Google my 12.5" trackball, but I didn't There was the expense, for one, but also the The focuser is very smooth. I pointed it at distant trees and had no problem bringing the image into focus with all of my eyepieces. The next day my wife called me at work to tell me a box had arrived with telescope stuff. Among amateur telescopes, the most common are focusers with landing diameters of 1.25 ", 2", rarely 0.965 ", and even less often - 3". Make the hole diameter fairly snug, too. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. Link to the motor speed controller kit:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=KC5225(a 5K external potentiometer will be required): http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=RP3508The drive motor:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=YG2734The gears:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=YG2736The motor forward/reverse switch:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ST0506The push button:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SP0711 I had already made a lightweight focuser for Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this scope. by cranking The Focuser and other items: (Scope Stuff). Slide the eyepiece into the focuser and try it out. Most people will want a knob on I got a different stain, tested it, and went back to work. Although they don't usually sell these parts, because I had ordered the mirrors from them they offered to sell me the spider and secondary holder that they use in their scopes. 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. The side bearings are each made from 2 identical semicircles of 5/8 inch plywood glued together to make a thickness of 1 inches. Contact cement is permanent, so the only solution would be to replace the tube! SDO/HMI Continuum Image on 2023.03.04 at 1259 UT, Remote computer working with no extra networking. I placed my telrad, optical finder, and an eyepiece on the focuser end of the tube and, using a broomstick as a balance point, found that the tube balanced 22 inches from the bottom. Meade Zero Image-Shift Electronic Micro-Focuser This high precision focuser allows you to obtain an extremely accurate image focus. 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. 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. Likewise, the side bearings are made of two identical semicircles of 5/8 inch plywood glued together, creating side bearings that are 1 inches thick. Fire up focusmax, and shoot some images! Building Your Second Homemade Telescope - Part 1 - HubPages Actually getting the parts into my hands turned out to be more of a challenge than I would have expected, but in the end, I have a wonderful telescope that I enjoy very much. DO NOT drill out the holes in the board! Thanks Pinbout for sharing your design. It just 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. I had designed the tube box so that there would be an extra inch around the tube. Bore out some 2.5 inch bar and mill a flat down the side making sure it is lined up. 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. In order to check your measurements, you can construct jigs for your mirror cell and secondary cage, positioning them on a straight, adjustable track such as 2 planks of wood. initiatives for the next generation of makers. That evening I spent most of my time rediscovering the many DSOs around Sagittarius, especially the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid Nebula. large in diameter (1.6") so that adds to the fine-ness of the focus My other telescope is a Celestron NexStar C6E. I attached small felt pads to the inside of the keepers to protect the side bearings from scratches, but discovered that the side bearings would not fit because of the thickness of the pads. I installed the spider first, about one inch down from the end of the square end of the tube. I started by trying to drill out a metal gear for the focuser shaft. 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 Step 1, Richards in our local astronomy club. You should now be able to drill the 4 holes at each corner. We are now ready for some testing. 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. Two such companies would not give me a price because the order of a single tube was too small. 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. Plus it comes in black, so you don't need to paint it (or worry about paint flaking off it). It takes the unknown out of focusing, and is easy to re-focus between filters, or refocus several times during a long exposure run as the world cools down. It's easy to shim it to 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. A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers I marked the expected position of the secondary by measuring 61 inches down from the end of the tube. To do this, the mirror cell needs to be supported by 3 large bolts, at least 2 of which are adjustable. This simple homemade device will reduce star trails far better than if the camera was mounted on a tripod alone. This makes for better sky photographs as the exposure time can be lengthened,. 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. on Step 1, interesting build, its just like my old Odyssey brand scope from the mid 1990's. It turns out that sonotubes are a stock item in 8 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch, and sometimes even 16 inch diameters. an eyepiece. Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. DIY focuser design - ATM, Optics and DIY Forum - Cloudy Nights Thanks for your article. DIY Remote Telescope Focuser - YouTube 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. What materials did you use? I particularly like that the design can be integrated directly into the focuser board to make a very, very simple UTA. Before finishing the tube with a wrap of veneer, I wanted to make sure that the primary was in the correct position. So, for my telescope I used a 6mm to 5mm coupler available on Amazon. This is the upper tube that contains the flat secondary mirror, Telrad finder, and focuser. the side of a rigid secondary cage. 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. One 6in dob I made was a complete failure. Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base. (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.) 11 years ago As it turned out, the mirror cell was too large to fit into my 14 inch sonotube. Dozens of projects in every issue covering electronics, craft, fabrication, and more, Learn tips and skill-building tutorials from experts in the maker community. It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. 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. Start with the small components first. The silly colours are mainly due to me experimenting with various clothes dyes in the anodising. 10 years ago Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. Your design is simple and nice. Finally, I glued a strip of Ebony Star laminante to the curves edge of each side bearing using contact cement, using a flush edge bit on a router to bring the edge of the laminate even with the edge of the wood after the cement had set. that is a great website that guy has some fantastic photos. I didn't receive any confirmation email after a few days, so I tried to send them an email. This means I can use FocusMax to do the focusing. Most of these have one or two set screws. You should watch (and bookmark) this video. As the telescope tilts toward the horizon, the mirror must be supported on its edge. I will have a lot of fun building my homemade 12.5 inch Dobsonian Telescope!!! focuser. The diameter of the focuser is usually indicated in inches. You will look through these as you rotate the wheel. 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. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. surfaces to put the bearings in and a vee at the bottom that would hold A 6 in primary mirror does not have enough weight to make the dob stable. Easy DIY motorized battery free telescope focuser - YouTube There are sub-folders for the different versions. A smart collection of books, magazines, electronics kits, robots, microcontrollers, tools, supplies, and more Focusers of telescopes. Types, difference, specifications - Star Hunter They use a simple plywood mirror cell, stating that for an 8 inch mirror this cell will be adequate. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. A free program that lights childrens creative fires and allows them to explore projects in areas such as arts & 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 started with a spacer that with a inch outer diameter. A week later the cell arrived (on schedule) from University Optics. The drawings are only approximately to scale. This extra space would allow the tube to be repositioned within the tube box to rotate the eyepiece or balance the tube. love to hear from people who are interested in this focuser design. I did not wrap the tube until I had completed the base. If you're not familiar with Arduino, watch some tutorial videos. larger diameter. 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. 1/4" x 20 bolt, and the nylon bolt end against the smooth knitting Orient this assembly to allow you to view an object on the far horizon. 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. Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. I tried to call, but the voice mail had a recording stating that the customer was unable to receive messages. Interfaced with a computer, so the computer can make the decisions about where the best focus is. on Introduction. With the DRV8825 and Arduino Nano plugged in, the basic board is complete. Position "0" is with the focuser all the way IN (at least for a refractor). It was May 12th. adapter set screws to slide into. it sticks into your light path. 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. By adjusting the bolts, the mirror can be pointed toward the correct spot. . Rather than use a sheet of plastic Kydex to finish the tube, as recommended in K/B, I ordered a sheet of birch veneer. Because mirror flexure can distort an image, supporting the mirror properly involves building a flotation cell. The bearings only need to be (A badly tilted focuser may subtly alter the illumination pattern of the focal plane to a degree that would be impossible to perceive visually but that's about it.) In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. The lumber yard also gave me a lower price than I expected. Dobsonians come in all shapes and sizes, from small 4-8 builds all the way up to massive 24-36 creations. pageTracker._trackPageview(); If you want a Crayford focuser with a knob instead of turning the draw tube, then Jerry Oltion's designhttp://www.jerryoltixycrayfords.htm using box frames and knitting needle drive shafts is also a fairly easy build. I wanted a tight / press fit, so I only added half that, 0.25mm. 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 dimensions of the Tube Box Sides are based on the outer diameter of my tube14 3/16. This project is based on Robert Brown's "Arduino ASCOM Focuser Pro2 DIY". 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. Homemade 12.5 Inch Dobsonian Telescope - Instructables Also no obvious diffraction spikes in the m31 photo. my thoughts naturally gravitated toward a boxy focuser to go with it. They said they would make the brackets extra long to accommodate the mirror and it would take about a week. Yet I was also becoming infected with aperture fever. After waiting for the contact cement to dry to the touch, and with my wife's help, I carefully aligned the edge of the veneer with the guideline on the tube and pressed the first inch together. Primary telescope mirror aftermarket, homemade, or custom-made. try { We use cookies to continuously improve our websites for you and optimize its design and customization. Headers for the LEDs, buzzer (2-pin) and temperature probe (3-pin). "https://ssl." in the tube so they'll hit the knitting needle before your drawtube runs Next, attach the eyepiece and the focuser to the top part of the telescope tube. Given any mirror measurements, PLOP will provide the ideal support layout and how much distortion to expect for any number of flotation points. For my project I needed a 14 inch diameter, and I had a tough time finding one. Brandon Lawler is a hobbyist telescope Maker and an active member of the Central Texas Astronomical Society. spambots that search the internet for addresses to send junk mail to.) 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. But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. How to make a $30 DIY star tracker for astrophotography I carefully cut exactly through the center of each side bearing circle to make my semicircles. curated by us, the people behind Make: and the Maker Faire. It take automatic control of the CCD camera and focuser, and dances around magically on the screen, arriving at perfect focus within about 30s to 3 minutes depending on where you started from. 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. Here is what I was working on but looks like I need a better design. Just to make sure I liked the stain, I applied some to a piece of scrap wood. Let me see if I am able to collect all the parts needed. When I ordered the cell, I paid through paypal, which immediately deducts money from my checking account. The heaviest piece is 40 lbs, and the total scope weighs about 60 lbs (not counting the baffle). Over how many nights did this photography session take place? Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion focusers, normally found in this type of device. Funny how the bigger they are the better for dobs. My first telescope I built was a 10" F8. the interior diameter is just a nudge over 2". I had talked with their owner about mirrors and mirror cells once, and I was very impressed by his knowledge of telescope building. astronowanabe, Pierre Lemay, LarsMalmgren and. Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. My DIY Motorized Telescope Focuser - YouTube A homemade 16 inch dob lightweight telescope, DS-4 - XMission Above youll find an interactive 3D rendering of the Sketchup file I used to design and cut all of the parts for my telescope. 1" Rack & Pinion Focuser. Plus it comes in black, so 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. My plan for wrapping the tube seemed good, but I am not too pleased with the final result. Several clamps were used to hold the pieces together overnight. Please explain, in detail, how you attached your tube to the very unique drive system of an XT12G mount. 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. You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP. I found out pretty quickly that building my own telescope would only be a bargain if I made my own mirror and mechanical parts. Both cameras have fairly small megapixels by todays' standards, and are certainly obsolete, but do the job extremely well! In the sub-folder "Cases" you will see many variants of the case for the DRV8825 based focusers. Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . I paid the 50% deposit and dreamed of DSOs. If the telescope rotates forward or backward on its own, then the mirror box is too deep or too shallow. but try for a snug fit if you can. This software creates a model of your telescope by measuring out of focus star sizes at various points. I used a hole saw to cut a wooden plug to fit inside the 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. When you figure out An electronic focuser, which moves the focus knob through a combination of hardware and software, solves this problem. This NEMA-17 direct drive stepper motor is available from Adafruit and many other sellers. The cost is a bit more than some of the other combinations, but by only $10 or $20. Membership connects and supports the people and projects that shape our future and supports the learning Thank you for your pages. This is not recommended for shared computers. Telescope Magazine. an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. This allowed me to cut perfect identical circles. he might just have a $3200 camera, they aren't very hard to come by. His project is very well documented. The kit just contains the electronics - it is up to the user to find a stepper motor and attach it to their own telescope focuser. 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. The next day, I centered the rocker on the rocker bottom (which had been cut using the same method as the side bearing circles), drawing perpendicular lines through the center of the rocker bottom to use as a guide, and tracing the position on the rocker bottom. ASIAIR - Is there an easy way to load Messier catalog into Autorun? I want to make this direct drive system work. Gift the gift of Make: Magazine this holiday season! 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. together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. If you found some good surplus lenses, you will have made a stunningly good objective for your scope. I was finishing this inner debate when I got a copy of the book The Dobsonian Telescope by Kriege and Berry as a Christmas gift. Now attach the screw eyes and the rubber band on the side of the board. When you want to focus, you just open the program and press focus. The arc at the top of the sides needed to have a radius 1/8 inch larger than that of the side bearings to account for the thickness of the teflon pads that would fit between. It stalled when tension on the belt increased. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches).

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