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THE FAULKS 20" F4 DOB BUILD

faulksy

By faulksy
in DIY Astronomer

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faulksy
faulksy

hi everyone, thought now was a good time to put this build up on here, lots and lots of thanks to the great steve jenner for his wood working skills and a big thanks to damien mapster for emailing and

faulksy
faulksy

quick quick review, got to be up at 4 A.M. lol clear skys, so had to try and set my pole lengths up, had to cut 125mm of them in the end but now it balances beautifully, whilst removing the poles

faulksy
faulksy

next up mirror cell welded with milled cut outs for wobble bars, this was quite hard to mill as its stainless steel next up wobble bars which i milled in work with support triangle and bear

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Timebandit

Timebandit

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 04/09/2016 at 23:57, faulksy said:

a few little updates and some good progress tonight.

cut all truss tubes to correct length and thought of a good way of stopping them at the correct focal distance.

squared up my spider as it was 2mm in one direction off centre, strange one

squared my focuser up as over the width of the uta it run out by 2mm in 1 direction the other axis was spot on, gutted

1 of the uta clamps was very slightly of 90* compared to the adjacent ones, all the fixing bolts are 6mm so all holes are 6mm so there is no slop but the one that was out i had to drill the clearance hole 6.5mm. it is now correct. so well happy with all that :headbang:

also finished of my wheel barrow system which colapses down to nothing, i have used 2 wheels but both in the centre, this gives a bit more stability at speed :icon_biggrin: but still allows me to use 1 ramp to go in the back of the discovery :icon_biggrin:.

things left to do are

shrink wrap my truss poles

finish of shroud and my matching dress

finish off dew kit . so not much left :icon_biggrin:

 

ep height at zenith is 6-3"

 

 

Hello Mike, all seems to be going to plan with your newborn and you seem to be sorting out the teething problems and nearly finished. I bet it will be a relief to put all the past months of hard work and stress behind you with this Big dob build and instead look forward to the years of enjoyment. 

When will be the first public appearance of your new build? Maybe ready for the sw meet or SGL meet?. I am sure you will have lots of sgl followers of this whole build wanting to have a look in person of the 20" Dobby and maybe a little look through the eyepiece with your kind permission. Maybe you should issue tickets in advance as there will probably be a bit of a queue for a little peak?  

Edited by Timebandit
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faulksy

faulksy

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Posted
9 hours ago, rockystar said:

are you going to SGL XII @faulksy?

I'd love to take a look at this beauty in the flesh ?

no mate the dob mobs going to the sw meeting, then elan valley then to the isle of skye for a week, not sure were the next stage of our tour will be :icon_biggrin:

it is a shame though.

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DRT

DRT

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, faulksy said:

no mate the dob mobs going to the sw meeting, then elan valley then to the isle of skye for a week, not sure were the next stage of our tour will be :icon_biggrin:

it is a shame though.

WHAT!?

An SGL star party with no Dob Mob? Have we somehow jumped into the Is There A Parallel Universe thread? :eek:

 

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Timebandit

Timebandit

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, faulksy said:

no mate the dob mobs going to the sw meeting, then elan valley then to the isle of skye for a week, not sure were the next stage of our tour will be :icon_biggrin:

it is a shame though.

 

 

1 hour ago, DRT said:

WHAT!?

An SGL star party with no Dob Mob? Have we somehow jumped into the Is There A Parallel Universe thread? :eek:

 

 

 

O well Derek thats done it, you will have to stand in for the dob mob this year. It's a good job you have been buying up all those Dobs. I hope you have a big vehicle to get them all in. As single handed you are going to have to be the Dob mob replacement this year at SGL(even though people might notice that the dobs have shrunk a bit)   .?                          

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DRT

DRT

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

O well Derek thats done it, you will have to stand in for the dob mob this year. It's a good job you have been buying up all those Dobs. I hope you have a big vehicle to get them all in. As single handed you are going to have to be the Dob mob stand in this year (even though people might notice that the dobs have shrunk a bit)   .?                          

I think that honour will have to go to @Moonshane and @Paul73 with their 16-inchers :wink:

 

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Paul73

Paul73

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Posted

No Dob Mob!!!!!

That is a shame. It won't be the same without them.

There must be larger scopes than 16"?? I thought that there was an 18" Sumarian kicking around at the spring gathering.

Either way, anyone wanting to show me how to use mine properly or gawp at some marginally brighter than usual DSO, are more than welcome.

I'll pack an extra case of beer.

Paul

 

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Timebandit

Timebandit

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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Looking on the bright side. At least I will be spared my annual bout of aperture fever that strikes every time I get near their gear

Enjoy the sunny south west gentlemen.

Paul

 

With a 16" it sounds like Paul that you will have the queue next to your dobby at the SGL event. As the man with the biggest one there?

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swamp thing

swamp thing

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Paul73 said:

No Dob Mob!!!!!

 

 

If you need your Dob mob fix we will be at the south Wales star party. There are details in the "astro events" section of this forum. :)

Check it out here

It is an utter riot there with a great bunch and we wouldn't miss it. 

The SGL event is just too close to it for us to attend both this year as we want to get to Scotland and another trip to Elan in before winter. Probably be at SGL again next year ;) 

 

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rockystar

rockystar

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, faulksy said:

no mate the dob mobs going to the sw meeting, then elan valley then to the isle of skye for a week, not sure were the next stage of our tour will be :icon_biggrin:

it is a shame though.

Boo. I'm just going to have to get my light bucket fix from @mapstar this weekend (hopefully the weather holds out). I'm sure you'll have this for many years though and there will be more opportunities.

On the up side, us with our tiny 8 inchers may not feel that inferior!

 

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Sirius Starwatcher

Sirius Starwatcher

Posted
Posted
On 4 September 2016 at 23:57, faulksy said:

a few little updates and some good progress tonight.

cut all truss tubes to correct length and thought of a good way of stopping them at the correct focal distance.

squared up my spider as it was 2mm in one direction off centre, strange one

squared my focuser up as over the width of the uta it run out by 2mm in 1 direction the other axis was spot on, gutted

1 of the uta clamps was very slightly of 90* compared to the adjacent ones, all the fixing bolts are 6mm so all holes are 6mm so there is no slop but the one that was out i had to drill the clearance hole 6.5mm. it is now correct. so well happy with all that :headbang:

also finished of my wheel barrow system which colapses down to nothing, i have used 2 wheels but both in the centre, this gives a bit more stability at speed :icon_biggrin: but still allows me to use 1 ramp to go in the back of the discovery :icon_biggrin:.

things left to do are

shrink wrap my truss poles

finish of shroud and my matching dress

finish off dew kit . so not much left :icon_biggrin:

 

ep height at zenith is 6-3"

Well Mike absolutely terrific posts and as for the build well, awesome. I can't help thinking that you've forgotten one important  job to do, unless it's on your snagging list. After all the hard work, time,effort,tears, laughs, are you going to keep referring to your scope as "Faulks 20". Surely your going to give her a name. Great build and posts. Thank you for keeping the forum informed. Now what's in a name !.

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faulksy

faulksy

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Posted
1 hour ago, Sirius Starwatcher said:

Well Mike absolutely terrific posts and as for the build well, awesome. I can't help thinking that you've forgotten one important  job to do, unless it's on your snagging list. After all the hard work, time,effort,tears, laughs, are you going to keep referring to your scope as "Faulks 20". Surely your going to give her a name. Great build and posts. Thank you for keeping the forum informed. Now what's in a name !.

thanks to garry he has given me another problem now :icon_biggrin:

some good names from derek and piggy like it. any other names ?

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DRT

DRT

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Posted
21 minutes ago, faulksy said:

thanks to garry he has given me another problem now :icon_biggrin:

some good names from derek and piggy like it. any other names ?

Name it after your wife/girlfriend - then if you mumble it's name in your sleep you won't get in trouble :lol:

 

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faulksy

faulksy

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wheel barrow system finished, the handles slide into each other to take up less space, and the front axle comes off with just 1 thumbscrew. tyres are solid rubber but to hard, ordered 2 x air filled and payed for saturday delivery so should be here tomorrow

DSC_0269_1.jpg

DSC_0270_1.jpg

truss tubes shrink wrapped

DSC_0271_1.jpg

and shrouds by faulks

DSC_0275_1.jpg

DSC_0277_1.jpg

21e in and finder, balance is perfect with no counter balance

DSC_0278.jpg

004.jpg

more proper pics tomorrow out side

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