Cutting The Cost

[sidelight]

I've been thinking about this for a while, this can be an expensive hobby especially when starting out as everything seems to boil down to "you need to buy .....", it's unavoidable but then most hobbies are like that.  

I know we have a DIY equipment section, but that rightly seems to be more adventurous mods and stuff not necessarily suitable to people just starting out who already have enough to buy. So I thought I would start a thread asking for peoples thoughts on simple money saving things they have knocked up or hacked together to save a few pounds at least in the short term.

I thought I would start this off with dew shields I put together by cutting the bottoms off lightweight flowerpots, cutting a slit up them and gluing them so they fit snuggly over the end of the scope, I then lined the insides with some sticky backed felt from HobbyCraft.  These replaced the foam dew shields I used as they fell apart eventually.

Total cost?  I think the small flower pot on the 130PDS was £2.99, and the one for the 200P was about £4.50.  The felt was something like £1 for an A4 sheet total cost for both about £10, not perfect, but £40 saved now is £40 towards something I can't make.

Cheers

Ross

[Laurie61]

I made a cheap, piggy back, tube ring from a plastic pipe connector, it cost about £5 from wicks. Put six self-tapping roofing bolts in with plastic tips to protect the ota and sprayed it white.  

 

[Beulah]

Made my own light shroud from unwanted black synthetic fabric and old crinoline wire...cost? 

£2.00 for the cotton thread, bit of electric for the sewing machine.

Astronomy can be expensive, but necessity is the mother of invention. That is why I think this forum contains more innovative people than I have seen anywhere else.  

[carastro]

This is only for people who own a Pod.

Bought from SkPod a dome cover costs around £400. They are needed as the dome can leak.  Also protects from the build up of protococcus and bird droppings.

I bought some waterproof material from Ebay £39 and sewed my own cover.  Works well. 

[rory]

Lovin the flower pot mod , that's a crackin idea.

[sidelight]

Astronomy can be expensive, but necessity is the mother of invention. That is why I think this forum contains more innovative people than I have seen anywhere else.   

Very, very true.  for me the "tinkering" when I'm not able to use the scope is half the attraction :-), I know I had and have to be inventive to afford this, and I especially know there are some real gems out there, and tucked away in this forum, for me it was finding them, when I worked out I needed "something to do x" but was always balancing up which bit.  Often it came down to what I could make and make do, and what I had to buy.

[RichM63]

Well I made an adapter to hook up my point and shoot Pentax to my 20x80 binos out of garden a hosepipe connector.

[Peter Drew]

For anything you can't make, buying secondhand is always a good saving, 

[Marky1973]

Good stuff.....just purchased a scope today and gone a bit over budget - feel like I am going to need a dew shield, so thought a homemade one would be a good way to go! Will be measuring up the flower pots at the weekend Ross!

[Darren27]

Marky, what did you go for? And was it black?

Sent from my tablet, any spelling mistakes are a combination of fat fingers and auto correct!

[sidelight]

Good stuff.....just purchased a scope today and gone a bit over budget - feel like I am going to need a dew shield, so thought a homemade one would be a good way to go! Will be measuring up the flower pots at the weekend Ross!

Don't talk to me about over budget, I've not managed to get much that hasn't ended that way in this hobby 

If you go this route make sure you buy one slightly oversized so there is a lip to glue it back together (I didn't count the cost of the first flowerpot ). The other thing I did which helped a lot was to put a couple of jubilee clips together to lightly clamp it around the scope while the glue went off.

Cheers

Ross

[happy-kat]

I made a light shroud out of kite material, velcro, elastic and a sewing machine.

I use black card as a lens shield on my camera with an elastic band, I am now going to see if I have a flower pot instead I could use with the elastic band.

[sidelight]

Well I made an adapter to hook up my point and shoot Pentax to my 20x80 binos out of garden a hosepipe connector.

One of my favourite types of mod, when the totally left field thing is used to get over a problem! I'm still rather proud of fixing the dishwasher door with the spring from a wooden clothes peg 

[Marky1973]

Ha Darren! No it was white, the Phil Burton offer on the Skyliner 200p was just too good to refuse (and very speedy delivery too) - I guess I can live with the colour!

Thanks for the tips Ross! And yes, already looking at a higher powered eyepiece, collimator and barlow - hence the desire to build a shield.....although then I start thinking about heat bands as well - sounds like something that will be vital for prolonged viewing in this delightful climate! Oh, and my other hobby is home cinema, which has equally shiny desirous things that make you go over budget!

[clarkent]

What a great thread !

Bravo for starting it Ross.

[baggywrinkle]

Dew sheild. One camping mat...some double sided velcro...A$5.

[sidelight]

I find this time of year eyepieces and especially filters get dewed up as I use them.  Not usually in use as the scope has a heater strap that seems to stop that happening, but with things like barlows as I swap them in and out over the evening.  Me being quite lazy they tend to end up on the camping table I set up next to the scope which usually has my laptop on it (with Stellarium running) even when I am not imaging.  Knowing where the hot air is pumped out of the laptop, putting them by the vent stops them dewing up when they are sat on the table as slightly warmed air is passing over them.  Total cost £0 

Cheers

Ross

[Beulah]

Sidelight sir, that is probably the best money saving tip so far!!