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Build your own telescope

star girl

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star girl

star girl

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My son (10 going on 30) is really interested in telescopes and wants to build his own. Summer holidays are coming up and this could be a nice activity to keep him away from the wii/computer etc. He doesn’t really want one of those cardboard cut out ones so does anybody know of any other make your own kits you can buy. From scratch isn’t an option and I really don’t want him dismantling my new scope so he can put it all back together!

Any ideas would be appreciated.

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barkis

barkis

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See if you can acquire a Monocular, or pair of binoculars..

He could remove the objective lens from it, and reintroduce it into a tube, make his own sliding focuser, buy a suitable eyepiece, and Bobs your Uncle.

Plastic waste pipe, the white stuff makes a good scope tube. He could get that from the local Plumbing suppliers. Binoculars are smaller in length, simply because the light path takes a detour through the prism system inside them. These would not be used, therefore the tube would be a lot longer. He can get the focal length of the Objective by focusing the sun onto a wall, then measure the distance from the lens to the focused sun on the wall.

He would have to calculate the tube length, to take account of the focusing device he makes, to allow the eyepiece to reach the focused light from the moon or stars he would be viewing.

PLEASE IMPRESS UPON HIM, THAT HE MUST NOT, i REPEAT NOT, LOOK AT THE SUN THROUGH THIS TELESCOPE, OR ANY OTHER OPTICAL AID. iT WOULD CERTAINLY DAMAGE HIS EYES BEYOND REPAIR. IN OTHER WORDS HE BE BLINDED BY THE INTENSE HEAT FROM THE FOCUSED SUNLIGHT.

Ron.

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Keiran

Keiran

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I think this is an amazing idea, sound like you have a very intelligent kid there, i would have loved a project like this when i was younger, but there was never anybody there to support me, so it ended up consisting of cutting holes in bushs, and using them as hiding places... Well don for supporting him with this, and if i was you, i know that i would enjoy it too.

Ive had a bit of a trawl through the internet, like i bet you did, and i couldnt find any thing....

How about buying a cheap newt from ebay, stripping it down completely, even the mount, put it in a box, with some made up instructions you made while disassembling it?

Celestron Astromaster-130 on eBay (end time 20-Jul-10 16:00:13 BST)

Tasco Reflector Telescope 114 mm Focal 500mm + Optics on eBay (end time 20-Jul-10 20:13:55 BST)

Sky-Watcher Reflecting Telescope SKP13065EQ2 with Drive on eBay (end time 21-Jul-10 17:52:05 BST)

just a few ideas, but seriously, that is an amazing idea. im getting excited, and im not even doing it...

please let me know what you decide, and how it goes, Good Luck :eek:

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RobH

RobH

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I did exactly this when I was the same age, and used an old 2 inch objective that my dad got from somewhere, plus another small magnifying lens as the eyepiece. These were glued into cardboard tubes that slid into each other. I made a simple wooded alt/az mount for it....wobbly but it worked.

I actually had my first view of Saturn's rings with that scope, and the thrill has never left me :eek:

Cheers

Rob

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Capricorn

Capricorn

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Think that Galvoptics were advertising 4 inch spherical mirrors and secondary mirror for £40.

Then he would need a focuser and something to hold the main mirror.

Alternativly search for a acromatic lens and purchase one. I know that surplus shed in the US have a good few in holders. Think they post to the UK but then you have to pay whatever to get it off the post office.

Then it is a piece of tube and a focuser. And god knows what else.

The lens supplier I know of in the UK is Melles Griot, google them.

The galileoscope is good but not sure on the availability.

How big a scope did he want to build?

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star girl

star girl

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Thanks for the thoughts so far.

The galileoscope looks good but the shipping costs from the US are as much as the kit ;)

The current favourite option (especially my son's) is to buy a cheap scope off ebay and take apart so I will be checking out any bargains.

Any further ideas would be gratefully received :eek:

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star girl

star girl

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A very kind member of this forum had a galileoscope they had finished with and sent it to me free of charge.:D:):eek: Sam has already had lots of fun with it and my husband and I have also had to take it apart and build it!

We are keeping an eye out for the new versions suggested by danieray and also considering the astronomy kit for gcse students.

I do keep checking ebay for bargains but I kind of want to get one good enough to use after he has taken apart and put back together again. All for a cheap price. Don't ask for much do I?

Thanks for the interest Kieran. From some of your other posts it sounds like you are handy enough to build your own scope from scratch.:mad:

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Keiran

Keiran

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Thats what i like about the people on this site, everybody is there to help everyone else :mad:

That sounds brilliant, thats my kind of thing lol... I think i will leave building one from scratch for a while, but it will defernatly be on the cards... hmmm 20" dob :D

You sound like real inspiring parents... makes a change in this day and age :eek:

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  • 11 months later...
fatwoul

fatwoul

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This is definitely a cracking thread for anybody looking for this sort of project for their kids, especially this time of year, but it looks like the original poster hasn't been back in almost a year.

If you're reading this, star girl, let us know how he/you got on. :)

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great_bear

great_bear

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Try Surplus Shed for some lenses, I'm thinking (usually comes to nothing but oh well!) about making a refracting telescope from stuff on there :)

Scopes 'n' Skies "Astroboot" regularly has lenses and all kinds of other useful bits for making a small telescope.

Oh no! - I've just looked at it - aargh - must-resist-overwhelming-urge-to-buy-lots-of-interesting-bits-and-pieces--aargh!!! stop!! stop!!! :)

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