Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
Here's my version of the azimuth setting circle. It's not as professional looking as the other versions posted here but a much more simple setup and just as functional. It allows easy adjustment of the dial once aligned on an object. I had Staples print out/laminate the dial then attached it to foamboard (the hobby store had foamboard with its own adhesive which made the process very easy). Staples cost $6.00 and the foamboard was $6.00.
I borrowed this version from the man I bought my 8" dob from back in 1992. He had installed the same design on that scope.
I'm posting several pictures to show how it goes together. For the altitude reading I'm using the Craftsman digital level (inclinometer - $30.00).
Thanks again to all on this forum for their help with special gratitude to Rod (rnabholz) and Carol (csa/montana) for their extended help.
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
Picture 2
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39492
Loc: montana
|
|
And a special thanks to you also, Tom. It's all the great input from all the members that posted here, that has made this thread a nice addition, to help others utilize this system.
Carol
--------------------
Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
|
Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
Picture 3
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
Picture 4
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
Picture 5
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
Picture 6
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
rnabholz
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 07/25/04
Posts: 896
Loc: Iowa
|
|
Tom,
You are welcome - glad to help.
Nice install on your scope, looks like an easy job, and one that is easily reversible without damage to the original finish. Well done.
Clear Skies,
--------------------
Rod Nabholz
Home Built Astronomy Projects
Wild Bird Photography
|
Sader762
member
Reged: 06/29/06
Posts: 66
Loc: East Texas
|
|
Quote:
MM: If you take the measurement of your base & the PDF file to Kinkos, Staples, etc. they should be able to adjust the size for your base.
I went thru the whole thread, I thought someone had posted it for the 10", but alas, I didn't find anything.
Carol
10" Dob w/ a 22" base - 19" pdf file scaled to 115% gives you a 22" printout. It's somewhere around pages 5 or 6.
--------------------
Orion 10" XT Classic
Meade 8" LX5 SCT
Celestron 6" Star Hopper Dob
Telrad
about 20 various eyepieces
|
csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39492
Loc: montana
|
|
Thanks for your help!
Carol
--------------------
Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
|
BradC
sage
Reged: 01/31/07
Posts: 446
Loc: St. Louis, MO
|
|
Tom-
Looks good, and easy!
So I take it the dial stays fixed in the center, and the base rotates around it? Is it easy to read from the eyepiece, or do you have to contort around to see where you are at?
--------------------
My God! It's full of stars!
Zhumell 10" dob - First Light Report
Celestron OptiView 10x50 LPR Binoculars
|
martini man
member
Reged: 12/07/06
Posts: 68
|
|
19" pdf scaled to 115% - What is the method for this? Printer settings, set to free scale, and up the percentage?
I love being computer literate! 
Clear Skies -
MM
--------------------
10" DSO Dob
30 mm GSO Superview
Rigel Quickfinder
Whats this EP with green print on it? Nagler something?
|
Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
Quote:
So I take it the dial stays fixed in the center, and the base rotates around it? Is it easy to read from the eyepiece, or do you have to contort around to see where you are at?
Brad,
The dial stays fixed to the ground board bolt and the box spins around it (as you said).
It is not readable from the eyepiece - that is a definite drawback to this design. Looking at the picture, the focuser is on the left side so I set my "0" alignment at the left back corner. So it's just a step or two back and forth. I'm still playing with options, I may try using the front left corner. Carol and Rod's setup is definitely more user-friendly. I'm real okay with mine because at this time I'm using a laptop computer which is set up a few steps away from the scope. I have to walk to it to get coordinates so as I walk back to the scope I stop at the back to set the azimuth first then the altitude. I'm in the market for a PDA and will Velcro it to the scope next to the inclinometer. At that point I may wish I had a different set up but I'll deal with that if/when it happens.
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
Tom Andrews
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 995
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
|
|
MM,
In my case, I just took the pdf file to Staples on a flash drive. They had a chart to figure out exactly the percentage based on the size you want. I needed 17.25" and it came out exactly that. The equation that Sader used is the same used at Staples only they have it printed out on a chart. That was my experience.
--------------------
Tom
The Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
************************************************
2007 Discovery 12.5" PDHQ Split-Tube Dob w/manual setting circles/Telrad/Zhummel 8x50 RACI finder scope (*For Sale*)
Coulter Odessey 8" Dob
Celestron C11-SGT
Garrett Optical 15x70 Gemini Binoculars on homemade Parallelogram w/Setting Circles
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
|
Sader762
member
Reged: 06/29/06
Posts: 66
Loc: East Texas
|
|
Quote:
19" pdf scaled to 115% - What is the method for this? Printer settings, set to free scale, and up the percentage?
I love being computer literate!
Clear Skies -
MM
I just did mine at Kinko's tonight - $14. You take the size you need and divide it by the 19" drawing/pdf file that is listed in this thread, that gives you your factor scale.
Example:
22" base (10" dob) needed
19" pdf file drawing
22/19 = 1.158 or 115.8% scaled up
17-1/4" base
19" pdf drawing
17.25/19 = 0.908 or a scaled down facor of 90.8%
You can go into setup in the printer screen and usually tell it to scale up or down a drawing. I wanted the clean look and had mine plotted out at Kinko's, I then cut it out there and had them laminate it. Hopefully I'll have it together in a few weeks. 
--------------------
Orion 10" XT Classic
Meade 8" LX5 SCT
Celestron 6" Star Hopper Dob
Telrad
about 20 various eyepieces
|
HockeyRulesX4
member
Reged: 01/16/06
Posts: 72
Loc: Batavia, IL
|
|
Another satisfied Wixey Angle Gauge customer  , seen here on my Z10.
I originally ordered from Wixey, but they sent out an email saying it was out of stock until early May  . I couldn't wait that long, so I ordered it from Woodcraft (had to pay shipping  ) and got it today.
I ran a couple tests this evening before the clouds rolled in. Used some easy to find targets to check - Moon, Venus, Saturn and the beehive cluster. Every one of them was right where Stellarium and the Wixey said they would be. Now for the next challenge - the dreaded azimuth scale!
--------------------
Dave
Zhumell Z10 Dob
Meade 70mm Refractor
Peck Farm Park, Geneva, IL
|
csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39492
Loc: montana
|
|
Looks great! Nice scope, you will really enjoy the system!
Carol
--------------------
Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
|
Tom in FLA
sage
Reged: 04/08/07
Posts: 243
Loc: SpaceCoast, FL.
|
|
Hey Dave what did you use to mount your gauge to the Z10? Let us know when you do your azimuth scale, it looks a little tricky with the Z10 base.
--------------------
SpaceCoast FL. 
Zhumell 10" Dob
Celestron NexStar 5
Naglers: 7T6, 12T4, 17T4, 31T5.
Stratus 21mm. Half a dozen other EPs.
|
HockeyRulesX4
member
Reged: 01/16/06
Posts: 72
Loc: Batavia, IL
|
|
That's the beauty of the Wixey gauge - it's got 3 magnets on the bottom of it so it just sticks to the Z10 tube. My only wish for this gauge would be some form of backlight.
I've been pondering the azimuth scale too. I keep going back and forth between the way Carol did it (top side of the bottom base board) or the way some others have done with attaching it to the ground board and notching the bottom base board.
Does anyone think either approach is better than the other?
--------------------
Dave
Zhumell Z10 Dob
Meade 70mm Refractor
Peck Farm Park, Geneva, IL
|
csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39492
Loc: montana
|
|
Dave: I think it looks better to notch the top board; I had no way of doing that, so I took the easy way.
Either way gets the same result; Satisfaction! I like the link that the poster added a tiny red light to view at the notch.
Thanks for posting! Let us know how it goes.
Carol
--------------------
Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
[Re: 
Edit
Reply
Quote
