My First Home Made Piece of Kit

[Digz]

Well, after a couple of weeks of dithering and getting distracted I finally had a brainwave and made my first piece of astro-kit.

Some of you may recall me asking on advice on how to connect my camera to a spare dovetail and thankyou to those who offered advice.

Over the weekend I manufactured a connection plate (V1.0) to allow my photographic ball head to be mounted to my NEQ6 Pro. Not having the equipment (and frankly the bottle) to modify my spare dovetail I got some bits and pieces from my local B&Q and fabricated a timber plate which my dovetail bolts onto and my ball head can be mounted to. Thus this leaves my spare dovetail intact without modification and gives me a suitable mount for my camera.

I cant wait to try it out on some widefield images in the coming weeks.

[yesyes]

now for the obvious question .. ;-)

Pictures?

[Digz]

Oh yeah, pictures will follow shortly, although you will have to excuse its aesthetics as it is a prototype in need of 'tarting' up

[yesyes]

Don't worry. Personally I value function over aesthetics. ;-)

[Digz]

OK here we go:

Camera Mount Topside:

Camera Mount Underside:

A few notes:

I wanted a timber base which was fairly thick to get it some rigidity so I picked up a cheap piece of timber planking 92mm wide and 25mm thick. The width was perfect to fit over my puck without fouling the two dovetail sercuring bolts.

The 1/4" bolts threaded through the end holes on the dovetail and through the base plate quite nicely. I kept the 4 further bolts on the dovetail and recessed some holes in the base plate to screw these into.

The 5/16" bolts could be threaded through the base plate and still allow the dovetail to be attached securely These bolts, when in B&Q, were a perfect fit for my Ball Head mounting thread (i took it along to test) however when I got home these bolts were slipping and coming loose. Part of the reason for this was them being too long by about 9mm. Hence the 9mm fascia that I found lying around.

The fascia on top ensures that the 5/16" bolts are a perfect length for me to mount my ball head.

There are two of these bolts on the plate. The first is centred along the length of the connector plate for using wide lenses. The second is further back thus allowing me to use longer lenses and keep the camera / lens assembly centred on the connector plate.

It needs tidying up slightly either with some black spray paint or tape and then its finished.

Its probably a bit overkill for what it does but the enjoyment for me was in thinking of what I wanted to make and actually making it. The beauty of this is that the dovetail has not been butchered and as I want / need to I can replace parts of this connector plate with improved versions.

[Jaffa007]

Well done! Build things first then 'tart it up' once it works :-) Good job!

Look forward to them wide field images.....

[Digz]

Cheers James, I can wait for the skies to clear to give it a go

[Rusty Strings]

Looks bombproof, very nice.

[yesyes]

That really looks good and functional...

And even if you didn't like the looks, you're going to use it in the dark anyway .. :-)

[darkly]

If it works it's the biz - "simples"

Nice one, the details on the pics show how well you thought through your project.

Good luck with your next mod.

[Digz]

Thanks guys. It certainly is bomb proof, John

@yesyes - good point about using it in the dark, lol

@darkly - cheers, it took a while for the idea to perculate into a sort of eureka moment which, in essence, involved a relatively simple mod.

I felt really good after finishing it, all warm and fuzzy, lol

I cant wait until my next mod either, although I dont know what it will be yet.....

[solti]

Good idea, KISS is always the best

[Digz]

it certainly is solti

[MG1]

Nice and simples.... Well done matey, you've saved yourself a fair few bob there. Nice 'frotto BH too!

M

[Digz]

Cheers M, Im hoping to give it a whirl tonight, been nice a clear all day and the forecast is promising

Just thinking of the best way to 'tart' it up now

[Astrokev]

Nice job Digz. Look forward to seeing some results!

If you must tart it up, I'd vote for a simple black paint job.

[Digz]

Thanks Astrokev, thats exactly what I was thinking.

BTW here is a link to a shot following my first trial:

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-widefield-special-events-comets/115135-second-widefield-my-new-mod.html

[Astrokev]

Nice image.