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6" f5 suitcase dobsonian project

Moonshane

By Moonshane
in DIY Astronomer

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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I recently bought an Orion Optics UK 6" f5 Newtonian as my wide field / travel scope. I currently have this on a Giro mount and pedestal but always intended to make a small suitcase dob for traveling / camping etc.

Getting the eyepiece to a decent height is always the challenge with a scope like this but I recently found an article for an 8" f4 which has a focal length of 800mm and thus not far off the 750mm of my tiddler. My 8-inch Travelscope | Gary Seronik.com

I will therefore be using this design as the basis for my own scope and will be starting work on this on Tuesday. Luckily I have the bulk of the materials in the form of leftovers from other projects and will have to spend maybe £20-30 max to get this completed.

My key criteria are similar to GS as follows:

  • Needs to be light enough and small enough to fit into hand luggage specifications.
  • Small enough to fit in the boot/trailer with all the other gear when on family hols.
  • Able to readily convert back to the original OTA for home use so few if any mods to the parts scavenged.
  • Cheap to put together.
  • Observing height from a seated position - no kneeling or crawling.
  • Needs to work like a dob - free and easy but solid.
  • No tools set up

I'll update the thread as I go.

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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Another great project Shane.

When are you going pro at this scope building malarkey?:)

Look forward to seeing this build get underway.

Regards Steve

Ps the biscuits are 5/32" (4mm) wide so I wouldn't use them in 6mm ply but in 9mm they'll be fine. The joint they produce is extremely strong.

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John

John

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Interesting project Shane - a sort of 007 scope perhaps ? :)

You'll be setting up a scope building business soon - with the supply issues with imported stuff there is possibly a niche :)

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ismangil

ismangil

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Seriously Shane, I paid Beacon Hill £85 for my Dobsonian mount...

I'm sure there is a market for custom mid market Dob, not the likes of David Lukehurst or Obsession.

Pimp my Dob!

Perry on mobile (so blame strange words on text prediction!)

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perrin6

perrin6

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Like John (I like the bicycle-repair main still BTW John) I thought of James Bond for some reason. He could use it to watch those satellite-stealing space rockets!

I really like the idea of a low-power wide-field scope with 6-8 inch aperture to take to dark-sky sites to see large dim nebulae like the north america neb, the veil etc.

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nytecam

nytecam

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I ....but always intended to make a small suitcase dob for traveling / camping etc
  • Needs to be light enough and small enough to fit into hand luggage specifications.
  • Small enough to fit in the boot/trailer with all the other gear when on family hols.
  • Able to readily convert back to the original OTA for home use so few if any mods to the parts scavenged.
  • Cheap to put together.
  • Observing height from a seated position - no kneeling or crawling.
  • Needs to work like a dob - free and easy but solid.
  • No tools set up

I'll update the thread as I go.

Hi - perhaps something between these two from my past..

WPO-small tubeless reflector with hardhat mount = my 4" hardhat scope

WPO - big dobsonian = my 17.5" 'portable' dob rainbow.gif Good luck.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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Spent two days on this with my father in law and we have broken the back of it with the following done:

- Secondary cage made

- mirror box completed - just need to make and fit the truss fixings (tapped 5mm ali angle)

- altitude bearings made

- rocker box made

- bottom box / cover made along with feet

Just need to now paint and then fit the various bits, laminate the bearing surfaces and fit teflon pads, and calculate the truss lengths and it should be in a position to have a test run - probably within a week or two.

No time to upload pics at the minute but will try and do so this weekend. I

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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:D That was quick buddy.:D

You really get on with it when your building stuff. Want a job?:(

Looking forward to seeing it.

Regards Steve

cheers Steve - it helps as I am off work at the mo. A job? No!!!!!

When's the holiday abroad booked as you didn't mess around sorting that lot out :)

It will be a while before I am holidaying abroad again matey - camping though......

I really like the idea of this ;)

Expess the folding down

What size would people suggest havin a go doing one of these?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you mean the mirror size then I'd suggest the weight would restrict it to 8" for hand luggage.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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We have made a few mistakes along the way (all either resolved or on the way to being resolved) on this and that's why I wanted to do it on the cheap really. Also, this is why I'll end up painting it matt black with a top coat of laquer.

I have certainly learned that best quality plywood (which is about 3x the price of exterior grade hardwood ply that I used) is likely to be well worth the extra money.

I'll mention the things we did and why when I upload more detail and the pics.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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hi all

Here's some pics of the work so far. It's been blown over with primer for now and looks pretty good. I'll possibly look to reduce weight in certain areas if required but I won't be traveling abroad for a bit so the weight will help for now. Ordered my truss poles etc today so will provide more notes when they come and can provide more details / pics if wanted then too. Hopefully the pics will show more than I can say anyway.

The eyepiece height will allow for observing from a standard chair which is great.

We made the outer box a little smaller than perfect so it's a little tighter than I'd like but perfectly workable.

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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Looks great pal.

Not easy to see where your gonna shave a few pounds off there.:D

Maybe some hole saws rather than a router, quicker way to get surplus wood out.?

That looks like how Sumerian does it, a few different hole saw sizes.

Regards Steve

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