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Look Mum - no money!

badgerchap

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badgerchap

badgerchap

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So for less then £500 I reckon I've just about been able to arrange a passabe set up to give me a taster of imaging.

The scope is a WO Zenithstar 66 Petzval

Camera is Canon EOS 10D

The guider is made from an old Practica SLR lens and the barrel of my TMB 6mm which I have used about 3 times since I got it.

No guidescope rings crossed with no cash means that I've had to strap the guider to the main scope with heavy duty velcro - will be fitting some kind of brake to stop it spinning round and have crammed in some spacers to try and alleviate flexure. The camera part of this was a cheap £10 webcam I got from Curry's a couple of years ago. LED removed, IR filter and lens removed (did I need that filter? Ah well, its gone now :) ).

The weight attached to the 66's dewshield is a Jack Daniels hip flasked filled with water and tightly sealed, stuck on with more velcro.

The hartmann mask folds back into a baader solar film filter, and there's a baby one for the guider!

All in all, it's probably going to be a bit shoddy, at least to start, but I've had a lot of fun banging it all together.

Funny really, I've just got this one bolt left, and I have no idea where it goes....:)

I know it's going to have a million problems, but it's somewhere to start. Going to get a bit of widefield going tonight, as I hear thaat the Petzval doesn't need a field flattener. Which is good, cos I don't have one!

So much swearing to come then :)

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Hmmm, I think the velcro might be an issue! The guidescope needs to be very solidly and immovably aligned with the imaging scope.

However, it will be interesting to see how this goes. Most of the 66s sold were SDs, not the Petzval. Have fun!

Olly

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Gina

Gina

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Very interesting :) I love seeing really budget home made setups :) Yes, do please show us some pics of it - don't worry about shabby, that's one of the beauties of home made stuff :)

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badgerchap

badgerchap

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Just remember BE CAREFUL when setting up for the pics lol

You haven't been reading my other posts, by any chance??? :)

Yes, I think the Velcro's going to be a sticky point, but I'll just have to keep tweaking. Have been testing out on the sun today, no problems yet, but no doubt problems'll surface midway through a long exposure!

Mounts in (*winces in preparation for criticism*) an EQ5. I know they can't take a lot, but the setup is pretty light. Just tracked the sun (polar alignment via iphone compass - booyah!), and it held together pretty well. The main issue I'm having is that the counterweight doesn't go close enough to the centre of gravity! Have had to remove things lol

I am trying to upload pics - computers not having it. Will keep trying!

post-17621-133877776943_thumb.jpg

post-17621-133877776952_thumb.jpg

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badgerchap

badgerchap

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Here's the guider in more detail.

Focal length is between f3 and f4, depending on zoom. I reckon the soom could actually be quite handy in the long run - I can use it as kind of a combination guider / finder.

The TMB I just pulled all of the glass out and sat the webcam PCB beneath the rubber eyecup. Focus is OK.

The selotape's not permanent - just useful during the testing phase!

Any ideas for attaching it without forking out for guidescope rings?

post-17621-133877776959_thumb.jpg

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

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I think you'll have some movement issues there - still, it's only a temporary fix I hope? The frustration thus generated will make you engineer a better solution more quickly! Nothing worse than wasting good imaging time with non functioning kit.

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badgerchap

badgerchap

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I think you'll have some movement issues there - still, it's only a temporary fix I hope?

Absolutely - in fact, I've aready made some improvements in readiness for tonight's testing. Whilst there is still some velcro knocking around, it is adhesive backed and so cannot move, and is now only strapping to strengthen the positions of various bits n bobs! Also, have got a proper nosepiece extender for the t-adapter, improved balance and made stronger, more movement resistant joints in the guidescope assembly.

Ijust don't want to do anything permanent until I know more about how everything needs to be configured! After all, I've never done this before, so it's a case of trial and error. Probably more error than anything, but that's how we learn I guess!

Cheers for the advice as always guys!

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Chris

Chris

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as a safety precaution for your camera you could attach a camera strap to it and have it looped around a part of your setup just in case that Cellotape tube doesn't hold near zenith:D

Good luck with you first attempt:)

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sgazer

sgazer

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not much wrong with the EQ5 for that light weight setup. Movement will be the problem as others said, a fraction of a mm movement of the guider will screw things up. I had to use a huge wide dovetail bar to firmly connect the 2 scopes, then the guide camera had to be braced to the guide scope with more metal work. But at least you can unstrap it if you have issues and just do it unguided, you should still get 2-3mins unguided I think.

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