The balance point determines the height of the rocker sides, so I had to get this far before I cut the wood for the base. During assembly, youll attach the trusses to the mirror box, then sit the secondary cage on top and bolt everything in place. Shorter thread side will be used to attach the eyepiece. I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. large in diameter (1.6") so that adds to the fine-ness of the focus A couple setscrews and you're up & running with an off the shelf solution. needle adds no friction that I can feel to the focus action. Download and check them out, I just grabbed the first one and printed it. This arrangement turns 100% true, no wobble. The side bearings are each made from 2 identical semicircles of 5/8 inch plywood glued together to make a thickness of 1 inches. 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. Thanks Bob. I attached keepers 1 inches wide by 5 inches long, extending above the bottom of the arcs by about 1 inches. Both cameras have fairly small megapixels by todays' standards, and are certainly obsolete, but do the job extremely well! 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 This combination has the best resolution (steps/revolution), so I didn't see any reason to build anything else. I like the old way of using stepper motors and other stuff introduced years ago by Mel Bartels, he is a master for me. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. Interfaced with a computer, so the computer can make the decisions about where the best focus is. You will need to order one sized for your telescope's focuser shaft size. 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. Thanks Pinbout for sharing your design. "https://ssl." 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. I built mine entirely from CNC-cut plywood, and fastened it together with 2 bolts. Parts List (the full story of acquiring the parts), The primary, secondary, spider and secondary holderDiscovery Optics. The wide square footprint would make it pretty stable when mounted to 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. Please explain, in detail, how you attached your tube to the very unique drive system of an XT12G mount. Thanks for the great comment. Drawing lines between opposite corners of the tube box sides allowed me to locate the center point on each side. The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! drneilmb, thanks for sharing the focuser design. I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. Only problem is if I put a diagonal it wants to rotate the helical part. The cage should be a hollow cylinder about wider than the mirror, with the focuser mounted directly facing the secondary mirror. I plan to use an FTA over it in case an extension is needed. However more than the focuser, I liked your scope. Nice one. This sure is going to be a project I will work on. This extra space would allow the tube to be repositioned within the tube box to rotate the eyepiece or balance the tube. I redrilled the holes for the mirror cell and got ready to wrap it. Download and unzip. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. Attach the ball head to the top board. off the bearings. 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. A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep The focuser is very smooth. So, for my telescope I used a 6mm to 5mm coupler available on Amazon. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. They have many items for ATMers and I had frequently visited their website when planning my scope. I will have a lot of fun building my homemade 12.5 inch Dobsonian Telescope!!! Share it with us! Just drill holes in both ends and mount the lenses. I applied contact cement to the first inch of the veneer and the mating inch of the tube. 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. 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. Several clamps were used to hold the pieces together overnight. wobbly knob still works, and adds character. on Step 1, interesting build, its just like my old Odyssey brand scope from the mid 1990's. As I understand, you are using it for a refractor. I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. This was to allow the circle cutting jig to be attached to the board to cut the arcs from a center point of 25 inches above the ground. Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. That helps with low-profile Rather than use a sheet of plastic Kydex to finish the tube, as recommended in K/B, I ordered a sheet of birch veneer. knob, and a drill press to make sure the hole for the knitting needle For about $3 we can buy a tank valve kit that has a threaded 2" i.d. #2 knitting needle would be just about right. Building the mirror box is tricky, because the entire optical assembly (mirror cell, mirror box, trusses, secondary cage) must balance at the center of rotation of the arms. I paid the 50% deposit and dreamed of DSOs. I'm' glad I did, because I didn't like the first color that I had chosen. Made of plywood, the rocker box supports the mirror box on 1 teflon pads, allowing it to rotate vertically. I had to take apart the focuser in order to get my bolts in place. But who cares, really? Electronics and software automate the process of taking pictures. It is named after the Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society, Crayford, London, England where it was invented by John Wall, a member of the astronomical society which meets there. 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. 1N5408 3A Diode (you may need to make the pins smaller to fit through the holes in the board. Obviously an open truss telescope. I really had to, since the underside of my telescope's focuser is all curves, no flat area for attaching the mounting bracket. After you've done that, put a couple of tiny pan-head screws 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. A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers accessible by all ages and skill ranges. 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. I particularly like that the design can be integrated directly into the focuser board to make a very, very simple UTA. ScopeStuff is awesome!! on Introduction. At this point, the scope was pretty much finished. Brandon Lawler is a hobbyist telescope Maker and an active member of the Central Texas Astronomical Society. Look down through the empty focuser. 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. They said they would make the brackets extra long to accommodate the mirror and it would take about a week. Well, it sort of looks like a focuser.. See pictures below. I used a hole saw to cut a wooden plug to fit inside the 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. needle to be just a little too flexible for the weight of a diagonal and #@$%^#@!!!!! After looking at many focuser options with a big range of prices, I decided to order a GSO 2 speed Crayford focuser from ScopeStuff. DO NOT drill out the holes in the board! I ended up modifying it a bit after printing. 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. an eyepiece. 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. Subscribe to the premier DIY magazine today, Community access, print, and digital Magazine, and more. The pivot bolt consists of a 1 1/8 inch brass spacer with an 11/16 inch outer diameter, a 3/8 inch bolt 2 inches long, a stop nut, and two large washers. really stiff and light for their size, and even though a #2 is pretty One 6in dob I made was a complete failure. 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. and hope it doesn't fall off the side of a rigid secondary cage. telescope page, I wasn't really eager to buy two commercial Crayford Because thebasic movement and optics requirements are relatively simple, much of the design is left to the builder. 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 do have another tube that can be used around the drawtube, but it doesn't really add anything. It seems to The telescopes size is classified by the size of its mirror. The focuser shaft on the telescope is 13.1mm in diameter. I used my router to "mill" a flat area for better contact with the focus adjustment rod. I am well versed in technology, have all the tools necessary to build my own! Similar photos at http://www.telescopegeek.com/gallery.htm require 100+ minute exposure times on his 20" telescope and $3200 camera. too far. After the pieces were glued together, I used a belt sander to smooth out any rough edges, being careful to keep both rocker sides and both side bearings exactly the same. Share it with us! The mount and tripod are pretty much useless for astrophotography. Below are cutting diagrams and diagrams of the rocker and tube box with side bearings. Thanks Peter. Read the documentation though, there are a lot of functions and options. Secondary mirror with spider holder Search on eBay for a matched set. 11 years ago As the thread shows you could also build the dual speed version, all made of plywood, if you feel ready to tackle a slightly more complex project for a cost of about 5$ more. I do it with aluminium alloy, aluminium tube and nice work. Place the focuser, draw the position of the screws with a pencil and remove the focuser. I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. This motor is available on Amazon. The current needs to be adjusted on the DRV8825. Staples or finishing nails work fine, but be sure they dont bump up above the surface of the plastic. Using a compass I drew circles on the top and bottom of the ground board to mark the inside and outside of the teflon ring on the bottom of the rocker bottom. Edited by Pierre Lemay, 25 May 2020 - 08:10 AM. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock, http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4721255. 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. on Step 5, 9 years ago Fast forward a few months to the next time I had the tube outside. This cost around $100 to build and all of the components came from Jaycar, except the brackets which were made with 1.2mm sheet metal. The company has a reputation for excellent optics, and it was neither the most expensive, nor the least. 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. narrow the frame. There are a number of technical reasons why these photographs could not have come from this Optical Tube Assembly. I had designed the tube box so that there would be an extra inch around the tube. If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. To place the primary mirror, I installed the secondary and installed the primary in the mirror cell. 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. Orient this assembly to allow you to view an object on the far horizon. To get this arc, I actually moved the radius of the jig in by 1/8 inch. As I mentioned on my binocular Finally it was etched in caustic soda, and anodised matt black. As the telescope tilts toward the horizon, the mirror must be supported on its edge. See captioned photos 22-25 here:https://www.cloudyniractor-focuser/ for more detail on building a flush valve focuser, as Bob mentions. 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. 11 years ago Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome of this project - focusing is now a joy. Once the pieces were cut and I held them around the tube, I decided to cut them a bit smaller because the extra space was too much. It wouldn't be a two-speed design, but if I used a thin enough The secondary holder is adjustable, so I could didn't have to get the location perfect. The premier publication of maker projects, skill-building tutorials, in-depth reviews, and inspirational stories, initiatives for the next generation of makers. Dobsonian telescopes are popular with amateur telescope makers for their ease of design and construction, portability, and their use of large optical mirrors. a 3/4" thickness. After the glue dried but before the clamps were removed, I added corner braces to all four corners of the tube using glue and brads to hold them in place. microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. I did not wrap the tube until I had completed the base. After researching several possible sources for a primary mirror, I decided to order an f/5 12.5 inch mirror from Discovery Optics. The plate has slotted screw holes for tensioning the 6mm belt. Thin 1/16 Kydex plastic should be cut to length to line the inside of the cage as a baffle to block outside light. 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. Use mild soap and distilled . 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. This is the kind of simple off the shelf design I was looking for. 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. This is because my router bit was inch and the arc would be cut by the outside edge of the bit (where the circle had been cut by the inside edge.) 10 years ago A 6 in primary mirror does not have enough weight to make the dob stable. A week later the cell arrived (on schedule) from University Optics. the drive shaft close against the drawtube. Since these focusers were going side-by-side on a binocular New Creation Tamil 6.96K subscribers Welcome to New Creation Tamil Our Channel include of Guiding Videos: 1.DIY Projects 2.Awesome Ideas 3.Tips You are inter with New Creation Tamil you can enjoy. Page 1 of 2 - DIY focuser design - posted in ATM, Optics and DIY Forum: Hi I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6 F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. I also figured that the extra expense was worth it, considering the amount of money I was investing in the project overall. I told them I was on my way. This proved fatal for the stepper motor! I told them to take their time and get it right. 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. 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. Pioneered by John Dobson in the 1960s, the instrument combines a Newtonian reflector telescope with a unique two-axis movable base. His project is very well documented. Then it was time to stain and finish. If you look in the FILES area on Robert Brown's site (see link above) you will see a sub-folder "3D Printed Parts". the tube is cardboard as well, you can also get a quality mirror at telescope.com for much cheaper. Here is a link to the main FILES area on Robert Brown's site. on Step 5. OK, no, I do not have a homemade Crayford focuser but am planning to build a 3 incher for next years 17" reflector telescope project and to hold my new 30mm ES 100 degree EP. Unbelievable! It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. When I ordered the cell, I paid through paypal, which immediately deducts money from my checking account. If you're not using heavy eyepieces, you probably don't need Not worth the effort, price is tooo high. There was the expense, for one, but also the You should watch (and bookmark) this video. I did run into a small problem with the focuser. You need a drawtube of course. a try. control. I wanted a tight / press fit, so I only added half that, 0.25mm. Most people will want a knob on All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . my thoughts naturally gravitated toward a boxy focuser to go with it. If you're going for simple, have you considered a helical focuser? It has become an indispensable piece of equipment for me that so beats hacking and filing PVC pipes etc. focuser. I will get good 30-40 mm focusing range. Upload that main sketch to the Nano. After the second call, I received a response that it would be ready at the end of the following week. I don't have the skills to build a focuser using a. I welded mine from steel square tubing. I drilled holes for the screws that avoided the location of the ring, and attached the rocker bottom. 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. Install on Windows 10, this part is pretty straightforward. A project collaboration and documentation platform. 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. 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. Among amateur telescopes, the most common are focusers with landing diameters of 1.25 ", 2", rarely 0.965 ", and even less often - 3". My homemade motorized telescope focuser for Celestron C8. Other supplies that I bought for this project include wood, various bits of hardware, stain and finishing supplies, and a circle cutting jig for a router. 5 weeks after I had ordered the mirror, I called to ask about its status. Low, or Zero slop when changing direction. I decided to order a mirror cell from them because the owner had talked about a new cell he was excited about. : "http://www. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! the bearings, totally eliminating any flex. I decided that my best option was to scale up their 8 inch design for a 12.5 inch scope and sacrifice the portability and easier storage of a truss scope for something that I felt confident in building myself. Pierre's Helical Crayford gets my vote hands-down for elegant simplicity. You will need to remove the regular focus knob on your telescope's focuser. After a few weeks of no communication from them, no ability to phone or email them, and no mirror cell arriving. The belt and pulleys are off-the-shelf items available on Amazon. 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. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. 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. This project is based on Robert Brown's "Arduino ASCOM Focuser Pro2 DIY". The bigger upvc nut will be attached to focuser plate and longer threaded side will be used on it for the focusing. The glue should keep the nylon from fraying. rod for the drive axle it would have a fairly fine motion. 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. Nice work and great instructable! I laughed, packed up the cell with a long letter describing the series of events that led to the return, and put it in the mail. Topics such as The heaviest piece is 40 lbs, and the total scope weighs about 60 lbs (not counting the baffle). Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? I've been using the above pair Rock on! Two different construction supply companies told me that sonotubes were not available with a 14 inch diameter, even by special order. So I was looking for a cheap, light-but-sturdy design for a The rocker sides are each made of two identical pieces of inch plywood glued together, creating two sides one inch thick. This can be shimmed out with paper wrapped around the 1/4" x 20 bolt, and the nylon bolt end against the smooth knitting Finally, attach your polar alignment device and align it with the hinge. 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. PVC pipe makes great drawtubes. 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. it sticks into your light path. Your choice here will be recorded for all Make.co Websites. I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. To get a slide-fit in a 3D printed part, you normally make the hole 0.5mm larger than the shaft. I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6" F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. It doesn't. A tilted focuser will have no effect on the image quality. 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. 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. 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. The day I received the refund, I ordered a mirror cell from University Optics.