Chriske

It has begun... To do : IPD-unit and focusers

erased double post.

I'm planning to control the software from my smartphone(android). I do have SkySafariPro4 installed already. It is tempting to make a go-to, but maybe, just maybe I'll go for a push-to and tracking. On second thought, the latter is (maybe) not possible, Don' know(yet) need to find out. In the past I already made a push-to. That was installed on my very first printed telescope(Printsonian). It had two encoders(selfmade out of old mice) and worked very well.

Has anyone made a working OnStep tracker for a Alt-Az scope..? No derotator required. Thanks

Correction : my mounts closes as I explained higher up. The hinge is at the east side of the mount, the threaded rod at the west side. So I need to close the box to track the stars.

Although I made a smaller boxmount with which I've taken pictures of the nightsky, I never used my larger Boxmounts to do astrophotography. I think it would be feasable using a precise threaded rod. For the smaller one I used a threaded rod I did cut it myself on a lathe. for my large Boxmounts I simply buy threaded rods. That's because I never take pictures with that large one. The thick threaded rods are 'rolled', not cut. These rolled rods do not allow smooth tracking, far to many irregularities in the threads itself. But perfect to track stars for visual observing. Tracking stars with these threaded rods there's a 'wobble' in the motion, but only a veeeeeery small wobble, most of the time hardly visible. What could be done to improve tracking precision is cleaning up the surface of the rolled threaded rod with a die. It makes a big difference. Precise tracking to do astrophtography is only possible when the upper part of the platform is near the horizontal position and for a short time. Remember it is in fact nothing more then a barndoor tracker, only 'a bit' larger. The hinge I use is a heavy duty one. To compensate for the weight of the scope + upper part of the platform I always use a pneumatic lift unit. It's nothing more then a pump out of a rear-door of a car(not mine..,-)). You need to test were it has to be installed. You can fine tune this system until the scope 'only weigh just a few grams'. To compensate for different temp outside I place a very small weight on top of the platform. When it gets colder I relocate that (very small)weight more to the west of the platform. Works perfect. That adjustment is only needed to compensate for Summer/winter. The largest Boxmount I ever made is 1m² and is patiently waiting to carry a large binocular I'm busy building(2x20") is on hold now, due to build of 150mm (lens)bino. To fully understand how it works, you need to look at the pictures of my Kutter-Bino. And btw Nigel, the rotation axis of a boxmount is not at the centre of the mount. That axis is mounted at the far-west or the far-east side of the mount. Tracking with that rod is done at the opposite side of the hinge. See here. I prefer to mount the hinge at the east side and the threaded rod at the west, so the telescope is 'falling down' during tracking. You can reverse the two, so you would be pushing the telescope upward. But I prefer the first one. Don't know why but it 'feels' more natural imo. In the pictures of the Kutter-Bino I made the paltform round. That's the only one. All other are square platforms, because it far easier to attach the driving parts.

These are a few leftover from a very old apple tree. It had to go, pity.

Why not use a star diagonal Rusted, so no need to a Limbo...😁

But I think it"s time to leave this thread. Although it is a eq. platform, it has nothing to do with the original post. Sorry Neil...🥴

This is my latest 'boxmount' it differs a lot compared to my original design. It action is very smooth btw. Needles to say, the tripod is very sturdy..:-)) For those who are not familiar with the boxmount ; lots of drawings and pictures on this page. There are lots of (white)printed parts involved btw

The idea btw is not mine. I read about it in 'Astronomy' magazine(late '70, if I'm not mistaken). Prof Greame White(Univ. Australia) suggested that a mount like that 'Boxmount' could solve many problems. He actually never built one himself. In that article were he wrote about his idea, he added a drawing. Noting more then a few lines, not even a real drawing in fact. I immediately started building 'my' version of 'his' Boxmount and wrote a letter + a few pictures of that built and sent it to Mr White. The man had asked in that same article to sent him the result and possibly pictures of his idea, 'to see whether his idea could be build and would do the job' if someone should build that mount. The man was very pleased with my letter and told me to send that same message to Sky&Telescope. After that first built lots of amateurs did copy that build and even improved it. Some amateurs did built a 'nested' boxmount. Anyway, I still use boxmounts for larger telescopes. The Boxmounts I build nowadays are about 15 to 20 cm high, depending on the version. And yes I always install a pneumatic lift arm assist system to compensate for the weight of the dob it'll support. Leave as is Alex, no need to edit that post. So in the end, credit should go to Mr White also. He's the one with that 'silly' idea to mount a telescope on top of a wooden box with a hinge, to track the stars...😂

Do you have pictures of these bino's..?

Yet again as always, I plan to add a IPD unit starting from 55 to 70mm

Nice...!!! Thanks Peter...!...

I could do that John , but there's an additional problem. A need in fact two of these lenses. And on top of that they need to have exactly the same focal length. Now you surely know what I'm planning to do with these lenses...😉

Thanks John, but I don't think these people are selling in my budget range...😳

All these links, they’re all mine. But absolutely out of date.

Hi, Does anyone know a good source to buy a 150mm achromat, airspaced. I already found this one, is not to expensive. Thanks

To be clear : The name of that file has been changed. The drawing is mine. The mount as is, is my idea. I made a couple of these mount, I call these mounts Boxmount. Published an article in Sky&Telescope in 1983(if I remember well). A variant of that mount I did use again to mount my Bino-Kutter I made last year(posted here on SGL). Posted that boxmount on CN years ago. And yes it would be most polite to mention the source/original poster where ever it has been posted before.

AlexK, Do you have permission to post this image. And if so why not post the creator of this mount's name...?

There are lots of printed objects in our garden. The first object I started to 'expose' to the sun was as early as 2013. No deterioration so far. The very first objects I printed using PLA, in different colours btw, exposed to the elements I stored them in a black open container. The idea was to see what would happen with these objects in that kind of environment. The coloured objects de-coloured after a few years, but still are very strong. These objects are wheels for model trains (Gauge1). I buy my PLA here, maybe you could buy from them and test for yourself... What's more, I do buy their 'Economy PLA', so nothing fancy. Test it and we'll talk again in a few years...😉 Before and after lots of sun. Not perfect prints, I know. But nowadays I would do better...😃 And 212 of these wheels were needed for this project. All 50 carriages were also printed in PLA. Each carriage weigh 14gram.

Yep...😉

This is one of my many projects printed in white PLA. As I said before there are some metal parts involved in this binocular, as in all my other projects. Length of this bino about 1.2m. Pay attention to the special tripod...😁

What about this test I did years ago now. Different materials. nGen, ABS, PLA. FYI the white ring is PLA. All these rings are very thin and hollow. Diameter about 150mm. These rings hung for a almost a full year in my garden in full sun all day long. During that year there was even a heatwave..! On each ring a weight of 1kg. Winner of this 'contest'. White PLA. Don't believe it : just try it for yourself. Do not print PLA objects to be used in your car, not even white PLA. That will not work. It's a completely different story. I have different objects in my garden, all printed in PLA-white. Yet again a new project will be installed in my garden next week. A set of covers is ready to be installed on top of thin aluminium poles around our garden. Purpose is to screw insulators in these covers. These insulators will lead electric wires around are garden. These covers, again printed in PLA... WHITE PLA...! No other colour will survive the backing heat of the sun. Because there was hardly deformation I filled the bottles up to 1 litre instead of 0.5 litre And at the end of the summer the white ring hardly deformed. To be clear, when removing the weight it jumped almost back to it's original shape. The other three did not...! And yes I know, when I would have chosen white ABS and white nGen the result would have been different. But I wanted to make a point here : To be safe, use white filament for outside projects.

In the past I've printed a few telescopes. The first one was a 10" Dob, the second was small Kutter, next a Cass, in fact a Gregorian, and the last one I've built is a large Bino-Kutter. There are all posted on this forum. Many people looking at these scope during open door do frown, making remarks, questioning the stability, strength, etc of these printed scopes. After explaining and have a closer look, almost all visitors do agree these 'plastic' telescope will work. All the printed scopes I made so fare are not 100% fully printed of course. There's always a metal frame(aluminium) to start with. That 'frame' makes the base on which I start adding printed parts. I never allow a printed part to support the scope. I also never allow printed parts ending up stressed, meaning, not one single parts will have to deal with tension. That is my golden rule. Respect that rule, and you can build whatever you possibly can think of. These scopes I made, it's always a well thought over concept, a combination of different materials, ending up with a very sturdy telescope. And there are two more rules you need to take into account : 1- N-e-v-e-r draw/print slim-line parts. Slim-line parts look very nice, but that's all you can say about them. 2- Using a telescope in the heat of the sun, ALWAYS print your parts pristine white, even PLA..!