homemade telescope 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. Or in my case, back to SolidWorks :-). A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers Rock on! There are some test sketches in the "Tests" folder, start with those. And you can tell it's not a mosaic because the stars at the corners show coma/field curvature artifacts. Made of plywood, the rocker box supports the mirror box on 1 teflon pads, allowing it to rotate vertically. I had some carboy caps that make good knobs. Another vote for Pierre's helical Crayford design. Once I had my design set, I was ready to buy the parts. with a genuine question or comment about the design. The cage should be a hollow cylinder about wider than the mirror, with the focuser mounted directly facing the secondary mirror. Download and unzip. I then ran a bead of glue on the mark, and after it dried I cut out the nylon up to the glue. I had to take apart the focuser in order to get my bolts in place. When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well. flexing. 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 mirror box encloses the mirror cell and allows the entire telescope to rotate vertically. Finally, I attached Keepers to the sides of the rocker at the bottom of the arcs using screws and glue. my 12.5" trackball, but I didn't Unfortunately I don't have a 3d printer. PhotoPictureResizer_190723_214534574_crop_2558x3105_copy_1023x1242.jpg. But, like many of you I'm sure, the biggest reason I'm doing this is for the pure geeky fun of it! But, especially on cold evenings, the focus may go out in the middle of the night. Edited by Pierre Lemay, 25 May 2020 - 08:10 AM. . The little app is simple and works great. 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. 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. The focuser is very smooth. I found a used 16 primary on eBay. The shroud made from two 22 inch tall containers came out short, so I had to add an eleven inch strip of nylon. 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. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. 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. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. Thanks for your article. I brought a saw with me so that I cut it in half to fit in my minivan. initiatives for the next generation of makers. An Altitude Azimuth mount would also require a field rotator.There's no way these were taken with an Orion GoTo Mount. surfaces to put the bearings in and a vee at the bottom that would hold Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . They have many items for ATMers and I had frequently visited their website when planning my scope. 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'd All that remained was to design and print a bracket, and buy the needed parts. Once I decided to build a scope myself I had to decide on the aperture of the scope. I centered the focuser 8 inches from the top of the tube, using a 2.5 inch hole drilling saw with smaller holes for the bolts that would hold the focuser. Once your telescope is assembled, drape black woven velveteen around the truss assembly, clipping it with safety pins. After looking at many focuser options with a big range of prices, I decided to order a GSO 2 speed Crayford focuser from ScopeStuff. 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. They're fairly 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 Thin 1/16 Kydex plastic should be cut to length to line the inside of the cage as a baffle to block outside light. 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. Not sure if it is available in the USA. His project is very well documented. When you want to focus, you just open the program and press focus. "https://ssl." My telescope is the Orion ED80T-CF. haven't yet found any design elements that need improvement. As I understand, you are using it for a refractor. on Step 3. Once its cut to length, drill a hole through each end of the tubing with a drill press. installations. My first telescope I built was a 10" F8. Among amateur telescopes, the most common are focusers with landing diameters of 1.25 ", 2", rarely 0.965 ", and even less often - 3". Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. Before you do this, the stepper motor will probably move, but it will make a 'stuttering' sound instead of moving smoothly. #2 knitting needle would be just about right. I was certain not to move the jig at all before cutting the second circle. This is not recommended for shared computers. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. This allows for a small clearance between the outside of the tube and the inside of the tube box (14 3/8). The day I received the refund, I ordered a mirror cell from University Optics. Get hands-on with kits, books, and more from the Maker Shed, Skill builder, project tutorials, and more. I would love to see your build when you are finished with it . It is used to setup water outlet from overhead water tanks. Picture of DS-4. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! After the second call, I received a response that it would be ready at the end of the following week. Pretty dry but important! At their suggestion, I also ordered a 2.6 inch secondary mirror. If you mess up, you can turn the hole into a slot, but avoid Best Wishes, Reply I also doubled the thickness of the rocker sides (not the front wall) to provide better support for the heavier tube. was straight so I wouldn't get a wobbly knob. Instead of the rack and pinion, they have a smooth spring-loaded shaft which holds the focus tube against four opposing bearing surfaces, and controls its movement. try { This is the mirror box for my 16", with Jim doing a bit of cleanup sanding. Use mild soap and distilled . Post 10 of the same LSDF focuser thread also links to Art Bianconi's archived 2008 original flush valve focuser posts. I told them I was on my way. I then attached the Ebony Star ring using contact cement. needle so the knitting needle will be snug against the drawtube without Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. NEMA-17 Stepper Motor - see below, there are two options. i am not trying to win this contest with photos. Bill, Impressive work and great idea about LSDF focuser. focusers for that project. Motion is very smooth. Home centers and hardware stores did not carry large sizes. 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. I like the old way of using stepper motors and other stuff introduced years ago by Mel Bartels, he is a master for me. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. 11 years ago This motor is available on Amazon. You need some purple bits However more than the focuser, I liked your scope. It was important that the two circles be identical because the edges had to match perfectly when glued together and the two side bearings had to be identical in order for the altitude motion to work well. You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. Start with the small components first. 100A81BF-2145-44D5-BC76-66DBF43BAD58.jpeg. I described it two years ago in this thread:https://www.cloudyniuser/?p=8879835 . The curved sides of the Side Bearings are also covered with strips of Ebony Star that glide on the teflon pads on the curved edges of the Rocker Sides (figure 3). The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP. More commercial crayford focusers are of a more enclosed form, whereas mine is more "open frame" approach. Find a special something for the makers in your life. Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this scope. The original Crayford Focuser is on display there. drneilmb, thanks for sharing the focuser design. 11 years ago As it turned out, the mirror cell was too large to fit into my 14 inch sonotube. This resulted in a gear that wasn't true and "wobbled" a bit. Low, or Zero slop when changing direction. The project creator Robert Brown made a good video on testing the board. I applied contact cement to the first inch of the veneer and the mating inch of the tube. So, I duplicated the aluminum gear pulley in SolidWorks, and printed it out. 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. I marked the spot and moved things back inside to install the mirror. The box should be deep enough to allow the mirror box to swing all the way down. It may need some careful coaxing with a screwdriver. focuser. You need to order it sized for your focuser shaft size. One 6in dob I made was a complete failure. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches) Lighter than the existing focuser. I ScopeStuff is awesome!! Attach the eye piece to another cardboard piece and pass it through the hole from the inside of the tube. CNC files (optional) Download the Sketchup files. widening the hole. I used a hole saw to cut a wooden plug to fit inside the These will be stored in your browser only with your consent and you have the option to opt-out. 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. Pierre Lemay, thanks for sharing your simple and incredible design. 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. This arrangement turns 100% true, no wobble. It was May 12th. And for those who like to work with 3D printers, both the single speed and dual-speed versions could easily be printed. I'll use an aluminum tube for the finished draw tube but for now the plastic tube . This consists of a small black box of electronics. think that design would be rigid enough under the weight of a diagonal that is a great website that guy has some fantastic photos. You need a drawtube of course. Fire up focusmax, and shoot some images! Funny how the bigger they are the better for dobs. Feel free to take on that part if you like, but you're on your own :-). Pierre's Helical Crayford gets my vote hands-down for elegant simplicity. 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. Read the documentation though, there are a lot of functions and options. I have built a homemade electric focuser for my Celestron 8SE using a radio control hobby servo and some spare parts. Thanks Peter. They eyepiece height ended up being about 5'10" high at zenith. Many sources point out that 10 inches is a kind of sweet spot in the balance between power and portability. on Introduction. 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. 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. 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. As the telescope tilts toward the horizon, the mirror must be supported on its edge. These are mounted 120 degrees apart and use 4 inexpensive bearings to support the tube. Orient this assembly to allow you to view an object on the far horizon. Dobsonians come in all shapes and sizes, from small 4-8 builds all the way up to massive 24-36 creations. Staples or finishing nails work fine, but be sure they dont bump up above the surface of the plastic. But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. Most people will want a knob on 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. narrow the frame. Step 3The Side Bearings and Rocker Sides. The next day, I called back to ask their opinion about the kind of spider and secondary holder to order. I paid the 50% deposit and dreamed of DSOs. They even offered to send the spider, secondary holder, and secondary mirror immediately so that I could begin working on the tube while I waited for the primary. Meade Zero Image-Shift Electronic Micro-Focuser This high precision focuser allows you to obtain an extremely accurate image focus. I made this Crayford style focuser using plywood scraps and surplus bearings. 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 would also like to know about how you can take such fantastic pictures without a field rotator and an autoguider system. 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. We then spread contact cement over the remaining veneer and tube surface, waited for the glue to dry, and carefully rolled the tube over the veneer. The bigger upvc nut will be attached to focuser plate and longer threaded side will be used on it for the focusing. 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. ASIAIR - Is there an easy way to load Messier catalog into Autorun? Using heavy grit sandpaper I brought back the surface of the keeper enough for the side bearings to fit inside the felt pads. The core of the telescope, the steel mirror cell holds and adjusts the heavy, curved primary mirror. Please feel free to email me at the address on the right. I did run into a small problem with the focuser. To interface with the computer, I have used the Artemis Focuser module from Steve, Arthur and Co. in the tube so they'll hit the knitting needle before your drawtube runs 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. Plan ahead by carefully weighing all components and approximating the center mass of the optical assembly. 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. If you go to buy all of the components for this project from dealers, you will see that you mostly have to buy at least 5 parts, sometimes bags of 50 parts! Again from the main FILES page, go to "ASCOM DRIVERS" and download everything. The side bearings are each made from 2 identical semicircles of 5/8 inch plywood glued together to make a thickness of 1 inches. After researching several possible sources for a primary mirror, I decided to order an f/5 12.5 inch mirror from Discovery Optics. off the bearings. A wide hole will let the knitting needle creep I have several of the books on building a Dobsonian Telescope. Here's a detailed response from a thread at CloudyNights:http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4721255 "The image scale is wrong on the M31 image, fits too much of the galaxy in for even a 35mm chip. Attach the ball head to the top board. 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. needle to be just a little too flexible for the weight of a diagonal and Carve out a hole on the top part of the sonotube first. Cost is $25 - $30, and you will have 5 PCBs in about a week. Look down through the empty focuser. Another thing, the resolution on the Dumbell nebula seems a bit too high for that telescope. Reply SDO/HMI Continuum Image on 2023.03.04 at 1259 UT, Remote computer working with no extra networking. 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. Headers for the LEDs, buzzer (2-pin) and temperature probe (3-pin). 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. 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. Helical is one of the option i am considering. 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. The secondary holder is adjustable, so I could didn't have to get the location perfect. 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. The glue should keep the nylon from fraying. 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. Bore out some 2.5 inch bar and mill a flat down the side making sure it is lined up. Finally it was etched in caustic soda, and anodised matt black. the nylon screws going up from the bottom, but I found the knitting 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. 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. In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. Part numbers 351-4574 and 336-422. 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. case you need more focuser travel than you thought. What materials did you use? 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. This simple homemade device will reduce star trails far better than if the camera was mounted on a tripod alone. 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. accessible by all ages and skill ranges. 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. Since there is no drill bit that exactly matches the 13.1mm of the shaft, I had to do some rough enlargement of the hole. Brandon Lawler is a hobbyist telescope Maker and an active member of the Central Texas Astronomical Society. 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. on Step 5. Yet I was also becoming infected with aperture fever. See the images how I plan to assemble it. astronowanabe, Pierre Lemay, LarsMalmgren and. Sew the seam, and sew an elastic cord into the top to secure it to the secondary cage. Electronics and software automate the process of taking pictures. Depending on your telescope, one of the Brackets that Robert has may work for you. The wide square footprint would make it pretty stable when mounted to This unit takes signals from your computer and drives the stepper motor on the focuser. . If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. To test the concept I used a short piece of two inch PVC for the draw tube. wobbly knob still works, and adds character. Parts List (the full story of acquiring the parts), The primary, secondary, spider and secondary holderDiscovery Optics. var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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. This can be shimmed out with paper wrapped around the You will need to remove the regular focus knob on your telescope's focuser. Let me see if I am able to collect all the parts needed. As I read the book I decided that I should build a 12.5 inch truss tube scope. This NEMA-17 direct drive stepper motor is available from Adafruit and many other sellers. Be creative! It was easy enough to drill a hole and tap threads for a These have slop as you change direction, you can't do fine adjustments, they weigh a ton, and can flex alarmingly over time. The company has a reputation for excellent optics, and it was neither the most expensive, nor the least. 10 inch or 12 inch. Secondary mirror with spider holder Search on eBay for a matched set. I had cut the 12 foot tube in half in order to get it home in the first place, and a 6 foot section was the right size to work with for my f/5 12.5 inch. 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. he might just have a $3200 camera, they aren't very hard to come by. This makes for better sky photographs as the exposure time can be lengthened,. My other telescope is a Celestron NexStar C6E. 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. 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. 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. My wife helped me by moving the mirror into and out of the tube around the marked spot while I stood at the eyepiece trying to bring some distant trees into focus. curated by us, the people behind Make: and the Maker Faire. If your optical train is heavy and the focuser has to bear it (see above) then this motor may be a better choice. 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. I waited until dark and pointed the scope at the sky. Interfaced with a computer, so the computer can make the decisions about where the best focus is. spambots that search the internet for addresses to send junk mail to.) It interfaces to the computer via USB and comes with an ASCOM driver. This Instructable describe the planning, design, and parts of the scope, as well as the process of building The scope. 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. During on-site assembly, attach each truss to its mounting T-nut using a bolt with a thumbscrew knob. It took a lot longer than I expected to receive my mirror and other parts from Discovery. This will determine the size of the coupler you will use to connect the stepper motor. The Dob is really a great design. help eliminate slippage when the focuser is pointed straight upward. 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. It just on Introduction. This is the first telescope that I have built. 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. It turned out that they had an incorrect zip code and the package was still waiting to be sent. While round tubing is sturdy, square tubing is easier to work with. 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. Perfect for visual observations with very heavy mirrors. on Step 1, interesting build, its just like my old Odyssey brand scope from the mid 1990's. How to build a 12.5 inch closed tube Dobsonian telescope. 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. forces the knitting needle against the drawtube and the drawtube against Step 4Attaching the Side Bearings and assembling the Rocker. Helicals are adaptable to both refractors and reflectors, but do not "play nice" with zoom eyepieces because "zooming" becomes a two handed operation to avoid changing focus. This software creates a model of your telescope by measuring out of focus star sizes at various points. 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. Connect the Arduino USB cable and upload some test sketches. If you found some good surplus lenses, you will have made a stunningly good objective for your scope. The rocker sides are each made of two identical pieces of inch plywood glued together, creating two sides one inch thick. For a while I decided that 10 inch would be the best size. The spider, or secondary mirror holder, will suspend the mirror in the optical path in order to direct light into the 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. Measure the diameter of the exposed shaft. Drawing lines between opposite corners of the tube box sides allowed me to locate the center point on each side.

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