I've Been Busy!

[cabby]

First of all thankyou's to Neil McRae, M110 & Mr Fibble for the info I have used from their thread's/links to make my new toys better. :icon_salut:

We've only had our scope for 2 months but the help and knowledge on this site is amazing, thanking you all

I can turn my hand to most things and I'm really pleased how these have turned out.

First up is my new Telrad, by far the best money I've spent lately. The first time I used it dew was a big prob so going on what Mr Fibble and M110 had done http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-astronomer/165353-homemade-dew-preventer-telrad-eyepieces.html. I gave it a go. I mounted my resistor inside so as to keep both glasses clear and it seems to work well. My power pack has a 3,6 or 9 volt switch, so I can switch the power up or down and no need for a controller. I also made a heater for the eyepiece which is wired through the Telrad but on a permanent live feed, so when the Telrad is switched off it still works.

Our scopes mount is very shakey and takes a long time to settle when you focus especially in high magnification, so when today I found all my old RC stuff I thought I'd make a hands free focuser, thanks to Neil McRae for this link, Battery Free Electric Focuser. I butchered one of my old 1/12th racing cars that had seen better days for the servo's and aluminium chassis. I didn't have any cogs or belts but managed to find a long screw that would fit the focuser and drilled the centre of the servo cog and glued it in with Araldite. It seems to be holding well but only time will tell. The bracket isn't great so I'll make another and give it a coat of black paint.

All I need now is some clear sky to try it all out.