Download and check them out, I just grabbed the first one and printed it. I did not glue the bearings to the tube box in case I needed to adjust the position later. I only use the OTA. occurred to me that a square turned 45 degrees would give me two flat 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 particularly like that the design can be integrated directly into the focuser board to make a very, very simple UTA. I ordered the focuser, received an immediate email confirming the order, and it arrived two days later. on Step 5. During on-site assembly, attach each truss to its mounting T-nut using a bolt with a thumbscrew knob. In the sub-folder "Cases" you will see many variants of the case for the DRV8825 based focusers. (I didn't have the primary mirror yet). 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. I like the old way of using stepper motors and other stuff introduced years ago by Mel Bartels, he is a master for me. Contact cement is permanent, so the only solution would be to replace the tube! Staples or finishing nails work fine, but be sure they dont bump up above the surface of the plastic. Below are cutting diagrams and diagrams of the rocker and tube box with side bearings. Among amateur telescopes, the most common are focusers with landing diameters of 1.25 ", 2", rarely 0.965 ", and even less often - 3". This motor has a 5mm drive shaft. If you wanted to really go low-profile with this design, #@$%^#@!!!!! Two such companies would not give me a price because the order of a single tube was too small. The wide square footprint would make it pretty stable when mounted to Measure the diameter of the exposed shaft. crafts, science & engineering, design, and technology. I was concerned that it would be difficult to find, but I was able to order it from a local woodworking shop. It 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. Not worth the effort, price is tooo high. Again from the main FILES page, go to "ASCOM DRIVERS" and download everything. I marked the spot and moved things back inside to install the mirror. The rocker sides are each made of two identical pieces of inch plywood glued together, creating two sides one inch thick. Nice looking telescope. 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. It wouldn't be a two-speed design, but if I used a thin enough knob, and a drill press to make sure the hole for the knitting needle 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. I only do functional. a 3/4" thickness. 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. I used a hole saw to cut a wooden plug to fit inside the They're fairly case you need more focuser travel than you thought. I then attached the Ebony Star ring using contact cement. You should now be able to drill the 4 holes at each corner. 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. Realizing that it could not be the University Optics cell already, I thought, Noit couldn't be but, in fact, it was. really stiff and light for their size, and even though a #2 is pretty I Hope to give you ideas if you are thinking about building one for yourself! Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. With adapters for any Meade 1x200-ACF or LS model, and chord to plug into focuser port. I waited until dark and pointed the scope at the sky. Those are the last screws to be tightened. I 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. The Crayford focuser is a simplified focusing mechanism for amateur astronomical telescopes. I told them I was on my way. 5 weeks after I had ordered the mirror, I called to ask about its status. Ideally, the spacer would be 1 inch long and have a smaller diameter, but I didn't get this one right the first time. Rock on! I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! His passion is using CAD design and his homemade CNC router to bring large wood projects to life. You need to order it sized for your focuser shaft size. Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. Both cameras have fairly small megapixels by todays' standards, and are certainly obsolete, but do the job extremely well! on Introduction. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. Your choice here will be recorded for all Make.co Websites. In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. 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. Just to make sure I liked the stain, I applied some to a piece of scrap wood. together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. I found out pretty quickly that building my own telescope would only be a bargain if I made my own mirror and mechanical parts. I'm' glad I did, because I didn't like the first color that I had chosen. 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. To cut the circles, I used a router with a straight cutting bit and a circle cutting jig. 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. The bigger upvc nut will be attached to focuser plate and longer threaded side will be used on it for the focusing. You simply glue or screw the 'nut' part to your scope OTA, and thread the tube part in/out to focus. Find a special something for the makers in your life. Un-real!!! on Step 3. The glue should keep the nylon from fraying. Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this scope. It interfaces to the computer via USB and comes with an ASCOM driver. I would love to see your build when you are finished with it . I even began taking careful notes about needed supplies and plans for each piece of the truss tube scope. Slide the eyepiece into the focuser and try it out. 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. SDO/HMI Continuum Image on 2023.03.04 at 1259 UT, Remote computer working with no extra networking. I call shenanigans on every picture in this post except for the the moon. (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.) The only thing on the list that was a bit difficult to find was baltic birch plywood, which had to be special ordered from the lumber yard. 5 weeks after I had ordered the mirror, I called to ask about its status. So, am curious to see what others have designed and built and proud to show off here on the homage to Crayford thread. I think I got what I wanted and seems best solution for me. I am a retired USAF electronics engineer, and might even do much of the construction of the base with welded structural tubing, as, I do have a complete metal working shop besides my wood shop, here. 7 years ago They have many items for ATMers and I had frequently visited their website when planning my scope. I have several of the books on building a Dobsonian Telescope. You will have to line up the diagonal and primary so that you see a centered image of the sonotube opening and the spyder in the eyepiece hole. 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. 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. Measure twice, drill The belt and pulleys are off-the-shelf items available on Amazon. love to hear from people who are interested in this focuser design. This Instructable describe the planning, design, and parts of the scope, as well as the process of building The scope. I was annoyed to have made the mistake, but very glad that I checked the position on stars before wrapping the tube in veneer. A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep I called in the order and explained that I would be using a mirror two inches thick. The core of the telescope, the steel mirror cell holds and adjusts the heavy, curved primary mirror. I had installed the mirror about an inch too far away from the focuser. Unbelievable! It was May 12th. A week later the cell arrived (on schedule) from University Optics. I will post the pic of final focuser once ready. Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion focusers, normally found in this type of device. I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. Line the underside of the rocker box with a ring of ABS plastic to allow it to ride on the base. So I decided to make my own, using my normal "blunder in naively and see what happens" approach to making things. Edited by Pierre Lemay, 25 May 2020 - 08:10 AM. A smart collection of books, magazines, electronics kits, robots, microcontrollers, tools, supplies, and more While round tubing is sturdy, square tubing is easier to work with. Feel free to take on that part if you like, but you're on your own :-). Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. my 12.5" trackball, but I didn't Save over 40% off the annual cover price for a full year (4 issues) of Make. larger diameter. I told them to take their time and get it right. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches) Lighter than the existing focuser. 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. Most people will want a knob on 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. Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . The little app is simple and works great. that is a great website that guy has some fantastic photos. Many sources point out that 10 inches is a kind of sweet spot in the balance between power and portability. I made a similar helical focuser with a nice 2 inch thing I found in Classifieds. A couple setscrews and you're up & running with an off the shelf solution. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. Not sure how your toilets are built over there, but here they use what is called a tank flush valve. If you're not familiar with Arduino, watch some tutorial videos. Maker-written books designed to inform and delight! - Bill. I have seen some VERY impressive photos similar to those, taken with Nikon D700 and D300 cameras, with the proper filters- and mounts- on a quality scope. guarantee a response, but I'll do my best to answer everyone who writes That helps with low-profile This resulted in a gear that wasn't true and "wobbled" a bit. 10 years ago After waiting for the stain to dry for a day, I applied polyurethane in two coats, going over the surface with 0000 steel wool between coats. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock, http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4721255. Unfortunately I don't have a 3d printer. Edited by howardcano, 24 May 2020 - 09:29 PM. It may need some careful coaxing with a screwdriver. on my binocular scope for quite a while now and really like them. A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers Thank you for your pages. Thin 1/16 Kydex plastic should be cut to length to line the inside of the cage as a baffle to block outside light. I would also like to know about how you can take such fantastic pictures without a field rotator and an autoguider system. I am using scrap upvc pipe material. the tube is cardboard as well, you can also get a quality mirror at telescope.com for much cheaper. Gift the gift of Make: Magazine this holiday season! 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. I 11 years ago Bill, Impressive work and great idea about LSDF focuser. The focuser is very smooth. The Dob is really a great design. The motor is much lighter than the geared motor. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. experimented with various wires and rods and eventually decided that a 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. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. Read the documentation though, there are a lot of functions and options. 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. Finally it was etched in caustic soda, and anodised matt black. 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. Nice work and great instructable! If you connect the 12V power with the barrel connector (right side of photo), the Nano should light up without the USB connection. 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. If you found some good surplus lenses, you will have made a stunningly good objective for your scope. I built mine entirely from CNC-cut plywood, and fastened it together with 2 bolts. 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. 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. both sides. The 48 inch width of the veneer was close enough to the diameter of the tube that I used it as is. And a couple of upright bearing blocks. The Focuser and other items: (Scope Stuff). Since my plan called for purchasing the mirrors and mechanical parts there were several decisions to be made and several vendors to contact. Rack & Pinion: For many years the standard focuser was of the rack-and-pinion type - a small pinion gear moved the flat toothed rack that was attached to or built into the moving focusing tube that holds the eyepiece.However, this geared system was far from ideal, with some wobble due to the friction fit between the fixed and moving tubes and backlash due to the gears. You should watch (and bookmark) this video. With the DRV8825 and Arduino Nano plugged in, the basic board is complete. The mirror box encloses the mirror cell and allows the entire telescope to rotate vertically. Your design is simple and nice. You can view and download the full file here. corners of the squares provide nice nooks for the eyepiece and eyepiece It's rigid, lightweight, and ASIAIR - Is there an easy way to load Messier catalog into Autorun? The blue pieces of the rocker box and ground board are arranged as in the diagrams in (figure 2). 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. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! 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. widening the hole. on Introduction. The drawings are only approximately to scale. Use mild soap and distilled . I ended up modifying it a bit after printing. CNC files (optional) Download the Sketchup files. 100A81BF-2145-44D5-BC76-66DBF43BAD58.jpeg. Download and unzip. A project collaboration and documentation platform. the bearings, totally eliminating any flex. The dimensions of the Tube Box Sides are based on the outer diameter of my tube14 3/16. When I ordered the cell, I paid through paypal, which immediately deducts money from my checking account. i am not trying to win this contest with photos. knitting needle where it goes through the hole, so it's not a big deal, I described it two years ago in this thread:https://www.cloudyniuser/?p=8879835 . Headers for the LEDs, buzzer (2-pin) and temperature probe (3-pin). Every primary telescope mirror has a fixed focal length thats usually 4 to 6 times the width of the mirror. Best Wishes, Reply And a flat thing to put it all on Remember: It is the quality and SIZE of the capture chip, NOT the megapixels that determines quality. 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. Funny how the bigger they are the better for dobs. 24 T-nuts, with matching 2 bolts and knobs, 8 Aluminum tubing, thin wall, 1 square, 4 lengths I got mine from Cycle 24, Black woven velveteen, 68 Cut it so it stretches along the 6 axis. I did run into a small problem with the focuser. Shorter thread side will be used to attach the eyepiece. Participated in the Celestron Space Challenge. 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. For my project I needed a 14 inch diameter, and I had a tough time finding one. There are sub-folders for the different versions. So, I duplicated the aluminum gear pulley in SolidWorks, and printed it out. 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'd We use cookies to continuously improve our websites for you and optimize its design and customization. As I set of the scope, several club members came over to check things out and it was nice to hear the positive comments on the appearance of the scope. forward and back along with the drawtube when you focus, and you'll get 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. 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. I had talked with their owner about mirrors and mirror cells once, and I was very impressed by his knowledge of telescope building. I hate focusing. I will have a lot of fun building my homemade 12.5 inch Dobsonian Telescope!!! When I looked at the costs, I seriously considered buying an Orion telescope instead of building my own. . This will determine the size of the coupler you will use to connect the stepper motor. An Altitude Azimuth mount would also require a field rotator.There's no way these were taken with an Orion GoTo Mount. See captioned photos 22-25 here:https://www.cloudyniractor-focuser/ for more detail on building a flush valve focuser, as Bob mentions. Once you get it working, there's some calibration you need to do. The cell from Anttler's, for which I had received a refund, had arrived. The holes in the main bracket the match the holes in the plate are oversize to allow for this alignment. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! Several of my Recent Images have been focused with this system. An electronic focuser, which moves the focus knob through a combination of hardware and software, solves this problem. A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. Your astrophotographer friend may have included his own images from his setup. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. I then ran a bead of glue on the mark, and after it dried I cut out the nylon up to the glue. I also wanted to strengthen and protect the cardboard tube. This motor is available on Amazon. So, as they say, "back to the drawing board". This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. Then it was time to stain and finish. I redrilled the holes for the mirror cell and got ready to wrap it. off the bearings. The Crayford Focuser and DIY Focuser for Homemade Telescope By trukmeeilee in Circuits Cameras 3,461 3 1 Download Favorite By trukmeeilee Follow More by the author: The Crayford focuser is a simplified focusing mechanism for amateur astronomical telescopes. the side of a rigid secondary cage. 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. A bit of a monster! 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. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!). 8 years ago But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. This is the upper tube that contains the flat secondary mirror, Telrad finder, and focuser. 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. At their suggestion, I also ordered a 2.6 inch secondary mirror. I pointed it at distant trees and had no problem bringing the image into focus with all of my eyepieces. I used my router to "mill" a flat area for better contact with the focus adjustment rod. Home centers and hardware stores did not carry large sizes. As I understand, you are using it for a refractor. But who cares, really? Picture of DS-4. Drill a hole and attach the ball head using a shorter 1/4" 20 bolt. For about $3 we can buy a tank valve kit that has a threaded 2" i.d. Helical is one of the option i am considering. Thin-wall aluminum tubing is used to attach the mirror box to the secondary cage. Let me see if I can get similar plumbing parts here. try { I have built a homemade electric focuser for my Celestron 8SE using a radio control hobby servo and some spare parts. focusers for that project. If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? "https://ssl." I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. If you're going for simple, have you considered a helical focuser? Using heavy grit sandpaper I brought back the surface of the keeper enough for the side bearings to fit inside the felt pads. 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. Orient this assembly to allow you to view an object on the far horizon. One of the companies I had considered as a supplier for the primary mirror was Anttler's Optical. 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. can't click on it or copy and paste it; it's a graphic file to thwart My homemade motorized telescope focuser for Celestron C8. After a few weeks of no communication from them, no ability to phone or email them, and no mirror cell arriving. 1N5408 3A Diode (you may need to make the pins smaller to fit through the holes in the board. These have slop as you change direction, you can't do fine adjustments, they weigh a ton, and can flex alarmingly over time. Focuser minimum height is 50 mm and maximum a little over 90 mm so it is good overall. homemade Crayford focuser. After cutting the circles for the side bearings, I set up the jig to cut the curved edges of the rocker sides. PVC pipe makes great drawtubes. you don't need to paint it (or worry about paint flaking off it). This is the kind of simple off the shelf design I was looking for. And for those who like to work with 3D printers, both the single speed and dual-speed versions could easily be printed. You will look through these as you rotate the wheel. For a while I decided that 10 inch would be the best size. You need a drawtube of course. Two of the holes for the bolts were blocked by knobs. This allows for a small clearance between the outside of the tube and the inside of the tube box (14 3/8). Plan ahead by carefully weighing all components and approximating the center mass of the optical assembly. ill ask him for a detailed list of what he used and when i get that ill post it here for you. I also doubled the thickness of the rocker sides (not the front wall) to provide better support for the heavier tube. This book describes in great detail the steps to build a large aperture truss tube dob, focusing on scopes with a 12.5 to 40 inch mirror. 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. narrow the frame. This arrangement turns 100% true, no wobble. 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. 1/4" x 20 bolt, and the nylon bolt end against the smooth knitting To make the hole for the focuser, I used the focuser tube to mark a circle in the shroud. The cage should be a hollow cylinder about wider than the mirror, with the focuser mounted directly facing the secondary mirror. 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.