DIY 50mm guidescope

[MickyWay]

Not I. Plenty a man and maid have trod this fruitful path before I perchanced upon it.

Yes, but it was you who made the fruitful path more fruity than others !

[MikeWilson]

Does anyone know if any of these mods would work with a Skywatcher Synscan or Baader/LVI SmartGuider?

[Mick UK]

For anyone with one of these skywatcher finderscopes and no access to a lathe etc, here what ive done and it works perfectly.

if your using a modded webcam for guiding (ive done both the Lifecam and the spc880(900) and attached the webcam to a standard 1.25inch eyepiece, then simpley find a piece of plastic tube that fits snugly into the end of the webcam eyepice and leave half an inch or so of the plastic tubbing sticking out,(i used a Vits C tube i bought from Lidl) then simply unscrew the eyepiece from your finder scope, and push the webcam into where you,ve just removed the finder scope eyepiece and use a couple of elastic bands fastened around the finderscope adjuster screws and the end of the webcam to hold it tight in place...to adjust the focus once the webcam is attached, simple unscrew in/out the primary lens by twisting the lenscaps(you will have to slacken the locking ring first) then tighten up the locking rind upto the lens cap once you've achieved focus, and thats it!..One very Cheap guide scope.

ps..thanks for the initial idea Michael:icon_salut:

[MikeWilson]

For anyone with one of these skywatcher finderscopes and no access to a lathe etc, here what ive done and it works perfectly.

if your using a modded webcam for guiding (ive done both the Lifecam and the spc880(900) and attached the webcam to a standard 1.25inch eyepiece, then simpley find a piece of plastic tube that fits snugly into the end of the webcam eyepice and leave half an inch or so of the plastic tubbing sticking out,(i used a Vits C tube i bought from Lidl) then simply unscrew the eyepiece from your finder scope, and push the webcam into where you,ve just removed the finder scope eyepiece and use a couple of elastic bands fastened around the finderscope adjuster screws and the end of the webcam to hold it tight in place...to adjust the focus once the webcam is attached, simple unscrew in/out the primary lens by twisting the lenscaps(you will have to slacken the locking ring first) then tighten up the locking rind upto the lens cap once you've achieved focus, and thats it!..One very Cheap guide scope.

ps..thanks for the initial idea Michael:icon_salut:

I have a Lifecam Cinema HD, modified, in an eyepiece. What kind of exposure lengths are achievable using a finderscope with this camera? Is 10 minutes too ambitious? Do you need a bright guide star?

I'm just asking as I'm trying to compare options. Either a larger ST80 with rings and dovetail, or a finder with an autoguider (or to start - a webcam!).

[Mick UK]

"I have a Lifecam Cinema HD, modified, in an eyepiece. What kind of exposure lengths are achievable using a finderscope with this camera? Is 10 minutes too ambitious? Do you need a bright guide star?"

Mike thats the same camera i have and ive only used it for a max of 6 minute guided exposures due to the weather we've suffered over this last month (not one single night of clear sky!) since ive used the finder scope as a guide scope.

Its guided perfect for all the times ive used it for 5 and 6 minute images even through the broken cloud it didnt lose the star once so i would say try the finderscope, you wont regret it.

Ive yet to be stuck for a star to use for guiding altho once i had to use the adjuster screws on the finder scope to find a suitable star other than that, no problems at all.

Im using my 80ed pro which ive attached 2 skywatcher finderscopes, one ive callibrated to the 80ed and the other i use for guiding and also ive got a smaller finder scope that ive callibrated to the guide scope so if ive not got a bright enough star on the guide scope i can chose one with the other finder scope and adjust the guide scope accordingly, which as i say, has only happened the once.

[michaelmorris]

...thanks for the initial idea Michael:icon_salut:

This was not an original idea. There are many who have trod this path before I.

[Glider]

I've done 10min subs with my 9x50 finderguider and SPC900 unmodified.

I've not struggled to find guide stars to use.

I've used the finderguider on a 200P reflector and ED80 refractor no problem.

[Woolnut]

On 2010-10-14 at 23:44, Mick UK said:

For anyone with one of these skywatcher finderscopes and no access to a lathe etc, here what ive done and it works perfectly.

if your using a modded webcam for guiding (ive done both the Lifecam and the spc880(900) and attached the webcam to a standard 1.25inch eyepiece, then simpley find a piece of plastic tube that fits snugly into the end of the webcam eyepice and leave half an inch or so of the plastic tubbing sticking out,(i used a Vits C tube i bought from Lidl) then simply unscrew the eyepiece from your finder scope, and push the webcam into where you,ve just removed the finder scope eyepiece and use a couple of elastic bands fastened around the finderscope adjuster screws and the end of the webcam to hold it tight in place...to adjust the focus once the webcam is attached, simple unscrew in/out the primary lens by twisting the lenscaps(you will have to slacken the locking ring first) then tighten up the locking rind upto the lens cap once you've achieved focus, and thats it!..One very Cheap guide scope.

ps..thanks for the initial idea Michael:icon_salut:

This sounds like the method i will be using to convert my Skywatcher Finderscope into a "FinderGuider"  Just need to get hold of another webcam...!