Made a shroud for my Heritage 130P

[BeerMe]

At last, I've got round to making a shroud for my Heritage, something I've been wanting to do since I got my scope last April.

Thanks to @moriniboy for the info and tips, I was able to do a permanent, internal shroud that slides in and out with the flex tube.  It isn't anything spectacular, but I think it will do a job.

If anyone is wanting to make one for themselves, I used only the following, all from Hobby Craft for £4.50 total;

45x30cm black foam sheet

A1 sheet of Canford Jet Black paper

Double sided sticky tape 

The foam sheet forms the inner part of the tube.  It is a little short around the circumference  (approx 1") however the outer sheet of card is pretty thick and covers it well.

First things first, I removed the complete vein for the secondary to give me easy access to the tube from the top.  Needless to say, this was done with tube in the horizontal position, in case of any droppages on to the primary.

To begin with, I cut the paper at the same width (30cm) as the foam sheet but around 2" longer, so around 20" or 50cm will suffice.  I covered the edges of the foam with the tape, and then ran lengths of tape down the middle of it.  I then stuck it edge to edge with one side of my strip of card, so I still had a 2" bare strip of card at the end of my foam and card sandwich.

After this, I put the tube inside the truss and marked exactly where the card overlaps.  I then put 2 lines of tape down the outside of this mark, and folded the card and foam in to its tube shape, making sure to line up the double sided tape exactly.

Once this was done I placed it in position and, after removing the focus, I used a pencil to mark around the focuser area to cut a hole for it.  I used a knife to pierce through the card/foam, then a sharp pair of scissors to cut the shape.  After checking that it was lined up properly, I put a ring of double sided sticky tape around the top of the tube, and then pushed it down so that the top of the tube was below the socket for the spider vein, and then just pressed it hard on to the side to make it stick.  Getting the tube with the tape on it past the top of the flex tube on the telescope was the hardest part, and eventually I had to just wiggle it in to position then just straightened any card that had bent a little.  Maybe there's an easier way to do that part, but I got there eventually  (and after just 7 or 8 cuss words!).

Hopefully I'll get to try it out in Dundee this weekend, as the back garden at my sisters is quite bad for light pollution so the effect should be pretty noticeable :-)

 

 

[JOC]

BeerMe - Hobby craft eh?  I'll look them up online.  I've tried and failed with a yoga mat - it was too heavy as a dew shield at the end of the telescope - the added length made it weigh more at the end of the 'scope.  I've been trying to find some suitable material so I'll certainly see I can find Hobby craft.  It's a long way around a 200p Flex tube!

[happy-kat]

Great job hope it gives rewarding views.

 

[BeerMe]

4 hours ago, JOC said:

BeerMe - Hobby craft eh?  I'll look them up online.  I've tried and failed with a yoga mat - it was too heavy as a dew shield at the end of the telescope - the added length made it weigh more at the end of the 'scope.  I've been trying to find some suitable material so I'll certainly see I can find Hobby craft.  It's a long way around a 200p Flex tube!

Probably better getting rolls of stuff off ebay for that size of job, but the principle is the same ?