All you have to do is find some plumbing fittings like these on the left. (See the diagram in the plans below.) Inexpensive sheets of self adhesive felt are available in the “chair-foot-pad” section of your hardware store. The tube is 8″ cardboard concrete forming tube commonly called “Sonotube”. Parts, Kits, Ultra-Light Conversions for your Optics Complete Telescopes Now Available! You will probably have to cut one or both of the tubes shorter to make the telescope focus. On the dimensions for your telescope: The philosophy to adopt here is to build from the inside out. Cut 1/8 inch off the tip of the corner at the center of the circle. The 1 1/4″ ID section of the brass tube must be accessible from the outside since that is the standard size for good eyepieces. The mirror is held in place with self adhesive felt pads at every contact point. See the plans for more detail. can be moved easily by one person once its wheels are strapped on. Put a dot on your primary mirror. These are all books that Al uses one of my light-weight, UPDATE! I have been experimenting with making telescope mirror blanks by fusing together disks of thin glass in my kiln to make I am having quite a bit of success with this project. Buy some 1.25″ OD drain tube at your hardware store. If you do have to move the mirror cell support, simply use three dummy bolts in the old holes (to preserve the aesthetics of the tube), drill new holes further back or forward of the old holes. It is a autoguiding rig I built to allow me to take long-exposure photos using regular camera lenses. This is my home-built edge grinding machine for grinding down my You will want some additional eyepieces to give you higher power. parts it works very well. Check it out. However, you may have to follow the detailed process to make these by yourself. Over the last couple of years I have really perfected Next, you must adjust the secondary mirror so that it is nearly centered in your view AND it reflects the “cross hair” dead center in your view. Get hold of an inexpensive or broken pair of binoculars. but had problems with guiding errors showing up in long exposures of more than a minute or two. Cut the PVC fittings so that the only remaining part of the inner section is its threads. Then when you insert the mirror cell into the tube it will be easier to attach it to the tube with bolts from the outside. You can buy the optics new for about $150, and that’s the heftiest single expense. Click on the photo for more information and to see photos taken with this camera. /* meatloaf text 120x600, created 9/5/09 */ It is easy and economical. Check out how I do it. diy telescope parts. video capture stacked with RegiStax. Water-based polyurethane products varnish will allow you to work fast and produce a beautiful finish on wood surfaces. If the mirror comes off now it won’t be a major disaster. Not bad for a cheap web cam. Click to see the whole project. Let's make the diy telescope in the shown way. f/4.5 Dobsonian telescope I built for the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club. Watch for it. (Make this by bending an ordinary steel corner-brace to 45 degrees). Back your head away from the focuser keeping your eye on axis by making sure the eyepiece tube is perfectly concentric. OR, B. They can't do faint nebulae and galaxies, yet, but they I have recently completed a 12.5 inch diameter, f/4.5, pure astrographic camera. A nice appearance can be obtained with better wood. Mount the assembly on a curved piece of hardwood with a nice big hole in the middle. It is a telescope for the people. This option is much easier than dissecting a cheap pair of binoculars to build your own finder and eyepiece. We recommend focal length of 1m but you can try other lengths and just cut the tube accordingly. This is a 4.25 in. For a quickly thrown together camera made from improvised I suggest a light coat of stain followed by two to four coats of gloss (or satin) polyurethane. He still needs a little tweaking and smartening up, but he is getting there. The seeing was exceptionally fine that night and only minimal Back away from the focuser KEEPING YOUR EYE DEAD CENTER on the optical axis of the focuser so that you see all the interior of your long tube equally all the way around. Here’s what is needed: the secondary mirror MUST looks directly at the center of the primary mirror (where there is a dot, remember?). But the cross-hair must be DEAD-ON. They must be made so that they compress the tube between them. When you have the secondary mounted and are SURE it’s perfectly lined up on the “cross-hairs” remove the strings and install the primary mirror assembly. You should be able to see the secondary mirror and, in it, a reflection of the primary mirror with it’s central dot. You may have to SLIGHTLY adjust the secondary. I have posted a new project. This is a quick and easy binocular stand I whipped together out of found materials and my this method. These folks carry a large selection of telescope mirrors and parts, as well as telescope kits and lots of accessories. It may require you to put the telescope outside for half an hour before even attempting the STAR TEST. This is such a confusing view when the primary mirror is in place that I recommend you perform this adjustment before you mount the primary mirror cell assembly in the tube. detail including, Syrtus Major, the Hellas Basin, Hellespontus, Sabaeus Sinus, Meridini Sinus, This video shows a lot of the steps in the process. Turn the paper 90 degrees and fold it again. This 8in. Rough surface Formica works best. Sometimes these will simply unscrew but often you will have to cut away the plastic housing with a hack saw. The mirror cell is very simple. Test your telescope thoroughly for a few months before gluing. and of course the very prominent South Polar Cap. It was super simple to build and it works great. Click the photo to see new pictures. built. Using this option will require you to ADD THE HEIGHT OF THE HOLE IN THE CORNER BRACE PLUS 1/4″ to the 45 inch measurement (triple-check these measurements!!!). If you drill holes in the wrong location for any reason, simply buy some pretty dummy bolts for the unused holes. Look to see that the reflection of your eye in the primary is dead center on top of the central dot on the primary. Put a screw through the tube wall into the mirror cell support 45″ (triple-check this measurement!!) This is the 17.5in. Use some masking tape or scrap plastic tube as a bushing to make the tubes fit snugly. You may have to slide the secondary assembly forward or back and /or shim it (or bend the threaded rod a bit) so that when it is finally mounted the cross-hair is perfectly centered when your eye is perfectly centered on the optical axis of the focuser. Hope it helped some learn a little bit about the history of telescopes as well! Paint the tube interior flat black. Don’t worry if the secondary is not, itself, perfectly centered as long as it’s close to center. Before you paint it, peel the thin plastic “skin” off of the interior of the tube. Before you decide to take on such a task you should read everything you can about the project. You can also get Testking 70-642 from our website. skills or the time to execute them. It gives me 40 minutes of tracking time. DOB uses many Novak parts. I based my design on the telescope plans provided by Ray Cash, a member of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, modifying the plans even further with a few ready-made parts. build your first telescope you'll never buy another mass-produced scope. You will recognize this situation if your completed and assembled telescope will not focus on a star. Don’t worry , IT IS strong enough. Designing them is an interesting intelectual exercise It works well and costs very little to build. One person can setup or breakdown Let’s assume your tube is exactly 8 inches outside diameter (measure this!!!). This is a six inch Dobsonian reflector. I decided that something larger than the little 50 mm refractor It only took a couple of weeks and it works great. After the focuser is mounted but before you drill any holes for the secondary mirror assembly you have to adjust and mount the secondary mirror assembly. scope for the 17.5 in.