The Mapstar 22" build

[madjock72]

Its a thing of beauty but i love the details, its with the small pops of red near the top end and on the moonlite that makes it a very sexy scope.

[mapstar]

2 hours ago, madjock72 said:

Its a thing of beauty but i love the details, its with the small pops of red near the top end and on the moonlite that makes it a very sexy scope.

Cheers for the compliment madjock.

The focuser is a feathertouch lightweight with SIPS. I had it anodised in red which is one of their standard colours. 

Will be out again soon once the nights draw in at ghe back end of August and galloway again for the Autumn star camp.

[madjock72]

Im sure it would be a lot better at Keilder dark sky camp in Northumberland than Galloway honest gov. I might have to sell one of my kids or a kidney for that focuser.

 

Edited June 27, 2016 by madjock72

[mapstar]

30 minutes ago, madjock72 said:

Im sure it would be a lot better at Keilder dark sky camp in Northumberland than Galloway honest gov. I might have to sell one of my kids or a kidney for that focuser.

 

One kidney is more than enough for anyone 

[Demon Barber]

Never mind kidney,steak pies are the best currency ,i also have to challenge your choice of dark skies,Galloway is dark enough for anyone  ( i am biased ) 

Regards

Mike

[Uplooker]

WHO ATE ALL THE PIES?

[Physopto]

3 hours ago, mapstar said:

One kidney is more than enough for anyone 

Not for me, malt needs two at least!

 

[planetman83]

Congratulations for your work. It seems truly amazing! The question I want to ask is how fast the primary mirror is, the f ratio. I didn't see it somewhere.

[spaceboy]

Damian that is such a superb dob build. You must be very proud of yourself and your rewards for all your effort will come every time the skies are clear. Hats off to you mate as I wish I had half the level of skills you have.

[mapstar]

3 hours ago, planetman83 said:

Congratulations for your work. It seems truly amazing! The question I want to ask is how fast the primary mirror is, the f ratio. I didn't see it somewhere.

Thanks for reading it.

I think its in there somewhere? If you want to read about the mirror it's here and took quite a lot of time and patience

 https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/237343-the-22-mapstar-mirror/

At F3.4 its a fast scope 

[mapstar]

2 hours ago, spaceboy said:

Damian that is such a superb dob build. You must be very proud of yourself and your rewards for all your effort will come every time the skies are clear. Hats off to you mate as I wish I had half the level of skills you have. 

Many thanks for the compliment and reading through it. Love the scope and the views are truly wonderful.

Glad it's still inspiring others to take up the challenge and I'm sure you have the skills, you've just not found them yet

[planetman83]

I' m wondering how difficult is for somebody to make a mirror like yours. How many hours did it take for you to finish the mirror? What about the total cost of the materials? Without your personal work of the mirror and the body construction.

[mapstar]

3 hours ago, planetman83 said:

I' m wondering how difficult is for somebody to make a mirror like yours. How many hours did it take for you to finish the mirror? What about the total cost of the materials? Without your personal work of the mirror and the body construction.

If you go throught the thread above I think you'll get the idea on the level of difficulty in doing a mirror of this spec.

Hours wise it's probably around 400+ but to be honest I lost count.

I'm not 100% sure on the cost of materials as it wasn't the driving factor for me, more the achievement of doing one as otherwise it didn't make sense. I would guess at £1K in materials then the coating at a smidge over £300.

 

[JRM]

1 hour ago, mapstar said:

I'm not 100% sure on the cost of materials as it wasn't the driving factor for me, more the achievement of doing one as otherwise it didn't make sense. I would guess at £1K in materials then the coating at a smidge over £300.

 

the achievement of doing one is almost always the driving force, it's a great feeling once completed, cost can also be a force to consider, Damian you have an awesome

piece of workmanship and craftsmanship to view those secretive and hidden treasure many many lightyears away, a vessel to travel back in time with and at a cost far

far lless then going out and purchasing from a vendor for sure.

Rick M

[jetstream]

This is one mean looking telescope!! I like it, its tough looking.

[mapstar]

10 hours ago, JRM said:

the achievement of doing one is almost always the driving force, it's a great feeling once completed, cost can also be a force to consider, Damian you have an awesome

piece of workmanship and craftsmanship to view those secretive and hidden treasure many many lightyears away, a vessel to travel back in time with and at a cost far

far lless then going out and purchasing from a vendor for sure.

Rick M

It is truly satisfying as you know Rick.

My thoughts are that it won't be the only one as I'm going to try again but not for some time. I want to enjoy this one which is difficult enough in this cloud blanketed country.

Hope your 20" is progressing.

[mapstar]

Thanks Jetstream. It must be the moody black 

Ps next one is going to be plain wood just for the more traditional appearance. 

Edited July 12, 2016 by mapstar

[mapstar]

It's been a while since I posted anything in the DIY section so I thought I'd post an update on the scope and where it is at present. The next scope build is a little way off so here goes.

One thing I have wanted to do with the scope is put power up through the ground board. I had started the job several weeks ago but didn't manage to progress it much due to other tinkerings.

With the Peak star party just around the corner I thought I'd try to get it done and give it a good run out.

The concept involves making two brass rings, one for positive, one for negative and then two pick up brushes so that the az can rotate without a powercable to an external power supply. 

I cut two brass rings ( Sliprings) from 3mm thick material allowing enough space for fixings. Here they are positioned on the ground board ready for drilling 

This is they stage I was at for a few weeks.

 

Edited March 21, 2017 by mapstar

[mapstar]

The slip rings drilled and ready for fixing

To prevent tarnishing I will eventually put a thin smear of vaseline over both rings which will aid the copper brush gear whilst moving the az motion.  

Next the wiring route which would consist of an XLR socket inset on the outside foot of the ground board. A hole through the rear of the socket towards the centre and a routed channel to feed the wiring through to the slip rings. 

 

Edited March 21, 2017 by mapstar

[mapstar]

Struggling to upload pics at present with the error message 

There was a problem processing the uploaded file. -200?

Not sure why this is maybe admin can help later.

Damian 

 

[mapstar]

Here's the XLR socket fitted just above one of the feet on the ground board.

I then drilled a hole from this to the larger hole behind to feed the wiring through. Using standard XLR wiring pin 2 pos 3 neg. 

[mapstar]

The routed slot so I could feed the wiring in beneath each slip ring. 

After sealing it with paint it was time to connect it all up. 

The two brass rings had a thorough clean so that the solder would take. I used a blow torch for this as an Iron would not be sufficient to get heat into such a large area.

 

[mapstar]

Finally with the wiring soldered to the under side I could feed the wiring through to connect the socket. 

After the socket was soldered on the whole slip ring assembly was screwed in place.

And the XLR socket on the outsidd of the ground board.

The ground board wiring was now finished.

Next job was to make up two brush boxes for fitting to the rocker box. Brass was the best option so I will be on with making them today and post the results later.

Damian 

Edited March 21, 2017 by mapstar

[estwing]

Very clever stuff Damian 

[faulksy]

nicely done damo