Shoestring astronomy for real

[Ben the Ignorant]

Yes, literally shoestring astronomy; but where does a shoestring fit in stargazing? you wonder. Well, my 80mm achro was too heavy at the rear so I fashioned a hidden counterweight with small sheets of lead foil attached to the dewshield by means of double-side adhesive tape (3 layers of 6 strips each). Then I covered the shiny metal with the foam side of adhesive velcro, leaving a little overhang that I filled with the shoestring in question for a finished look.

It could pass for factory-made (especially in the dark; everything looks better-finished in obscurity ), and the gaps between the foam strips are visible from this angle, but not at the scope's viewing angle. The counterweight plus foam do not enter the light cone. I did other mods on this scope, that I will show and explain later, one by one.

[knobby]

Really like that ... did something similar to my homemade one but with a ring of car wheel balance weights.

Yours is way better !

[Ben the Ignorant]

Car wheel balance weights have their own adhesive, that saves time, and I'm afraid lead foil is not for sale anymore because of its toxicity. I no longer see it in tool stores, anyway.

[Dave In Vermont]

32 minutes ago, Ben the Ignorant said:

Car wheel balance weights have their own adhesive, that saves time, and I'm afraid lead foil is not for sale anymore because of its toxicity. I no longer see it in tool stores, anyway.

Try chemical-supply shops. It's used in chemistry. And these places stock material that would scare the daylights out of most people.

Dave - a chemist

[Ben the Ignorant]

I did a superficial search, lead foil is still sold by a few tool stores but with an adhesive side, unlike mine. Applying it would be easier, nice thing to remember if I ever buy the thing again. A goodly amount is sold for radiation shielding - I had not thought of that - but that variety is super-pure, and the refining seems to cost a lot. But back to the ordinary and affordable lead foil: it could make convenient counterweights around  dewshields, however you have to find tubing to cover it. Not difficult, the prob is rather to make it look like it belonged there since the start, and give it a nice finish.

Stuffing it inside the optical tube is the most discreet method, but baffles might be in the way. Despite those problems, the fact that the heaviest common metal can be cut with scissors, and laminated with plastic rolls, is a boon to us with our constant balancing needs.

[Dave In Vermont]

Or if your Dark-Sky site is in a town named Pripyat in Ukraine.....

I was wondering what the draw was for using lead-foil and not some other metal that's less toxic. If it's sealed from the top & bottom, it's fine I'm sure, but lead has a rather bad-name due to it's toxicity. Is it mostly a weight-thing then?

Dave

[whitworthfred]

Lead is only toxic when ingested. Wear gloves when handling, wash hands before eating, and avoid shellfish.