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Setting circle

bats

By bats
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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Hi Paul - I've got a paper printed Setting circle already printed which you can have but - it will only work if you make the cut in the bottom of your Dob plates and have the circle fixed rather than moveable on the top of the Dob mount like I have- the reason is I had the first few printed clockwise and didn't realise for a moveable upper circle they need to be anti clockwise. I got them printed by being a pain in the neck to one of our facilities engineers who printed it out at work for me - unfortunately he doesn't work there now so that avenue is closed.

I do think though that I may have kept the cad file for the circle somewhere either in work or on my laptop so if you have software that will read autocad designs I'll try and find it for you.

I remember giving 2 of the anti clockwise prints to Pete aswel - I know he's used one but whether he still has the other or had thrown it out or given it to someone else I'm not sure.

There should be plenty of advice on making setting circles for Dobs on the site- I know Knobby had a huge thread with plenty of advice on Dob Modding - I'll do a search later and see if I can find anything for you - its well worth persevering with though so best of luck.

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bats

bats

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I think I have a anticlockwise one ready for printing ( will check tomorrow) and I may try taking it to staples to see if they can print it off in one. Thanks for hand offer and the info Steve, it's greatly appreciated

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Avocette

Avocette

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I've had a couple of very practical setting circles printed on vinyl and mounted on 3mm foamex backing (they are essentially waterproof) by an exhibition printer in Craven Arms, Shropshire. They charged around £10 a throw.

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Paul - some good stuff here on modding your Dob - the first thread is adding a lazy suzan , the second help in flocking your Dob and the third on adding a setting circle - give us a shout if you have any questions but the thing to bear in mind with this is  theres a lot of different ways to get to the end product

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/118946-just-finished-modding-my-dob-base/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/154792-a-help-in-flocking-your-200p/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/152072-skywatcher-8-dob-setting-circle/page-2?hl=%20setting%20%20circle

good luck

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Nice one Rhys. Paul I think if you use Rhys method you will need a clockwise circle not an anti clockwise one,perhaps Rhys would confirm for you. I have one spare if you go down this road but obviously you'll have to cut into the DOB base as Rhys has done.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

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bats

bats

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Looking at the options I think I want to place it on the top of the dob Steve. Don't really fancy cutting holes in it. There's a chap

On our industrial estate with a printer big enough to print out the PDF I have of the anti clockwise circle ( hopefully ). The wixey turned up yesterday, I got the one with the levelling bubble on top so can't wait to try it all out. I have had a couple of good sessions over Xmas where I managed to find the Orion Nebula ...... We'll impressive with the dob!!!!

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Rhys Hardwick

Rhys Hardwick

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Yes, you'll need anticlockwise on the top, clockwise if it's like mine.

Steve - I'm still thinking about the best way to level mine. Thinking about putting some simple castors on the bottom, and then using whatever method I use to level as the brakes too. What have you done?

Bats - I had a glimpse of Orion Nebula from a dark site, and it's beautiful in the 10" compared to my old 5"!

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Hi Rhys- well this is what I did  http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/181368-my-final-200p-mod/   and it works great to be honest. The levelling part is just a piece of  Marine ply sealed around the edges and 4 wardrobe adjustable legs which I screwed to the bottom - a lot of people say use three as it makes it easier to balance but I've managed fine so far with 4. Then just get a 2 way caravan level from amazon for about £2 or a small orbital spirit level again about the same to get your level - works really well. Of course its then a totally separate component to the dob itself but you won't need brakes

The rest of the gear is to raise the level so I can use it standing up if I want to - looks a very much homemade solution but its quick to set up and stable and well it is home made lol

To be honest thats the great thing with Dobs - theres loads of mods you can do and everyone does it slightly differently but mine works for me so dar and thats all I hoped for

good luck

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houston

houston

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Hi bats. I have just drawn the degrees with perm marker on the top board. Bent a hair grip and attached to a small magnet. I put magnetic strips all the way around under bottom board. So find a planet or bright star move the hair grip to azimuth and your set. Very accurate if you get wixey calibrated perfect.

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

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