17 replies to this topic

[Glenn Patrick]

I've been using Setting Circles for many years with my 12.5" f/5 dobs and recently made a Setting Circle for my Oberwerk Binoculars and was surprised how well it worked with my binoculars.

 

I did a few Google searches and even some searches here for binocular setting circles which met with negative results.

 

I have an Oberwerk Parallelogram arm mounted to my Oberwerk 500 Tripod and I didn't want to drill holes or fasten anything premaritally to my beautiful equipment.

 

The plan was to use existing fastening points on the tripod and the parallelogram arm and I'm pleased with my results, better yet I'm very pleased to tell you the setting circle does work!

 

I haven't been able to add pictures as I keep getting the same error notice, to big of file?

 

If anyone is interested please feel free to contact me and I can send some pictures.

 

regards,

Glenn

 

 

 

 

 

[wfhixon]

Glen,

I have the same mount and would like to see any photos you can send me.  How were the circles made?

Thank you,

Bill Hixon

[sevenofnine]

Welcome to C/N! 

 

Setting circles for binoculars mounted on a PG, what a cool idea   To post pictures of it try PicResize. It's easy and free!  

 

 https://picresize.com/.

[Mike Q]

I would like to see this myself.  I will pm you my email

[Glenn Patrick]

The circles were made using two 1//4" Baltic Plywood glued together to make 1//2" Thickness.

The Dia is 5"

The inner Dia is 2"

The setting circle numbers I printed out using my home printer.

3/16" clear plexiglass covers the paper numbers using 3 small screws,

I drilled a hole in the side of the plywood for a 10-24 thumbscrew.

I drilled a bit larger hole on the outer side of the for a 10-24 threaded insert to be inserted so the 10-24 has a threaded guide for the hole allowing the thumbscrew to be screwed in .

Edited by Glenn Patrick, 15 August 2024 - 08:41 AM.

[Glenn Patrick]

I used a 2" id PVC pipe cut 2 - 1/2" long for the Pointer.

I drilled a small hole though one side of the pipe about 1/2 " above the edge for a small thin nail.

I pushed the nail through from the inside and used a "PUNCH to set the nail flush with the inner surface of the pvc pipe adding CA glue to hold in place.

A second hole was drilled through one side big enough for the Oberwerk Thumbscrew which is used to secure the parallelogram arm to the tripod vertical riser. this locks the pointer in place and rotates with the parallelogram arm.

[Glenn Patrick]

The Oberwerk Binoculars have two holes for attaching the handles, I used the hole on the inside (left) to use as the fastening point for the Digital Level Platform  using a M8.125 Thumbscrew. You can also use the handle itself if you like.

 

The Digital Level Platform Butts up against the parallelogram arm metal frame, this stops the binoculars from pivoting downward beyond the "level" position which would be "zero " on the digital level.

 

The Digital Level has an Adjustable Base which is adjusted by a 1/4" nylon screw mounted on the under side of the level platform towards the front which when turned will raise or lower the Digital Level Adjustable Base. This really helps when wanting to level the binoculars and setting the digital level to read zero.

 

The Digital Level Base has a small brass hinged attached to the rear side ( opposite side of the nylon thumb screw) of the Digital Level Adjustable Base, this is the pivot point for the Digital Level Adjustable Base.

 

I also glued two small pieces of flat metal squares ( 1" square x 1/8"" thick using 5 min epoxy) to the top of the Adjustable Hinged base so the magnetic base of the Digital level will stick to it.

Edited by Glenn Patrick, 15 August 2024 - 08:48 AM.

[Glenn Patrick]

Final Assembly

 

The tripod must be level and high enough for your viewing preferences . I like to have my parallelogram at about chest level but not above my shoulders. 

 

I raise the vertical tripod riser about 6"

 

Attache the Setting Circle to the tripod riser, it should rest nicely on the flange base.

Add the Pointer it should slide down to the top of the Setting Circle plexiglass.

now attach the parallelogram to the tripod and tighten the thumbscrew on the PVC pipe, this will lock the Pointer to the parallelogram arm.

 

Add the binoculars and before adding the Red Dot Pointer use a small level on the base for the Red Dot and level the binoculars. 

 

With the binoculars level, Adjust the Digital Level Base so it reads zero and add the Red Dot.

Select a distant object and adjust the Red Dot and the Binoculars so they are focussed on the same point.

Make sure the binoculars are perpendicular to the Parallelogram arm  and are locked in place so the binoculars don't rotate. It should be locked in place with the small thumbscrew at the base. 

 

If The setting circle numbers are correct but the binocular views are not quite centered in your field of view,  It might be necessary to rotate the binoculars inward just a bit so your object is center in your viewing. just loosen the binocular thumbscrew and rotate the binoculars so you have a better view and then lock them in place.

 

 

How to adjust for True North 

 

Since the Setting Circle is adjustable by loosening the Thumbscrew you can simply rotate the setting circle to the True North Position. You can also select the Moon or another known object and and find the object in the Binoculars. Using your SkySafari or other celestial app Look up the Moon to get the Azimuth and Altitude numbers and adjust your Setting Circle Numbers and Digital level Numbers to match. You can do this a couple of times to fine tune your set up.

Edited by Glenn Patrick, 15 August 2024 - 01:06 PM.

[Rich V.]

Sorry everyone,

 

I'm still not able to load pictures despite making them smaller using the link I was provided .

 

Glenn

Glenn, I find with PicResize, using the "Fit to screen: 800 resolution" works just fine with CN attachments.

 

From the CN reply pane, next to the green Post button is "More Reply Options".  Click that button and then you'll see an "Attach Files" pane at the bottom of the screen.  "Choose File" from your computer pic folder, then hit the "Attach This File" button.  That should do it.  As pointed out in the pane, no more than 500KB in files at a time.

[sevenofnine]

+1 on Rich V's explanation. Sometimes the easy 50% smaller in PicResize is still too large. 75% smaller always works...Good luck! 

[RMay]

Try this (if you haven’t already): try emailing the pictures to yourself - if you’re using Gmail, you should get a default pop-up request to resize them before sending them. Reduce them down to ‘small’ size (which will probably be about 75K to 100K each), attach them, and then save them as new photos when they hit your in box.

Using the Full version of CN will allow you to attach these lower res images; just add them until it tells you you’ve reached the limit.


That should do the trick for you.

Ron

Edited by RMay, 15 August 2024 - 11:27 PM.

[Glenn Patrick]

Pictures!

 

Thanks everyone for your help in getting these pictures uploaded.

Glenn

 

Attached Thumbnails

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[Glenn Patrick]

one more picture......

Glenn

Edited by Glenn Patrick, 16 August 2024 - 09:53 AM.

[sevenofnine]

That's a masterful job. Impressive! 

[Glenn Patrick]

One more picture,

Glenn

[sevenofnine]

It's crazy how well a digital angle gauge works, isn't? I use a GLP to get in the general area then set the angle gauge to the real time altitude from Sky Safari. Usually, panning the area with either a 40mm or 28mm eyepiece finds the object 

[Glenn Patrick]

What is a GLP ?

 

As to the eyepieces,

I use the lowest possible magnification as possible, for my Oberwerk 82 that is a 24mm.

I also have 14 mm and 7 mm.

 

Glenn

[TomK1]

Green Laser Pointer