The glue should keep the nylon from fraying. like, you can have as much focuser travel as you want no matter how 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. Those are the last screws to be tightened. You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. Staples or finishing nails work fine, but be sure they dont bump up above the surface of the plastic. On the cutting diagram, you can see that the side bearings were cut 26 inches long. My DIY Motorized Telescope Focuser - YouTube I would also like to know about how you can take such fantastic pictures without a field rotator and an autoguider system. Telescope Focusers | Orion Telescopes: Shop I knew that I would be returning the mirror cell to them, but just for fun I decided to see how it would fit in the tube. I had nearly completed the base and put things together for the first time. 11 years ago I used the "LEDandBuzzer" and "TestStepsDRV8825" tests. Please feel free to email me at the address on the right. It was easy enough to drill a hole and tap threads for a Once you get it working, there's some calibration you need to do. 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. Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. How to make a $30 DIY star tracker for astrophotography Focusers of telescopes. Types, difference, specifications - Star Hunter 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. After another 3 weeks, I was concerned that I had not received the mirror. the nylon screws going up from the bottom, but I found the knitting It wouldn't be a two-speed design, but if I used a thin enough This NEMA-17 direct drive stepper motor is available from Adafruit and many other sellers. After cutting the circles for the side bearings, I set up the jig to cut the curved edges of the rocker sides. And a couple of upright bearing blocks. Make the drawtube longer than you think you'll need, just in While I will freely admit that most astro-photography is WAY beyond me, you certainly do NOT need a $3200 camera to do so. Some quick tips to note if you are making a homemade telescope are: 1. Im sorry to hear you couldn't make the contest. in the tube so they'll hit the knitting needle before your drawtube runs Along with some silver bits rod for the drive axle it would have a fairly fine motion. And, once your telescope is finished, be sure to join a local astronomy club to learn more about the sky and share your hobby with others. 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. It doesn't. A tilted focuser will have no effect on the image quality. Download and unzip. My plan for wrapping the tube seemed good, but I am not too pleased with the final result. 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 We moved the operation to a nearby park and got a focused image of the most distant trees (300-400 yards away) quite easily. Two inch internal diameter drawtube. 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. telescope page, I wasn't really eager to buy two commercial Crayford 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. flexing. needle adds no friction that I can feel to the focus action. I want to make this direct drive system work. This allows for a small clearance between the outside of the tube and the inside of the tube box (14 3/8). To view, go here: http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ An electronic focuser, which moves the focus knob through a combination of hardware and software, solves this problem. While round tubing is sturdy, square tubing is easier to work with. 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. scope, I only put knobs on the outsides. (actually, it ended up a smidge more than 2 inches) Lighter than the existing focuser. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. wobbly knob still works, and adds character. "); But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. 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. Membership connects and supports the people and projects that shape our future and supports the learning These are mounted 120 degrees apart and use 4 inexpensive bearings to support the tube. Featured in the February, 2015 issue of Sky & Just as it was about to come into focus, the focuser bottomed out. My DIY Motorized Telescope Focuser - YouTube 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. While a sling or whiffletree provide the best edge support, a two-point edge support is much easier to construct. on my binocular scope for quite a while now and really like them. Able to make myself using my own humble tools (or toys as the pros will call them!). It is size 1.25 inch with a clear inside dia-meter. (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.) Line the underside of the rocker box with a ring of ABS plastic to allow it to ride on the base. 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 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 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. The project creator Robert Brown made a good video on testing the board. A free program that lights childrens creative fires and allows them to explore projects in areas such as arts & 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. More Homemade Refractor Telescope DIY Erecting Prism Binoviewer Focuser here: Did you make this project? the drive shaft close against the drawtube. Two such companies would not give me a price because the order of a single tube was too small. Wooden Telescope Part 2: Tube and Mount - Instructables Plan ahead by carefully weighing all components and approximating the center mass of the optical assembly. Two of the holes for the bolts were blocked by knobs. So I was looking for a cheap, light-but-sturdy design for a I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! After the glue dried but before the clamps were removed, I added corner braces to all four corners of the tube using glue and brads to hold them in place. 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. Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! 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. Robert Brown did an excellent video on how to work out your stepper motor requirements. I'm also going to focus on only one version of Robert's focuser (there are many). 7 years ago To do this, the mirror cell needs to be supported by 3 large bolts, at least 2 of which are adjustable. forward and back along with the drawtube when you focus, and you'll get I had talked with their owner about mirrors and mirror cells once, and I was very impressed by his knowledge of telescope building. Again from the main FILES page, go to "ASCOM DRIVERS" and download everything. There are sub-folders for the different versions. When you figure out 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. If the telescope rotates forward or backward on its own, then the mirror box is too deep or too shallow. The Crayford Focuser and DIY Focuser for Homemade Telescope Look down through the empty focuser. It turns out that sonotubes are a stock item in 8 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch, and sometimes even 16 inch diameters. I also have an extended photographic build diary of this telescope posted on Imgur. an eyepiece. PVC pipe makes great drawtubes. How to build a 12.5 inch closed tube Dobsonian telescope. 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. by cranking with a genuine question or comment about the design. I also figured that the extra expense was worth it, considering the amount of money I was investing in the project overall. I read the entire thread and surely its going to help me building my focuser. I plan to use an FTA over it in case an extension is needed. You can view and download the full file here. Inside the OTA is a ring of tightly fitting flocking paper that prevents any light getting in around the drawtube. It has a 6mm shaft. 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. Carve out a hole on the top part of the sonotube first. 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. In amateur astrophotography, we run our telescopes overnight. once. Orion Telescope Focusers | Buy Direct and Save! Your astrophotographer friend may have included his own images from his setup. All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . Let me see if I can get similar plumbing parts here. 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. I don't have the skills to build a focuser using a. 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. If you're not familiar with Arduino, watch some tutorial videos. I found out pretty quickly that building my own telescope would only be a bargain if I made my own mirror and mechanical parts. With an outer diameter of 14 3/16, I cut the Tube Box sides 15 5/8 and 14 5/8slightly less than my extra inch extra on each side.