DIY EQUIPMENT

[dagodave]

hello one and all how many amongst us build their own equipment i have just started to build a barn door tracker  i got a bit dejected watching utube as it seems that they all buy new gear at the drop of a hat    how good is home brew stuff and are there any amongst us who regularly use there own home made gear   speak to you soon      Dave C

[Tiny Clanger]

There's an entire sub category here to read :

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/18-diy-astronomer/

 

[Alien 13]

I do build my own kit sometimes if I can...

a. Make something far cheaper but just as good..

b. Make something where there is no commercial product available.

c. Make something that is far superior to whats available.

I currently use my own designed DSLR shutter release on an almost daily basis as its far superior to any other for my needs.

Alan

Edited May 31, 2021 by Alien 13

[johninderby]

I have built ny own 100mm f/13 refractor using a Carton objective “Big Red” and recently built a new base for my 10” Bressser dob. I do like modifying various bits and pieces to suit myself. 

Edited May 30, 2021 by johninderby

[R26 oldtimer]

Diy is half the fun of this hobby...🥰

[breakstuff]

 

I made an extension pillar/adapter to fit my AzGti onto my AZ4 tripod. 

 

[NGC 1502]

Whilst not as popular as it once was DIY is still alive and well for astronomy kit.  I’ve built and rebuilt several Dob tube assemblies and mounts. It’s great fun and makes you think to get it right. Primary mirror cells are simple in sizes up to about 10” aperture, larger sizes are generally more work as a multi point mirror support may be required.  The secondary holder is actually more difficult because it has to allow adjustment in many directions, closer or further from the primary and radially to centre the secondary under the focuser plus tip in any direction.

However the toughest bit I’ve never attempted, that is making the mirror itself. Hats off to those who’ve successfully done that 👍

[Starwatcher2001]

I built my own 8.75" Dob in the late ninties. I bought the mirrors and focuser, but built all the other parts myself. We didn't have much money at the time, so it was really out of necessity and to graduate from 60mm refractor that had lasted a year. I used hacksaw blades and a piece of dowel to build the spider and half of a pair of broken binoculars, a length of drainpipe and some duct tape to make the finder.

After logging about 50 pages of observations over a couple of years with it, I dived into motorising it using stepper motors salvaged from an old Burroughs B70 printer, home brewed electronics built on vero board, and a second-hand laptop. I learned a lot, especially developing software to convert between alt/az and ra/dec, but then realised I'd spent that much time on building stuff, I hadn't got any observing in for a long time.

Twenty years later, circumstances are different and time is now my rarest resource, so I tend to buy what I need and only do quick hacks for fun.

[johnst]

As I was a maintenance engineer at work and a decent DIYer at home, I just enjoyed building things, first was a basic barn door tracker in the early eighties and then I built my own dobsonian, buying a mirror kit from the Astronomy Centre up in Todmorden, (think I've spelt it right) when it first opened up. Last year in lockdown, I copied the plans in the Sky At Night magazine for making a wooden parallelogram binocular tripod which I'm really pleased with so I suppose if you can then go for it!

[Rusted]

Home made domes. 2.
Home made 2 storey observatories. 2.
Home made workshops. 2.
Home made equatorial mountings. Several.
Home made Dobsonians. Several.
Home made counterweights. Several.
Home made wormwheels. Several.
Home made telescopes. Lots.
Home made optics. Lots.
Home made focusers. Several.
Home made piers. Several.
Home made solar H-a telescopes. 2.
Home made polishing and grinding machines. Several.
Home made recumbent bicycle. 1980s. 1. Look mum no hands!

[saac]

On 30/05/2021 at 14:35, dagodave said:

hello one and all how many amongst us build their own equipment i have just started to build a barn door tracker  i got a bit dejected watching utube as it seems that they all buy new gear at the drop of a hat    how good is home brew stuff and are there any amongst us who regularly use there own home made gear   speak to you soon      Dave C

Two words - "search Gina".   And be prepared to be amazed and inspired

Jim 

[dagodave]

good lord i thank everyone who took the time to reply  really is very pleasing to know that ours is not a completley  cheque book hobby this has given me much food for thought  many thanks   dave c

[BCN_Sean]

I can quite regularly be found building bits and pieces for a lot of things, whether mechanical, electronic or code based as whilst a lot of this kit can be bought or bought kit modified to fit an end point, a lot of it really seems expensive to what it actually is; well it actually isn't when accounting for experience or time put in to developing it, but if it can be built then it's more satisfying (to me, anyway) than a brown box arriving on the door step. 

In astro, I've built a barn door with compensation on it, af units for the rig (though they're going to be miniturised now and running a WiFi hub on one of them, which I found possible by accident rather than design), and the next project is an automated dew heater control for USB powered bands... And then, I don't know as there's a lot of scribbles on the note pad and I don't know how long cloud season is going to last!

[NGC 1502]

20 hours ago, johnst said:

As I was a maintenance engineer at work and a decent DIYer at home, I just enjoyed building things, first was a basic barn door tracker in the early eighties and then I built my own dobsonian, buying a mirror kit from the Astronomy Centre up in Todmorden, (think I've spelt it right) when it first opened up. Last year in lockdown, I copied the plans in the Sky At Night magazine for making a wooden parallelogram binocular tripod which I'm really pleased with so I suppose if you can then go for it!

Plus 1 for a PROPER shed, my dad’s shed looked VERY similar 😁

[maw lod qan]

19 hours ago, saac said:

Two words - "search Gina".   And be prepared to be amazed and inspired

Jim 

You forgot to add humbled! She never ceases to amaze me with her talents!👍

[happy-kat]

The main two are I've made a manual barn door and have used it to take 3 minute images with a 40mm lens and designed and had printed a new back plate for a small mak.