nikolav

I have a pretty standard and pure stock FDM printer - Ender 3, which I believe is just a smaller version of your 10s. I guess every modern FDM printer is very capable of printing even finer threads. Here on Thingiverse - Thingiverse link you can see the SCT coupler I printed with PLA+. Probably the key is the layer height, the nozzle size is irrelevant. The one above is done with 0.16 mm layer height. Yesterday I realized I have a clog, so most probably this one was printed with a slightly clogged nozzle. I still haven't tried printing with PETG, but I reckon this will be the filament of choice for printing adapters and couplers. For say planetary camera or just for a visual use the PLA should be fine. The DSLR on the picture was just to prove the concept, i'm not trusting the PLA that much And yes, the thread angle angle is 60 degrees, it is defined in the start of the file for all threads. About the thread designation - I had no idea what this meant so I just left the value from the example. I'll change it and I'll switch the As and Bs as well. The guy on thingiverse - Link who originally created the thread I used came back to me with the following settings last night: <Designation> <ThreadDesignation>2-24 UN</ThreadDesignation> <CTD>2-24 UN</CTD> <TPI>24.0</TPI> <Thread> <Gender>external</Gender> <Class>1A</Class> <MajorDia>1.9928</MajorDia> <PitchDia>1.9669</PitchDia> <MinorDia>1.9410</MinorDia> </Thread> <Thread> <Gender>internal</Gender> <Class>1B</Class> <MajorDia>2.0087</MajorDia> <PitchDia>1.9786</PitchDia> <MinorDia>1.9598</MinorDia> <TapDrill>1.9598</TapDrill> </Thread> <Thread> <Gender>external</Gender> <Class>2A</Class> <MajorDia>1.9947</MajorDia> <PitchDia>1.9683</PitchDia> <MinorDia>1.9428</MinorDia> </Thread> <Thread> <Gender>internal</Gender> <Class>2B</Class> <MajorDia>2.0068</MajorDia> <PitchDia>1.9767</PitchDia> <MinorDia>1.9598</MinorDia> <TapDrill>1.9598</TapDrill> </Thread> </Designation> Now I have long enough list of settings to play with

Thanks mate! I'll have a play with it as well. Before I read this I took more scientific approach. I used this calculator click. As I wasn't very sure how exactly this works I got an SCT design in STL format that was confirmed working - link. "Sliced" in Tinkercad and measured everything manually. After lots of trial and errors tinkering the xml numbers I got it visually pretty close to my "template" I ended up with these numbers from the calculator: <ThreadSize> <Size>2</Size> <Designation> <ThreadDesignation>1-24</ThreadDesignation> <CTD>1-24</CTD> <TPI>24.0</TPI> <Thread> <Gender>internal</Gender> <Class>3a</Class> <MajorDia>2.0105</MajorDia> <PitchDia>1.9774</PitchDia> <MinorDia>1.9619</MinorDia> </Thread> </Designation> </ThreadSize> <ThreadSize> <Size>1.99</Size> <Designation> <ThreadDesignation>1-24</ThreadDesignation> <CTD>1-24</CTD> <TPI>24.0</TPI> <Thread> <Gender>external</Gender> <Class>3b</Class> <MajorDia>2.0000</MajorDia> <PitchDia>1.9729</PitchDia> <MinorDia>1.9504</MinorDia> </Thread> </Designation> </ThreadSize> I'll have a test 3D print tonight to check how that has worked. Cheers!

Hey there For various DIY projects I have in mind I want to design/create my own SCT adapters and etc. To start with I have very very limited experience in CAD software, but I'm trying to learn... So far I was able learn how to do it in Fusion 360, but what I miss are the specs of the thread (at least). All I could find online is that it is 2", 24 TPI which tells me it is 2 inches wide and has 24 threads per inch. Nothing about the internal or external diameter. I can tinker around the following variables below. These values are mine and nowhere near the real life sizes. The only correct one I believe is the TPI value. And I guess they should be different for male and female threads. <Size>2</Size> <Designation> <ThreadDesignation>1-24</ThreadDesignation> <CTD>1-24</CTD> <TPI>24.0</TPI> <Thread> <Gender>internal</Gender> <Class>2B</Class> <MajorDia>2.072</MajorDia> <PitchDia>2.0598</PitchDia> <MinorDia>2.0475</MinorDia> Can someone knowledgeable shed some light here and help me fill the gaps?

Hey there. Can you recommend a reducer/flattener for William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD? The original one is discontinued, so I am after anything else that can do the trick. I don't mind buying anything aftermarket. Something available at ebay/alliexpress would be great as I live in New Zealand and usually buying from Amazon/US/EU based shops is either not possible or not economical. My budget top is about the $200 mark. I'm going to use it with a crop DSLR (Nikon D7000 at the moment) if that is relevant.

Hey there. I have one Celestron Nextimage laying around. Before throw it away I want to make sure if I can use it for anything else. Can I use it as a guide camera? I'm talking about this one: https://astromart.com/classifieds/astromart-classifieds/ccd-cameras-astro/show/celestron-neximage-solar-system-imager-93712. I believe it is based on Phillips SCP900NC webcam: https://nightskyinfocus.com/equipment/philips-spc900nc00-webcam-for-astrophotography/

I removed the light blue clothes peg just for the photo-session The thing is that even with it the focus shift makes say Jupiter to get out of the view completely. From what I've read I see I can use the internal focusing system to focus it near enough the target and the external focus for precise focusing. I know the mount is not the best possible, but still I'm gonna give it a try for planetary imaging and I'm in the process of making a DIY motor drive for it (OnStep). Time will tel, but I hope it'll be good just for that. Cheers!

Hey there. After a few attempts to focus on Jupiter I began the meaning of the focus shift. I don't have any experience with other Maks or SCTs, but with mine Mak focusing with high magnification eyepiece if virtually impossible for me. Enough with the intro, now I'm after some external focuser I can attach to the back of my scope. Crayford or helical. The thing is I have no idea what type of focuser I can physically attach there. The current eyepiece holder (1.25" or 2") is screwed on a thread, but I have no idea what type of thread is that. Is there any king of standard for this? Here's the back of the scope: The plan is to use the scope for visual as well as for some planetary imaging and my budget is probably in the vicinity of $100-$150 or so.

Yep, I read about it and I'll try is as soon as it clears out. Thanks!

Sorry, under "here" I meant I meant the SA mini setup, not my location

Auckland, mate. Sorry, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought 2 star alignment refers to the GOTO function, not PA?

Hey there. I live in New Zealand, hence no bright Polaris here to help. I can make a rough polar alignment based on my altitude and azimuth location, but that’s not good enough. I have a place in my garden where the South pole is directly visible. But I have trouble seeing the octanis starts trough the polarscope. I tried multiple times and probably only one of them I’m almost sure I saw them and aligned the mount correctly. In theory I’m aware at least with the drift alignment method, but I don’t think it’s applicable here. Are there any other tricks I can use to do perfect alignment when using lens in the 100mm – 300mm range?

Hey Cosmic Geoff Yep, that's the easiest way and not hard to do. I was just wondering if there's a way to add the motor and keep the slow-motion cable. But I guess I'll have to live with it.

Hey guys. A newbie with a stupid question probably... I bought cheap this old Saxon telescope and it came with a mount that looks much better than the one I have with my Celestron Astro master 130. I have no idea what the model is and not sure if it is the original one that shipped with the telescope. Somewhere online I read that it should be EQ2 or EQ3 and the motor is optional. Can you help with finding the right RA motor for the mount? I guess I could easily retrofit the motor from my Celestron mount (pictured below), but then I will lose the slow motion control. The mount: There is a threaded hole in the circle. Something should go there. Mounting point for a motor probably? The motor drive I could retrofit: Any ideas guys?