Hoop to stop scope slipping.

[ribuck]

Hi all,

i have a skywatcher 200p 8" newtonian on a Heq5 pro. during viewing it is sometime necessary to rotate the ota to put the eye piece in an easily accessible position.

I posted about this a while back, and people suggested using embroidary hoops, to stop the scope slipping when loosening the main clamps. Unfortunately i've not had any luck, i've tried 8", 9" & 10" hoops and none seem to fit. Sems to need something inbetween the 9-10". i've looked on the internet and couldn't find any 9.5" hoops.

So i was wondering that other people are currently using to avoid this type of slippage with Newt's on eq mounts

Rich.

[barkis]

Try Arthur at Ambermile, or PM him on SGL his name is Milamber on here. I am sure he will quote you for making one if you give him the specs. Worth a try.

Ron.

[Greg]

I' sure the Embroidery rings work... I can't remember which size for the 8" Newt, but they do work a treat..

i'm sure someone on here used them on theirs.. :scratch:

[barkis]

I' sure the Embroidery rings work... I can't remember which size for the 8" Newt, but they do work a treat..

i'm sure someone on here used them on theirs.. :scratch:

How are the rings clamped to the scope to stop them slipping Greg?

Ron.

[ribuck]

they just have a tension screw on the side of the hoop at the joining point.

Well i thought they would work a treat too, but tried 8", 9" & 10" hoops all with no luck. so if anyone knows where to find a hoop to fit, i would greatly appreciate it if they could point me in the right direction.

[SteelRat]

i'm sure someone on here used them on theirs.. :scratch:

Loads of folk have used them. I think Frank had a bright green pair (on a blue tube! :shock: ) from hobbycraft or somewhere. They were each fitted tight to the tube infront of the tube rings.

[ribuck]

frank, can you comment on the size of the rings you got ?

[blinky]

Mine are 9", the rings have an inner and outer band. I discarded half of the outer band to mak it all fit together.

[SteelRat]

8)

[SteelRat]

Found the green ringed beastie;

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,11153.msg116801.html#msg116801

[gary1968]

I have rings on my celestron 8". I made them out of metal banding, it works in a similar way to jubilee clips only the band comes in a big coil and the little tightening widgets get fitted to the band once cut to length, I think it is used in the ventilation industry for joining flexi ducting. I slid the banding into some 10mm plastic air pipe and then fitted it to the scope.

Seems to work fine but I think I am fortunate, I have managed to find a position for the OTA in the rings that I can view almost all objects without having to turn the OTA.

Gary

[ribuck]

blinky what size scope do you have ? and when you say you discarded half of the outer band what do you mean ?

[blinky]

I have an 8" Orion Optics newt. Ibasically just snapped the inner band in 2 and only used half of it. Very technical

[ribuck]

Hmm suppose i could try that trick and see if i can get the same......i'll be back in 20 mins..with an update.

[Astro_Baby]

I just return the scope to horizontal while I adjust it. I am not keen on most solutions I have seen. All respect to people who have done the jubilee clip wrapped in garden hose/emroidery hoops etc but I am a bit picky and they seem to Heath Robinson - though they doubtless work well.

As soon as I find some time and some money I intend drafting something up and having an engineering company make me something a bit more de-luxe. Looked at rotating rings from various manufacturers but they are all sky-rocket prices. I dont need that level of precision myself.

I suppose what you could do - and what my solution will be made from in the end is a Sky-Watcher tube ring with the raised part which attaches to the dovetail filed away.

At the mo I am filing away at bits of metal to make a custom back to the Sky-Watcher so I can put a fan on it.

[beamish]

Would it still work if the rings were placed on the inside of the tube rings as opposed to the outer sides?

Just that there's no space available to the outsides on my OTA (auto focuser and telrad).

Karlo

[blinky]

Yup

[Starflyer]

I made some for my 10" from a couple of stainless steel jubilee clips fed through some black caravan water hose, they work well. Both bits bought off fleabay for around £10 all together, just shout if you want the seller IDs.

Cheers,

Ian

[philsail1]

"ribuck"

I used the thin 10" wooden embroidery hoops. Had to file off the rivets holding the original adjusting mechanism, then cut a bit off the rings (leaving about a 5mm gap after trying them on the Skywatcher), then position the adjusting mechanism, drill fresh holes (using a very fine 2mm drill bit), and screw the adjusting mechanism to the hoops. A very fiddly and time consuming operation. I then hit a snag when I attached them to the outsides of the Skywatcher tube rings - there were (as "Astrobaby" says) some raised parts, which I had to file down, and also countersing new bolts. All to allow the wooden rings to sit tight against the Skywatcher rings.

They work, but you have to tighten them pretty tight - otherwise they slip down the tube themselves! I'm sure there must be better ways to do the same job. It is (as others have said) just a matter of finding the right materiels.

(click to enlarge)

If "Astro Baby" (or any other people with an engineers mind) does come up with something, I'm sure she will put it on SGL.

Regards,

philsail1

[ribuck]

I guess i'm just a little bit like astro baby, i'm a little picky about my scope and dont want it looking too D.I.Y. ........Oh i'm such a scope snob.......lol.

[philsail1]

I agree entirely - I was going to paint the hoops black to match the existing rings, but after doing all the work to get the things fitted, and placed in the right position for them to work properly, I was exhausted!

I just cannot be bothered to take them back off at present. I may do this during the winter period.

Regards,

philsail1

[ribuck]

think i might trawl the net and see if you can buy any purpose made ones.

[Astro_Baby]

Take a look here

http://www.parallaxinstruments.com/ring.htm

and here

http://www.islandeyepiece.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?cat=Rotating+Tube+Rings&id=666

They are really expensive - the parallax ones look the business though to be sure.

I was thinking of getting a pair of Sky-Watcher rings, filing them down to remove the flats, then countersinking the existing ring fittings so the rings are smooth face to face - then use a teflon strip between the rings to reduce friction. I;d fit quick release/tension bolts to the main tube rings so that they can quickly release or clamp the scope and also mate the two 'rotating' rings using a dovetail with a moulded handle.

I think it would look neater and shouldnt be that hard to make but I cant help feeling the design could be improved. I take ages thinking this kind of stuff through before I'll ever start work as I like to think through all the possible alternatives.

I'll put a sketch up in a bit of how it should look as its a bit hard to explain.

[ribuck]

Thanks Astro_baby. i know i said i was a scope snob, but not $450 worth of a one............jesus $450 just for rotating rings, i'll stick with hoops when i get the right size.....lol.

Least that site confirmed that i need 9.5" hoops for a 8" scope, so thanks fo that.

[brympton]

I remember looking into this a while back try doing a search for "Wilcox Rings" lots of interesting options and not too shabby diy solutions like this...

(click to enlarge)