homemade telescope focuser

1/4" x 20 bolt, and the nylon bolt end against the smooth knitting (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.) There are sub-folders for the different versions. 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. I installed the spider first, about one inch down from the end of the square end of the tube. The premier publication of maker projects, skill-building tutorials, in-depth reviews, and inspirational stories, Look down through the empty focuser. 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. Nice one. 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. #2 knitting needle would be just about right. I'm only hoping to supplement it a bit with some info and pictures aimed at those with limited skills (such as myself) :-) I'm not an electrical engineer, I'm more of a software guy with some limited knowledge of electronics and basic soldering and assembly skills. During on-site assembly, attach each truss to its mounting T-nut using a bolt with a thumbscrew knob. If your optical train is heavy and the focuser has to bear it (see above) then this motor may be a better choice. So, as they say, "back to the drawing board". 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. Yet I was also becoming infected with aperture fever. 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. was straight so I wouldn't get a wobbly knob. 5 weeks after I had ordered the mirror, I called to ask about its status. the bearings right at the edge of the frame, reducing the frame to can't click on it or copy and paste it; it's a graphic file to thwart But, like many of you I'm sure, the biggest reason I'm doing this is for the pure geeky fun of it! This design could be adapted to practically any telescope or focuser, so I've kept my outline on the project brief. Drill a hole and attach the ball head using a shorter 1/4" 20 bolt. Star Adventurer Pro Pack Counter Weight Bar Thumb Screw Upgrade. Topics such as I applied contact cement to the first inch of the veneer and the mating inch of the tube. Among amateur telescopes, the most common are focusers with landing diameters of 1.25 ", 2", rarely 0.965 ", and even less often - 3". 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! A I pointed it at distant trees and had no problem bringing the image into focus with all of my eyepieces. This simple homemade device will reduce star trails far better than if the camera was mounted on a tripod alone. Focuser (GSO 2 speed low profile Crayford): $139 Ebony star strips: 2 @ $10 Ebony star ring: $59 Teflon strip: $11 Telrad base: $10 Baltic Birch " sheet (60X60): $42 Baltic Birch 5/8" sheet (60X60): $48 Circle cutting jig: $30 Birch Veneer (4X8 piece): $65 Hardware, stain, other supplies: $80 Total cost for supplies for this project: $1700 11 years ago That evening I spent most of my time rediscovering the many DSOs around Sagittarius, especially the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid Nebula. I carefully cut exactly through the center of each side bearing circle to make my semicircles. 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. 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. The Dob is really a great design. 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. Reply Until I see photos of this scope setup for these pictures and an explanation of the exact equipment used, I cannot believe that these pictures were taken with this OTA. Coupler for NEMA-17 Stepper Motor (also two choices, see below), LM7808 Voltage Regulator with TO-220 package -, Mini On/Off 3-pin 2-position slide switch -, Headers and wire (miscellaneous sizes and gauges), these are important so you can replace the component if it is damaged, LM7808 voltage regulator w/TO-220 heat sink package, 2-pin headers for 12V power and on/off switch. I 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. When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well. It seems to Attach the ball head to the top board. the drive shaft close against the drawtube. Thanks Pinbout for sharing your design. My first telescope I built was a 10" F8. I described it two years ago in this thread:https://www.cloudyniuser/?p=8879835 . If not, you may need to design and print your own bracket(s), gears, and so on. His project is very well documented. This focuser (see pic at bottom) was motorised by me several years ago, but the motorised system didn't give me very fine control, and the motor running at fast speed tended to make the Artemis camera crash. Interfaced with a computer, so the computer can make the decisions about where the best focus is. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. The focuser is very smooth. "https://ssl." Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. widening the hole. Whether you need a basic rack-and-pinion telescope focuser for your homemade telescope project or a premium Crayford-type model with dual-speed focusing as a performance upgrade, you have come to the right place. As it turned out, the mirror cell was too large to fit into my 14 inch sonotube. The overall project is super cheap, we're building this thing for something like $50 in materials. You will need to order one sized for your telescope's focuser shaft size. It wouldn't be a two-speed design, but if I used a thin enough Depending on your telescope, one of the Brackets that Robert has may work for you. by cranking This means I can use FocusMax to do the focusing. Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . 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. All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . By adjusting the bolts, the mirror can be pointed toward the correct spot. The box should be deep enough to allow the mirror box to swing all the way down. Un-real!!! We were careful to press out any bubbles as we went, but when the job was done we found that there were multiple bubbles in the veneer. This cost around $100 to build and all of the components came from. Because thebasic movement and optics requirements are relatively simple, much of the design is left to the builder. . homemade Crayford focuser. 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. large in diameter (1.6") so that adds to the fine-ness of the focus 8 years ago on Step 5, 9 years ago Dobsonians come in all shapes and sizes, from small 4-8 builds all the way up to massive 24-36 creations. Thicker walls also required thicker side bearings so that the outside of the bearings would line up with the outside of the rocker sides. Featured in the February, 2015 issue of Sky & As I understand, you are using it for a refractor. If you look in the FILES area on Robert Brown's site (see link above) you will see a sub-folder "3D Printed Parts". Upload that main sketch to the Nano. 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. Dobsonian telescopes are popular with amateur telescope makers for their ease of design and construction, portability, and their use of large optical mirrors. Here are a few photos of the "bracket", which is a simple 3D printed plate that mounts to the telescope's focuser ring, and serves as a mount for the stepper motor. All i did was supply the telescope as far as his camera equipment i dont know what he used i never saw it all i know is he had my scope for about a month while i was traveling and he gave me these photos. I am well versed in technology, have all the tools necessary to build my own! Did you make this project? When they arrived, they were beautifully and carefully packaged with the secondary already installed in its holder. DIY Craford Focuser. I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. The basic points I wanted to cover: What did I end up with? The project took several months off and on to complete, although a skilled Maker could put a similar one together in a few weeks. This motor has a 5mm drive shaft. Connect the Arduino USB cable and upload some test sketches. At their suggestion, I also ordered a 2.6 inch secondary mirror. The 48 inch width of the veneer was close enough to the diameter of the tube that I used it as is. Download and unzip. On the cutting diagram, you can see that the side bearings were cut 26 inches long. To cut the circles, I used a router with a straight cutting bit and a circle cutting jig. But who cares, really? 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. 4 years ago Pierre's Helical Crayford gets my vote hands-down for elegant simplicity. I was certain not to move the jig at all before cutting the second circle. With adapters for any Meade 1x200-ACF or LS model, and chord to plug into focuser port. While a sling or whiffletree provide the best edge support, a two-point edge support is much easier to construct. The spider, or secondary mirror holder, will suspend the mirror in the optical path in order to direct light into the focuser. Rock Paper Scissors Using Tinkercad Circuits and Arduino, Punchy the MECH & the Autonomous Fight Club, PCB (printed circuit board) - download the, DRV8825 - stepper motor driver chip/board - again, clones available on. I've been using the above pair If you're not using heavy eyepieces, you probably don't need I have built a homemade electric focuser for my Celestron 8SE using a radio control hobby servo and some spare parts. Part numbers 351-4574 and 336-422. Tips If you've got a 1.25 inch focuser, You can also use it for an objective. I plan to use an FTA over it in case an extension is needed. I used the "LEDandBuzzer" and "TestStepsDRV8825" tests. The 2-1.25" adapter is a sink drain slip fitting in 1-1/4" size that slips into the large tube for 1.25 EP's. really stiff and light for their size, and even though a #2 is pretty I only use the OTA. Several clamps were used to hold the pieces together overnight. The side bearings are each made from 2 identical semicircles of 5/8 inch plywood glued together to make a thickness of 1 inches. And you can tell it's not a mosaic because the stars at the corners show coma/field curvature artifacts. This is the first telescope that I have built. 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. Plus it comes in black, so Or rather, I hated it. } catch(err) {}, SH-232 Sharpless sh-232, sh-231, sh-233, sh-235, NGC2174 Monkey Head Nebula, Sharpless 252, Sh2-252, HDW3 Hartl-Dengel-Weinberger 3 PN G149.4-09.2, SH-198 Sharpless 198, Soul Nebula, IC1848, NGC281 IC11, Sharpless Sh2-184, Pacman Nebula, SH2-173 SH2-173 Phantom of the Opera LBN 593, SH2-168 Sharpless HII regions. Whether you need a basic rack-and-pinion telescope focuser for your homemade telescope project or a premium Crayford-type model with dual-speed focusing as a performance upgrade, you have come to the right place. 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. 4 years ago 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. Before finishing the tube with a wrap of veneer, I wanted to make sure that the primary was in the correct position. It is used to setup water outlet from overhead water tanks. Several functions may not work. My homemade motorized telescope focuser for Celestron C8. My homemade motorized telescope focuser for Celestron C8. curated by us, the people behind Make: and the Maker Faire. Once I had my design set, I was ready to buy the parts. 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. pageTracker._trackPageview(); I have not yet figured out a better way to hold the tube. It doesn't. A tilted focuser will have no effect on the image quality. Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? Im sorry to hear you couldn't make the contest. installations. It is size 1.25 inch with a clear inside dia-meter. They're fairly . It was easy enough to drill a hole and tap threads for a Headers for the LEDs, buzzer (2-pin) and temperature probe (3-pin). love to hear from people who are interested in this focuser design. As I read the book I decided that I should build a 12.5 inch truss tube scope. The next day my wife called me at work to tell me a box had arrived with telescope stuff. 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. This is not recommended for shared computers. I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. I'm' glad I did, because I didn't like the first color that I had chosen. It Membership connects and supports the people and projects that shape our future and supports the learning I did not wrap the tube until I had completed the base. Start with the small components first. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!) Once I decided to build a scope myself I had to decide on the aperture of the scope. 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. 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. So, for my telescope I used a 6mm to 5mm coupler available on Amazon. 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. 11 years ago I had designed the tube box so that there would be an extra inch around the tube. in the tube so they'll hit the knitting needle before your drawtube runs 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. To do this, the mirror cell needs to be supported by 3 large bolts, at least 2 of which are adjustable. Subscribe to the premier DIY magazine today, Community access, print, and digital Magazine, and more. From everything I had read, I expected that getting a sonotube would be as easy as running to any hardware store and picking it up. on Step 1, interesting build, its just like my old Odyssey brand scope from the mid 1990's. It turns out the the extra 1/16 allowed far too much side to side movement between the rocker and ground board. 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. Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. a "rubbery" feel. The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP. So I was looking for a cheap, light-but-sturdy design for a Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. In the sub-folder "Cases" you will see many variants of the case for the DRV8825 based focusers. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!). (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches). Once you get it working, there's some calibration you need to do. You will need to remove the regular focus knob on your telescope's focuser. While round tubing is sturdy, square tubing is easier to work with. 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. Thanks again for the 'ible. His passion is using CAD design and his homemade CNC router to bring large wood projects to life. You can see that my Moonlite focuser was slightly larger than the sides of the tube. This sure is going to be a project I will work on. Another vote for Pierre's helical Crayford design. I decided to order an aluminum mirror cell from University Optics instead so that the mirror could be supported at 9 different points. I have several of the books on building a Dobsonian Telescope. Total cost for supplies for this project: It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. I decided to use baltic birch because it is recommended by Kriege and Berry as well as many online sources. This software creates a model of your telescope by measuring out of focus star sizes at various points. 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. You can view and download the full file here. Now attach the screw eyes and the rubber band on the side of the board. I file a dispute with Paypal to begin the process of getting my money back. haven't yet found any design elements that need improvement. 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. I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. You will look through these as you rotate the wheel. Bill, Impressive work and great idea about LSDF focuser. Or in my case, back to SolidWorks :-). My secondary is 4; for tips on choosing size, click here. After a few weeks of no communication from them, no ability to phone or email them, and no mirror cell arriving. Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion I attached them with very small brads, countersinking the brads. The base and the rocker box in my telescope are secured with a skate bearing assembly but could be more simply attached with a bolt through the center. For about $3 we can buy a tank valve kit that has a threaded 2" i.d. I had talked with their owner about mirrors and mirror cells once, and I was very impressed by his knowledge of telescope building. Only problem is if I put a diagonal it wants to rotate the helical part. I attached keepers 1 inches wide by 5 inches long, extending above the bottom of the arcs by about 1 inches. Robert Brown did an excellent video on how to work out your stepper motor requirements. together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. My telescope is the Orion ED80T-CF. Given that you can make the drawtube any length you I told them to take their time and get it right. This extra space would allow the tube to be repositioned within the tube box to rotate the eyepiece or balance the tube. I also doubled the thickness of the rocker sides (not the front wall) to provide better support for the heavier tube. I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. Perfect for visual observations with very heavy mirrors. 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. 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. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. 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. Here is a link to the main FILES area on Robert Brown's site. I told them to take their time and get it right. Below are cutting diagrams and diagrams of the rocker and tube box with side bearings. Let me see if I am able to collect all the parts needed. I used my router to "mill" a flat area for better contact with the focus adjustment rod. Nice looking telescope. 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. 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. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! Save over 40% off the annual cover price for a full year (4 issues) of Make. 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.