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markgliderpilot
member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 17
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Hi all,
Having read so many fascinating projects here I thought that I had better submit my own recently finished ATM project. I only bought three parts for the scope (excluding fasteners, glues, paint etc): primary and secondary were bought second hand and the focuser from MC2 in Frome is an OVL dual speed.
Spider is aluminium plate bent to shape and flocked.
Trusses are tent poles cut to length and crimped in a vice.
Finder is a homemade version using a bino objective, plastic diagonal and 20mm cheapo eyepiece.
Dob mount is made from a bedside table that Mrs GP deemed surplus to requirements.
Dob base was cut from an offcut from a homemade wardrobe.
Side bearings are sewer end caps.
Note that the collimation screws are aligned with the focuser to ease collimating from the eyepiece.
Unfortunately I calculated CG position using a typical 6x30 finder and now I have the heavy homemade 10x50 version, I need ~1.5kg counterweight at the lower end!
My apologies for the cloudy weather that this is now bringing!
Regards,
Mark
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markgliderpilot
member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 17
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Upper cage showing flocking on spider and edge blackening on secondary in an effort to boost contrast.
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markgliderpilot
member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 17
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Upper ring, the finder mount needs some attention and may be remounted further down to reduce the size of the counterweight.
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markgliderpilot
member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 17
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and the lower section showing counter weight and collimation screws. I have also bought a 12V cooling fan but have yet to wire it up and will prolly place it between the trusses to blow away the boundary layer rather than cool the reverse of the mirror.
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markgliderpilot
member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 17
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and if gets dewy, the camping mat is placed around the primary. The other half will go around the upper ring but I have yet to cut it or figure out a way of mounting it. I am thinking of velcro for ease of attachment and removal.
Regards,
Mark
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markgliderpilot
member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 17
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Well I have tried it out a number of times over the recent clear weather and enjoyed a lovely view of Jupiter and the double cluster. It certainly is a good learning curve to build a scope and I have enjoyed the challenge of keeping costs down by recycling wherever possible.
My other scope if a 100mm refractor so I now need to work out how to collimate properly and deal with cool down issues.
Regards,
Mark
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perfessor
sage
Reged: 12/30/07
Posts: 499
Loc: Northern Illinois
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Why on earth would you flock a spider?? Strip that off, and paint it flat black.
Other than that, it looks good!
--------------------
Tom
"Don't always know what I'm talkin about"
8" f/7
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