homemade telescope focuser

5 weeks after I had ordered the mirror, I called to ask about its status. On the cutting diagram, you can see that the side bearings were cut 26 inches long. And a couple of upright bearing blocks. 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. I did run into a small problem with the focuser. focusers for that project. Plus it comes in black, so you don't need to paint it (or worry about paint flaking off it). I have one on my 12" f/5 truss dob and the focuser knob is on the top surface of the UTA. 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. Funny how the bigger they are the better for dobs. They suggested a construction supply place on the other side of the city that I had not called yet. Most people will want a knob on but try for a snug fit if you can. I told them to take their time and get it right. I want to make this direct drive system work. The one company that did provide a price quoted over $500more than I was willing to pay for cardboard! 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. adapter set screws to slide into. 11 years ago Let me see if I can get similar plumbing parts here. It seems to on Step 3. Fairly easy to build and could be adapted to suit any SCT focuser. The current needs to be adjusted on the DRV8825. a "rubbery" feel. A bit of a monster! pageTracker._trackPageview(); Contact cement is permanent, so the only solution would be to replace the tube! 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. I ended up modifying it a bit after printing. crafts, science & engineering, design, and technology. 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. small, it's surprisingly rigid. the side of a rigid secondary cage. It may take you a while to adjust the image correctly, but it's not hard to do, just time consuming. 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. I am working on a diy focuser design for my 6" F/8 telescope and asking suggestions for simple focuser. a try. Rather than use a sheet of plastic Kydex to finish the tube, as recommended in K/B, I ordered a sheet of birch veneer. Edited by howardcano, 24 May 2020 - 09:29 PM. But, like many of you I'm sure, the biggest reason I'm doing this is for the pure geeky fun of it! 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. needle so the knitting needle will be snug against the drawtube without Or in my case, back to SolidWorks :-). As I understand, you are using it for a refractor. Low, or Zero slop when changing direction. It was May 12th. Tips If you've got a 1.25 inch focuser, You can also use it for an objective. it sticks into your light path. an inch or so apart, so the focuser body could be pretty low profile. When you figure out Showcasing amazing maker projects of 2022. It turned out that they had an incorrect zip code and the package was still waiting to be sent. The base of the telescope should be a wide, sturdy square or circle of wood with teflon bearing pads matched to the ABS plastic ring of the rocker box. 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. 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. Staples or finishing nails work fine, but be sure they dont bump up above the surface of the plastic. 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.". (Sorry you Two such companies would not give me a price because the order of a single tube was too small. The original Crayford Focuser is on display there. I also decided to make a separate mounting plate for the stepper motor, since I figured aligning the shafts precisely would be all but impossible. You should watch (and bookmark) this video. It has become an indispensable piece of equipment for me that so beats hacking and filing PVC pipes etc. When I looked at the costs, I seriously considered buying an Orion telescope instead of building my own. The length of the Rocker Front also had to be changed so that the outside edge of the Side Bearings matched the outside edge of the Rocker Sides precisely. Depending on your telescope, one of the Brackets that Robert has may work for you. microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. 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 had considered using a clear finish alone, but decided to use a dark red finish on the base and a clear finish on the tube, just because I like the look. Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. 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. ScopeStuff is awesome!! Quick demo of my motorized focuser, and I will create a detailed tutorial if enough people are interested. Robert is a super guy and more than willing to help those who choose to follow in his footsteps. Your design is simple and nice. Thanks Bob. I tried to call, but the voice mail had a recording stating that the customer was unable to receive messages. You reach a point where the picture doesn't seem to change much, so you never know where the very sweetest spot in the focus is. control. together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. Once I had my design set, I was ready to buy the parts. Perfect for astrophotography or during high power planetary observation. In the "ARDUINO FIRMWARE" folder, in it you will find a ZIP file "myFP2-Firmware 312-1.zip". By adjusting the bolts, the mirror can be pointed toward the correct spot. Un-real!!! This cost around $100 to build and all of the components came from. And bolt to scope I decided to order a mirror cell from them because the owner had talked about a new cell he was excited about. 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. I have no dog in this hunt whatsoever, but if people are impressed by these photographs and vote for it because of them when there's no proof that this scope generated the photos and there IS data to the contrary (see below), then that's certainly not fair to the other contestants. Attach the ball head to the top board. I gave them a call and they said they had one on the shelf14 inches in diameter and 12 feet long! 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. Not sure if it is available in the USA. Accordingly, with 1.25 focuser, you can use 1.25 eyepieces, with 2 focuser - both 2 eyepieces and 1.25 (through a special . I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. a 3/4" thickness. Pierre Lemay, thanks for sharing your simple and incredible design. 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. I told them I was on my way. Share it with us! 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. Once built, line the undersides of the arms with textured ABS plastic as a bearing surface. Be creative! I had chosen a boxy, rigid design for the binocular scope, so Download and unzip. Drill the holes for the knitting 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. Along with some silver bits spambots that search the internet for addresses to send junk mail to.) Some quick tips to note if you are making a homemade telescope are: 1. I got a different stain, tested it, and went back to work. and an eyepiece. Only problem is if I put a diagonal it wants to rotate the helical part. The box should be deep enough to allow the mirror box to swing all the way down. both sides. My newtonian telescope, like most others, came fitted with a nasty rack and pinion focuser. The premier publication of maker projects, skill-building tutorials, in-depth reviews, and inspirational stories, Our websites use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Thicker knitting needles would be even The ARtemis module came in a kit form actually just two circuit boards one of which I had to source the parts, build and box myself. At their suggestion, I also ordered a 2.6 inch secondary mirror. widening the hole. Here is what I was working on but looks like I need a better design. Please explain, in detail, how you attached your tube to the very unique drive system of an XT12G mount. Deep space photos like these require HOURS of exposure for each one. But who cares, really? 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. Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion focusers, normally found in this type of device. Because thebasic movement and optics requirements are relatively simple, much of the design is left to the builder. While round tubing is sturdy, square tubing is easier to work with. This allowed me to cut perfect identical circles. once. I did find, though, that the 3D printed gear would slip on the shaft, so it needed a set screw. That's pretty much the focuser. They use a simple plywood mirror cell, stating that for an 8 inch mirror this cell will be adequate. I attached them with very small brads, countersinking the brads. So, I duplicated the aluminum gear pulley in SolidWorks, and printed it out. Then it was time to stain and finish. 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. If the telescope rotates forward or backward on its own, then the mirror box is too deep or too shallow. I waited until dark and pointed the scope at the sky. I particularly like that the design can be integrated directly into the focuser board to make a very, very simple UTA. 1" Rack & Pinion Focuser. 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. I also doubled the thickness of the rocker sides (not the front wall) to provide better support for the heavier tube. The mount and tripod are pretty much useless for astrophotography. 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. the bearings right at the edge of the frame, reducing the frame to 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. Several of my Recent Images have been focused with this system. Below are cutting diagrams and diagrams of the rocker and tube box with side bearings. You will need to order one sized for your telescope's focuser shaft size. The next day, I called back to ask their opinion about the kind of spider and secondary holder to order. Subscribe to the premier DIY magazine today, Community access, print, and digital Magazine, and more. Thank you for your pages. We tried this in our back yard, but found that it was too difficult to aim both the tube and the moving mirror at distant trees in our suburban yard. Or rather, I hated it. It's the same in form, but has a perfect, true 13.35mm hole. can't click on it or copy and paste it; it's a graphic file to thwart Sonotube (14 inch diameter, 12 feet long): $70, Focuser (GSO 2 speed low profile Crayford): $139, Total cost for supplies for this project: $1700. Motion is very smooth. Using heavy grit sandpaper I brought back the surface of the keeper enough for the side bearings to fit inside the felt pads. "); on Introduction, Very nice build nikon20. What materials did you use? 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. I have already seen some designs on CN, Stellafane and web but still checking if someone has recently made anything simpler. think that design would be rigid enough under the weight of a diagonal 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 didn't receive any confirmation email after a few days, so I tried to send them an email. I carefully cut exactly through the center of each side bearing circle to make my semicircles. Those are the last screws to be tightened. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. The hole did need to be enlarged slightly by moving the bit within the hole , but in the end, the fit seems right. This means you lose much of the night's images. I drilled the holes in the center of the ground board and rocker bottom using a 9/16 bit, thinking that I needed the extra 1/16 so that the spacer could move. initiatives for the next generation of makers. This is the kind of simple off the shelf design I was looking for. The focuser knob had two set screws. homemade Crayford focuser. I ordered the focuser, received an immediate email confirming the order, and it arrived two days later. As I read the book I decided that I should build a 12.5 inch truss tube scope. We all know the problems with focusing. My guess is that photo was taken with a refractor. Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome of this project - focusing is now a joy. Not worth the effort, price is tooo high. If your optical train is heavy and the focuser has to bear it (see above) then this motor may be a better choice. Edited by sunrag, 28 May 2020 - 10:44 PM. Earthbound1 likes this #2 dave brock Mercury-Atlas Part numbers 351-4574 and 336-422. drneilmb, thanks for sharing the focuser design. 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. an eyepiece. 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. Since my focuser shaft is 6mm, I ordered the coupler shown here in the 6mm to 8mm version from Amazon. 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. Carve out a hole on the top part of the sonotube first. If you found some good surplus lenses, you will have made a stunningly good objective for your scope. The rocker arms must also have guides to keep it on the track; flat metal 12 braces lined with ABS plastic work nicely. Today I purchased what is called atank nipple in India. The day I received the refund, I ordered a mirror cell from University Optics. Both cameras have fairly small megapixels by todays' standards, and are certainly obsolete, but do the job extremely well! 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. PVC pipe makes great drawtubes. In addition, we use third-party cookies to help us analyze and understand usage. Able to shift heavy loads of kit ie over 1000g. When the skies were dark enough for observing I found that the scope moves easily into position and holds that position well. Built one of these http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/ working really well only cost less than 40.00. Here is what I was working on but looks like I need a better design. I was certain not to move the jig at all before cutting the second circle. Two of the holes for the bolts were blocked by knobs. The project took several months off and on to complete, although a skilled Maker could put a similar one together in a few weeks. Helical is one of the option i am considering. I do have another tube that can be used around the drawtube, but it doesn't really add anything. Make the hole diameter fairly snug, too. A neet site: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM Cool instructable, Dude! Crayford-style design with four bearings and one driveshaft. Most of these have one or two set screws. You can easily, and economically (10$) build a Crayford Helical Focuser like the one pictured above in one evening with simple tools. 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. 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. Their step by step instructions were invaluable to me as I built this 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 hate focusing. As it turned out, the mirror cell was too large to fit into my 14 inch sonotube. Im quite happy with the result, and the view in its large mirror is phenomenal. The extra force will also Using a compass I drew circles on the top and bottom of the ground board to mark the inside and outside of the teflon ring on the bottom of the rocker bottom. To interface with the computer, I have used the Artemis Focuser module from Steve, Arthur and Co. Brandon Lawler is a hobbyist telescope Maker and an active member of the Central Texas Astronomical Society. Drawing lines between opposite corners of the tube box sides allowed me to locate the center point on each side. More commercial crayford focusers are of a more enclosed form, whereas mine is more "open frame" approach. #@$%^#@!!!!! The pieces were cut down to 15 3/8 and 14 3/8, allowing just under 1/8 inch on each side. A It's easy to shim it to 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! 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. This is the upper tube that contains the flat secondary mirror, Telrad finder, and focuser. I used the "LEDandBuzzer" and "TestStepsDRV8825" tests. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! But let me see what items I can arrange to make a helical. 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. The wood would cost the same, as would pretty much everything except the mirror, so why not spend a little more on the mirror and go BIG. His project is very well documented. you don't need to paint it (or worry about paint flaking off it). 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. 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. Rock on! 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. The part is very strong! I then ran a bead of glue on the mark, and after it dried I cut out the nylon up to the glue. The telescopes size is classified by the size of its mirror. 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. The Artemis module works extremely well, and is to be strongly recommended. 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. I had to take apart the focuser in order to get my bolts in place. tube and nut that fits the outside threads. Similar photos at http://www.telescopegeek.com/gallery.htm require 100+ minute exposure times on his 20" telescope and $3200 camera. var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1008534-4"); I then attached the Ebony Star ring using contact cement. eyepiece on the ground (or worse, on your primary mirror!) A week after they said they would send the secondary and other parts, I called to ask if things had been sent. Just drill holes in both ends and mount the lenses. 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. The back of the mirror floats on 3 or more support points (this build uses 6) that are calculated usinga software tool called PLOP. I had already made a lightweight focuser for Your choice here will be recorded for all Make.co Websites. 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. on Introduction. larger diameter. (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.) To do this, the mirror cell needs to be supported by 3 large bolts, at least 2 of which are adjustable. The blue pieces of the rocker box and ground board are arranged as in the diagrams in (figure 2). For about $3 we can buy a tank valve kit that has a threaded 2" i.d. I'll use an aluminum tube for the finished draw tube but for now the plastic tube . NEMA-17 Stepper Motor - see below, there are two options. Step 4Attaching the Side Bearings and assembling the Rocker. 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. Knitting needles are I am well versed in technology, have all the tools necessary to build my own! Interfaced with a computer, so the computer can make the decisions about where the best focus is. All Orion 1.25" and 2" telescope focusers are engineered to provide smooth drawtube action to ensure you hit the exact focus point . This is the mirror box for my 16", with Jim doing a bit of cleanup sanding. 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. I made this Crayford style focuser using plywood scraps and surplus bearings. 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. Two different construction supply companies told me that sonotubes were not available with a 14 inch diameter, even by special order. How to build a 12.5 inch closed tube Dobsonian telescope. But I wanted a larger mirror, and, at that size, grinding my own was not an option. Before finishing the tube with a wrap of veneer, I wanted to make sure that the primary was in the correct position. You need to order it sized for your focuser shaft size. I made a similar helical focuser with a nice 2 inch thing I found in Classifieds. Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights. Here's my 8" f/6 travel scope with a 2" PVC draw tube and the helical Crayford focuser built right in the focuser board. As the telescope tilts toward the horizon, the mirror must be supported on its edge. 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. When you're ready to go on to testing with the windows driver, you want "myFP2_DRV8825_312-1", open that folder. Make sure the shroud can slip on and off of the assembled scope, and that it stretches along the circumference (not lengthwise). Next step, before my first acquisition of any parts, is to get with any amateur astronomers in Central Florida, so, wish me luck! I wanted to finish that instructable before the contest ended but was too late :-). Have you made any mods on it since you built it? Many sources point out that 10 inches is a kind of sweet spot in the balance between power and portability. I would also like to know about how you can take such fantastic pictures without a field rotator and an autoguider system. So I was looking for a cheap, light-but-sturdy design for a While a sling or whiffletree provide the best edge support, a two-point edge support is much easier to construct. Pretty dry but important! Trim off any unused fabric along the base. You will need to remove the regular focus knob on your telescope's focuser. I started by trying to drill out a metal gear for the focuser shaft.

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