I hate focusing. Some quick tips to note if you are making a homemade telescope are: 1. I had the thought that as long as I was going to build it I should build it as big as I could afford. rod for the drive axle it would have a fairly fine motion. Primary telescope mirror aftermarket, homemade, or custom-made. So, for my telescope I used a 6mm to 5mm coupler available on Amazon. To view, go here: http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ Step 3The Side Bearings and Rocker Sides. It turns out the the extra 1/16 allowed far too much side to side movement between the rocker and ground board. needle adds no friction that I can feel to the focus action. Very simple and portable. This NEMA-17 direct drive stepper motor is available from Adafruit and many other sellers. Perfect for visual observations with very heavy mirrors. It has become an indispensable piece of equipment for me that so beats hacking and filing PVC pipes etc. 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. 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 focuser shaft on the telescope is 13.1mm in diameter. 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). A 6 in primary mirror does not have enough weight to make the dob stable. Above youll find an interactive 3D rendering of the Sketchup file I used to design and cut all of the parts for my telescope. #2 knitting needle would be just about right. 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. The last chapter of the book describes a plan for an 8 inch sonotube dob with a few design elements from their truss design, and, as I read that chapter, the simplicity of its construction was very appealing. I want to make this direct drive system work. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. Be creative! widening the hole. 1/4" x 20 bolt, and the nylon bolt end against the smooth knitting Several functions may not work. forces the knitting needle against the drawtube and the drawtube against A neet site: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM Cool instructable, Dude! Step 4Attaching the Side Bearings and assembling the Rocker. 4 years ago Thicker knitting needles would be even on Introduction, Very nice build nikon20. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. In my build, the cage was cut on a CNC router from plywood, with threaded T-nuts added to support a truss assembly. Fast forward a few months to the next time I had the tube outside. on Step 5, After much debit and doubt i have taken the photos down cause i cannot be 100% sure that they were taking from my scope as i was not there to verify them and i do not want my contest entry to be based on photos and not the build process. 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. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. Motion is very smooth. I even began taking careful notes about needed supplies and plans for each piece of the truss tube scope. I want to put my 12.5 mirror in a collapsible structure so I can haul it easy, Say a truss tube design, 7 years ago I don't have the skills to build a focuser using a. Membership connects and supports the people and projects that shape our future and supports the learning I welded mine from steel square tubing. } 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. my 12.5" trackball, but I didn't The mirror box encloses the mirror cell and allows the entire telescope to rotate vertically. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. If you follow the procedures described above, your telescope's optics will be perfectly aligned. I don't *do* pretty. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. Let me see if I can get similar plumbing parts here. Link to the motor speed controller kit:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=KC5225(a 5K external potentiometer will be required): http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=RP3508The drive motor:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=YG2734The gears:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=YG2736The motor forward/reverse switch:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ST0506The push button:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SP0711 A smart collection of books, magazines, electronics kits, robots, microcontrollers, tools, supplies, and more A Download and unzip. 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. I tried this one first and found it wouldn't work for my application. I marked the spot and moved things back inside to install the mirror. an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. The focuser is the part of the telescope that holds the eyepiece or camera, and by moving in or out, closer or farther from the . 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. Get hands-on with kits, books, and more from the Maker Shed, Skill builder, project tutorials, and more. The telescopes size is classified by the size of its mirror. All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . Fire up focusmax, and shoot some images! small, it's surprisingly rigid. 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. 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. Orion Dynamo Mini for powering a Nexstar 6SE? What materials did you use? Download and check them out, I just grabbed the first one and printed it. I then attached the Ebony Star ring using contact cement. 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. This combination has proved to be effective for all positions except when the tube is pointed directly up. It took yet another call a week later for the items to actually be mailed. I decided to use baltic birch because it is recommended by Kriege and Berry as well as many online sources. DIY Craford Focuser. Subscribe to the premier DIY magazine today, Community access, print, and digital Magazine, and more. It These will be stored in your browser only with your consent and you have the option to opt-out. try { I started with a spacer that with a inch outer diameter. Before finishing the tube with a wrap of veneer, I wanted to make sure that the primary was in the correct position. curated by us, the people behind Make: and the Maker Faire. Bill, Impressive work and great idea about LSDF focuser. The diameter of the focuser is usually indicated in inches. Realizing that it could not be the University Optics cell already, I thought, Noit couldn't be but, in fact, it was. Among amateur telescopes, the most common are focusers with landing diameters of 1.25 ", 2", rarely 0.965 ", and even less often - 3". You need to order it sized for your focuser shaft size. I My guess is that photo was taken with a refractor. Using heavy grit sandpaper I brought back the surface of the keeper enough for the side bearings to fit inside the felt pads. . Nice one. Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. control. I told them to take their time and get it right. I used my router to "mill" a flat area for better contact with the focus adjustment rod. Have you made any mods on it since you built it? The extra force will also I redrilled the holes for the mirror cell and got ready to wrap it. I described it two years ago in this thread:https://www.cloudyniuser/?p=8879835 . Electronics and software automate the process of taking pictures. It is used to setup water outlet from overhead water tanks. Make the drawtube longer than you think you'll need, just in Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. But, like many of you I'm sure, the biggest reason I'm doing this is for the pure geeky fun of it! I'd be willing to bet that you could easily grind your own 12.5 inch next time and save some $$. I made this Crayford style focuser using plywood scraps and surplus bearings. microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. on Introduction. 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. Finally, I glued a strip of Ebony Star laminante to the curves edge of each side bearing using contact cement, using a flush edge bit on a router to bring the edge of the laminate even with the edge of the wood after the cement had set. You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. Knitting needles are Just as it was about to come into focus, the focuser bottomed out. I file a dispute with Paypal to begin the process of getting my money back. Our websites use cookies to improve your browsing experience. 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. the nylon screws going up from the bottom, but I found the knitting Two of the holes for the bolts were blocked by knobs. 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. Star Adventurer Pro Pack Counter Weight Bar Thumb Screw Upgrade. Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . 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. The flat wants to be running parallel to the long axis of the tube. The box should be deep enough to allow the mirror box to swing all the way down. If you connect the 12V power with the barrel connector (right side of photo), the Nano should light up without the USB connection. All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . In order for the Rocker Box to pivot on the Ground Board, a center pin is placed in a hole at the exact center of the Ground Board and Rocker Bottom. 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. Remember: It is the quality and SIZE of the capture chip, NOT the megapixels that determines quality. 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. Drill the holes for the knitting I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! I added three inches for a margin of error and in case I need to rebalance the tube in the future, making a distance of 25 inches from the balance point of the tube to the rocker bottom. I had initially allowed for more of a gap, but realized once I cut the pieces and held the tube inside them that my gap was too large. I decided to keep this tube for now and if I run into problems with it, I can replace it later. Your astrophotographer friend may have included his own images from his setup. This motor has a 5mm drive shaft. I didn't bother reading his whole article to figure out what f/# he used) I am not trying to say that good AP isn't possible with a sonotube scope, (the 'friend' may very well have pulled it out of the dob mount, added rings and a dovetail, and mounted it on his CGE-Pro or comparable) but in this case it is unlikely.". Depending on your telescope, one of the Brackets that Robert has may work for you. We all know the problems with focusing. Once its cut to length, drill a hole through each end of the tubing with a drill press. Make an account on JLCPCB.com, upload the Gerber zip file, that's it! 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. Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. I will post the pic of final focuser once ready. Along with some silver bits Thanks Peter. The holes in the main bracket the match the holes in the plate are oversize to allow for this alignment. (Sorry you he might just have a $3200 camera, they aren't very hard to come by. 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. Maker-written books designed to inform and delight! 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.) Thank you for your pages. 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. I am using scrap upvc pipe material. 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. on Step 1, Richards in our local astronomy club. 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.