What Mods Have you Made.

[Saturn%5]

G'day Just wondering what mods and improvments you have all made to your gear.

[iceman]

Not too much, yet.. A few things on the to-do list but haven't had much time yet..

I made the trolley (well, "made" is subjective on that one :)) and the observing chair, and I put some little padded furniture sliders on the inside of the base where the bottom of the OTA has a habit of crashing into when you're pointing up near the zenith..

I did the milk bottle washers the other night, they haven't had a fisrt light yet though..

Oh and the eyepiece case too.. though it's not as if that was too much work on my part :) Cutting a bit of foam to suit ;)

So that's about it for me, for now..

Starkler has done some great mods to a 10" GSO dob.. i'm sure he'll post them later.

[mch62]

Here is one I did a few years back .
I have a Minolta D7 and wanted to use it for imaging but found that the large lens on the D7 vigneted badly in eyepiece afocal imaging . Scopetronix had only the maxiview at the time which was a 11/4" so i knew that was not going to work as the lenses were to small .
I had this cheap Skywatcher 42mm 2" kelner eyepiece and it had a nice big eyelens on it , just about the same size as the Minolta lens .
I machined down the housing so the ep lens and the Minolta lens almost touched made up a bracket to hold the camera and hay presto .
Posted a few pics on a couple of US forums got some interest and guess what a few months later Scopetronixs came out with almost exactly the same set up in 2" and they even used the same eyepiece >>>>>>talk about coincidences?????? I notice a big patent pending logo on there web page .
Conspiracy theories any one ?:D :p

[mch62]

Here is the eyepiece after machining

[rumples riot]

I have not made any mods yet, but one thing I want to mod is the mounting idea that meade had with the LX200. What were they thinking? Anyone with half a brain can see that trying to put a heavy scope onto of a steel thread is going to be hard.

Paul

BTW nice machining done there on those EP's

[mch62]

No Aragorn ,it's a 6" f8 with a 70mm f13 guide scope on top.
I no longer have the 6" f8 it's been replaced by my newt still have the guide scope and mount.

I made a trolly as well for that rig using 6"soft tyred castors and leveling threads made getting the scope in and out of the garage all set up a lot easier .First set of 3" hard wheels use to sink in the grass so went for the 6" soft tyres --a lot better.

[mch62]

Here is another one from me .
It's a 400mm f6.3 Tokina telephoto with universal screw thread mount. I picked this up from Cash converters for $50.00 ---it's like new.
To this I made a an adapter from a pentax screw mount extension tube ---$2 from Cash converters . I toke this down to a local machine shop and they made a 11/4"sleave to fit inside the extension tube.----$25
This alows me to put eyepieces as well as my ToUcam in for wider view images.
I have included a couple of extracted frames from my ToUcam AVI files and this lens . One is at 400mm the other is with a 2 x teleconverter ---$2 from cash converters.
The lens was sitting ontop of a normal photo tripod . These were taken one night at a school astronomy night and the YOOOOO's and ARRRRR's from people seeing the moon realtime on a laptop was rewarding for the $79 spent on this one.
It also makes a great finder scope .
I also have a 135mm--$18 and 50mm $7.50 for even wider deep sky views . The Toucam is roughly equvalent to a 6-7mm eyepiece.
It's amazing some of the good quality camera lenses that cam be picked up cheap.
I did all this before steve moggs made his adapters available as I could not waite ---he had them in development at the time.

[mch62]

moon at 400mm

[mch62]

moon at 800mm with 2x teleconverter

[rumples riot]

Great shots from that scope.

Thanks Aragon for the idea, I have thought about this one, maybe I will do something like this.

Paul

[Late_Cretaceous]

http://www.cloudynights.com/photopost/data/504/4390sky_mentor.jpg



Legs for more comfortable viewing. I can now point it near the zenith without any need for contortionist flexibility. It also should help in the snow.

I have also used luggage straps to accomodate moving.

[iceman]

Nice work late_cretaceous! Have you got plans or instructions for how you built those legs?

Something like that would be very handy for helping me get a view over neighbours 6ft fences..

Do you use the luggage straps for carrying just the OTA, or the whole assembled kit, base and all?

[Late_Cretaceous]

The Legs were really very simple to make. I cut a 2x4 into three equal lenghts with a Mitre saw (chop saw) set at a 22.5 degree angle. Each piece is The shape should be a parallelogram. Each piece is 35 cm long and is attached to the groundboard with a pair of lagbolts. I pre-drilled the holes first so the wood would not split. Then I attached the original feet from the scope to the bottom end of the legs. I do intend to paint them at some future date.

In the end it raises everything up by 35 cm in height.

I have found no problem with the legs during observing. I had been concerned that they would get kicked, but it has not happened. I also think this would be helpful if you were to be viewing in a field with tall grass.

I find observing much more comfortable this way, even though it now requires standing rather then sitting on a little stool. Aiming the scope is much much easier now, especially for those objects near the zenith.



As far as moving goes, I carry the OTA outside by itself using the straps and lay it on the styrofoam molds that came with the scope. The straps are a big help considering that the scope is sometimes covered in dew or frost. It also makes it easier to open/close the door and hold the scope at the same time.

As far as the rocker box goes, it is a little more cumbersome to move through doorways now. In order to get it outside from its resting place that you see, I go through 3 doorways. I have to be careful to maneuver the legs around the door jam.

THe only drawback would be if someone did not have room in their vehicle to transport it if they had a small car.

The heads of the lag bolts would require some shimming of the teflon pads. In my case, however, I had already installed thicker teflon pads because I was experiencing some scraping with the original design.

Garry

[iceman]

Thanks for the details..

I was thinking of making a base like that, to lift it off the ground by 20-30cm, because as I said, my neighbours fences are quite tall and so an extra 30cm would help the scope get over them. A couple of things that might stop me though:

1. The observing stool I built might not go so high.. like you said, now you have to stand instead of sit down while observing.. i've found that if you can a comfortable seat and stay comfortable, you can stare through the eyepiece for ages without wobbling and adjusting your head and neck etc.. I don't really want to go back to standing.

2. I don't know if I'd want to attach it permanently to the base. Like you said, it's bigger and bulkier now and harder to fit through doorways and would definitely take up more room in teh car. If I was going to make one, i'd attach the legs with a board on top, so that I can lift the whole dob base and sit it on top of the new base. That way they can still be transported independantly, and if you don't need the height, you can still put the existing base on the ground and use your stool etc.


The luggage straps look good, I was going to get some myself originally, but since I built and use the trolley for moving and storing the scope, I've only ever lifted the OTA off the base once or twice since then. To carry it I just put my right hand down at the mirror end and my left wrapped around the OTA at the top end.
I'm almost glad I don't have a 12".. that would really be getting to the limit of portability.

[Late_Cretaceous]

Your comment about the stool stiuation got me thinking. Sitting is preferable. I guess now I will have to put extensions on my foldable stool legs.

In any case, I am very satisfied with having the whole telelscope raised higher.
Howver I think having a removable platform or set of legs would have been the best way the way to go.

[Daring Dave]

After a few weeks of a sticky azimuth I tried this little mod and after adding just 3 plastic washers my azimuth is PERFECT.....

Amazing how something so inexpensive and simple can solve a pain in the &*^% annoying problem. :party2:

Cheers

DD

[iceman]

Yeh it's a good thing, that's for sure. Mine started sticking again, so last night I added some "super sliders" to basically replace the teflon pads.. I also added another 2 washers because the super-sliders are higher than the teflon pads.

Swivelling by itself seems great now, haven't used it under teh stars yet but it's feeling pretty good.

http://www.iceinspace.com/images/accessories/basemods/supersliders.jpg

[bytor666]

hi everybody ...and high fives to all of those excellent mods...hehehe...check this guy out...I've never seen so many mods in my entire existence !!!...you'll find the web page here ---------> http://www.tomhole.com/ORION%20XT10.htm

[wavelandscott]

I am surprised and astounded...descriing myself as "not handy" is an understatement...

In spite of this I completed a couple of astro projects today!!!

I finally got around to doing the "milk jug washer" modification on our Dob...and I can not beleive how much that small change has improved the movement !

It went like a hot knife through butter!

I got so inspired that I went to Bunnings so I could complete a few other projects...

I went wild there (no kids or wife and lots of "man stuff" I was in hawg heaven)...they have hand trucks (dollys) on sale...big red ones for around $25...add a few straps to the shopping trolley and viola I've got an easy way to move my scope around...by this time the adrenaline was really flowing...

Having seen some of the other modifications on the site and accessories I went for broke...

At Bunnings I got and then tried some sleazy knock-off "slide glides" and rushed home to try them...after having seen the improvement that the milk jug washers made I thought I'd go for the whole shebang...

This addition was horrible...they were much worse than the teflon and washers alone...so I ripped them back off...this is how most of my projects go except usually it takes a professional to undue my damage...but not to be stopped I continued on in my hormone induced modification/handy man frenzy...to the neat part...having been waiting for the right moment, I decided to put my Telrad on my scope...between the spotting scope and focuser...this meant that I had to trim the base of the Telrad to make it fit...so I whipped out my little jig saw and did it!

It looks great (well to me it does) and I can still use the spotting scope...success.

So for the day...milk jug washers (accomplished)..."slide glides" (tried, failed, removed), hand truck to move scope (accomplished) and Telrad mounted...(big smile accomplished)...

I would not have tried any of these if not for all of your inspirations (and pictures) showing that these things are possible.

Cheers!

[Frosty]

Sounds good. Good work buddy ;)

[Striker]

Nice gary,

I have the same dob and have just complained about the Dob comfort level in the beginners forum.......I spose that would be a little cheaper the EQ5.....lol

[gaa_ian]

Hi Folks
For my part, I simply added 4 locking Heavy Duty castors to the base of my 10" GSO Dob, I get a lot more use this way !
Also, a couple of black draw handles to make the scope easier to move around & also a knob to move the OTA in Altitude.
More to come !

[iceman]

Ian, Can you post some pics of the draw handles and knob?
I've been wanting to do something similar to mine for some time..

[MintSauce]

I really want a handle on my 8"er to make it easier to handle....

was thinking of some type of ring mounted handle like how a mount attaches to a newt OTA.....anyone got any ideas?

G.

[Starkler]

I just used a luggage strap around the tube on either side of the altitude hubs, and threaded through a short piece of conduit to make a carry handle for the OTA.

http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/100_0223.jpg

[gaa_ian]

Hi Iceman
I will take some Pics this Arvo & hopefully post tonight.
I have been watching all the Equipment posts with interest.
Dobs still rule !:astron:

[gaa_ian]

The attached picture show the additional handles I have fitted to my GSO Dob:
(OK, someone help me out here, the picture does not seem to want to attach, it is only 178kb ?)

[Striker]

Not sure off the allowed maximum size but 178 kb's is a bit large for pics...It takes too long for 56k modem user to browse the page....

Just make it smalller or compress the picture a bit more.....

Seriously a 60 or 70 KB picture is ample for picture's posted on forums....

[[1ponders]]

This might tell you why your images wont upload
http://www.iceinspace.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=257

A little blurb from Iceman about image size

[iceman]

No, that won't be it.. Although I'd prefer images around 60k in size, I haven't actually enforced the limit during attaching.. It's a gentlemen's rule at the moment :)

How are you attaching it Ian? You can either upload it to your webspace and provide a link, or you can use the "attach file" link when posting your reply..

Just hit "browse" and click on the file you want, and then "submit reply" at the end. Just make sure it's jpeg and you can reduce size/resolution in any image editing program.

[iceman]

Oh and if all else fails, email me the image and i'll have a go attaching it.

[gaa_ian]

OK here we go:
Resized with my Fav. Image editing program Irfanview (Freeware)
First is the scope with OTA Alt Knob & Base handles added:

[gaa_ian]

Next is the base with castors fitted:
Simple mods I know, but these are the things that help me get my scope out more often :cool:

[MintSauce]

the handles look great, I'd not thought of how easy that would be, the existing handle is in an awfull place if you're trying to lift without taking OTA off (which is when moving scope whilest out viewing). I may have to try to get handles like that, so simple I'm smacking my head off of screen cause I didn't think of it.

G.

[gaa_ian]

You are correct Mintsauce
Handles do at least make it possible to lift the Base & OTA as a unit, however it is still awkward to carry, I use this to lift it over something or out a doorway.
It is the Castors that have really made it a truely moble scope.
Good at a viewing night when a tree is in the way of something i want to see:astron:
Try doing that with an EQ mount !

[MintSauce]

I've got about a 1foot drop out of doorway onto ground that I observe on and that's not very even, so no good for casters, and I really would rather not just drive my scope off a 1foot drop off :D

G.

[iceman]

Looks great Ian, though the castors wouldn't work too well on my grass, i'd have to get bigger chunkier (maybe air-filled) tyres, and those are like $50 each at bunnings, so for now I just use my trolley (http://www.iceinspace.com/?trolley) for transporting long distances (or in/out of storage) or up/down stairs, or I do the crab shuffle for short distances..

The handles look good for short distances, I might have to invest in a pair, though I'm a bit worried about the particle-board base and would have to keep an eye on it to make sure the handles don't rip right through the base and send the OTA crashing to the ground!

I can't make out the OTA knob very clearly.. can you take a close-up picture? Did you drill a hole into the OTA to mount the knob?

The telrad looks good on there too.. how do you find it? Do you use it much/prefer it over the normal finder?

Starkler, how do you find the RACI finder?

When doing some observing the other night using my observing chair, I found it annoying to have to get up to look through the finder.. An RACI finder would've been handy at that time, and i'm still tossing up whether I should invest in a telrad..

[Starkler]

The Raci is great !
It puts the finder eyepiece fairly close to the scope eyepiece, so it saves the back and/or getting dirty knees kneeling to look through the standard finder.

Sighting along the finder to get an intial starting point is a lot more difficult, so its then you want a telrad or rigel.

http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/100_0222.jpg

The other difference is that being a "correct image" finder, the view is the "right way up" and not inverted as in the standard finder. The inverted view matches the scope eyepiece view.
This may or may not bother you. I think its a small price to pay for a big gain in comfort :)

[Late_Cretaceous]

Thats the great thing about dobsonians. They lend themselves to be customized endlessly to the needs of each user- and one need not have access to a machine shop or fancy tools. Not only making changes that improve performance or ease of use of your own scope, but sharing these ideas with others is a good way to maintain intrest.

I find this website to be invaluable .:cool:

[gaa_ian]

The handles that I have attached next to the OTA pivot point, go right through the timber & into the handle itself & have shown no signs of weakening in 18mths of use.
The Altitude Knob on the OTA was fitted by drilling a hole in the OTA & putting a piece of self adhesive foam tape on the outside prior to screwing the knob on.
Starkler .. where did you get the finder scope with the Diagonal ?
That is the only thing i am missing for easy seated observing.

[Starkler]

For all things Orion (http://www.oneilphoto.on.ca/)

[bytor666]

Here's a bunch of mods that I have done to my scope & my mount...I went and bought 4 of the 60mm magic Sliders from walmart and I put them on the bottom of the mount. The center has 1 magic slider on it & 4 milk jug washers....took it out last night and it turns purrrrrfect!!!!!!...woo-hoo...the other mods are self explanatory....

[bytor666]

heres Mod #2...a skid for better eyepiece height because I'm only 5 feet tall !!!!!

[bytor666]

...And yet another mod...moved finderscope,flocked opposite the focuser, added small RED LED lights to read star maps, added a brass handle for slewing scope.

[bytor666]

Here is the center piece with the 4 milk jug washers and the remaining magic slider.

[iceman]

Nice mods! Good work!

[Late_Cretaceous]

That is quite a nice setup you made for yourself Bytor. It seems that improving the pads on these scopes is everybody's first item on the agenda.

[MintSauce]

My GF suggested modding my scope because

"You've put it together upside down; the picture moves funny"

:shrug:

[ving]

LMAO!!!
that takes some getting use to hey!

[Starkler]

Received it today, and I just had to fit it as soon as I got home from work :D

GSO Crayford focuser

http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/crayf.JPG

[iceman]

oooh purdy..

My shiny red one should arrive tomorrow I hope :D

[rumples riot]

Yes looks very nice, pity I can't put one of them on the back of my scope. Oh well maybe Meade will come up with something better than their current knurlled screw job for holding in my EP's. Already had one drop onto my feet. Luckily.

[Late_Cretaceous]

My GSO came with the compression locking ring on the focuser. Even the GSO eyepieces that came with it have a groove for the ring in the barrel. Isn't it standard on GSO's sold under different names?

[silvinator]

Great mods fellas! You're all quite clever and nifty aren't ya!
I haven't done any mods to my scope but I was considering flocking the inside of the tube. I've got the instructions but I'm just still a little timid about taking the scope apart to perform the delicate operation.

The only thing I have done to my scope so far was to replace the dovetail bar with a solid aluminum one that I bought from scopestuff (http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_l5db.htm). I feel a lot safer with my scope balanceing on that than the stock standard bar from Meade. To my horror, when I took the old bar off the mounting rings, I found the 6 metal washers that were holding the tube alignment bolt in place were all cracked! :mad2: The washers were so thin I'm surprised they didn't fall out when they cracked. I've now replaced them with thicker washers, I only ended up needing 4 in total. So it was lucky I replaced the bar otherwise, I would never have known how precariously my scope was balancing on those washers and that bar. I've attached a picture of the old bar and pointed out where the washers were sitting.

[bytor666]

omg~!!!...thats Meade for ya!!!....just take a look at their cheap focusers in the 12.5 & 16 inch reflectors....theyre all made of PLASTIC !!!!.....LMAO...anyhoo...heres a new mod ive just done today....a light blocker/ dew shield. All credit goes to DON WYMAN for the idea.
----------------------
Mark G.
12' GSO SCOPE

[silvinator]

lol bytor :) i have another major piece of surgery for my scope and that is to replace the finder (and probably the focuser too now that you mention it!) as one of the screws that hold the finder in place does not stay anymore - the thread has become worn out. How? I don't know. Must have something to do with Meade craftsmenship because I certainly wasn't rough with the thing, I'm a woman after all :P I want to upgrade to something bigger like those raci and orion finders some of you guys have shown in the equip pics thread.
Nice looking dew shield by the way, what materials did you use?

[Nortilus]

Ok, can someone please explain the milk jug thing to me.

[iceman]

Go here:

Dob Base Mods (http://www.iceinspace.com/?basemods) on the IceInSpace website.

[Starkler]

Read this (http://www.tomhole.com/Motion%20Tips%20and%20Tricks.htm) and loook about halfway down the page.

[iceman]

I added some slew knobs and base carry handles on the weekend..

Dob Base Mods (http://www.iceinspace.com/?basemods)

[ballaratdragons]

Hey Mike,

I checked out your photo. How do you see with all those trees around?

[iceman]

Hey Ken.

Those trees are out the front, and because i'm on a sloping block, my back yard is much higher than my front, so in the backyard the trees across the road don't pose any problems for seeing close to the horizon.

However there are far too many gum trees scattered about my yard and the neighbours which block a lot of the south and north-west views.

[Nortilus]

err...you's are kidding me right. Just make washers out of a plastic milk carton. OMG that so leet.

[iceman]

haha Nortilus.. it is 1337! :P Sometimes the simple things work the best :D

[bytor666]

ohhhh...sorry for responding so late silvinator...I forgot I even had this up...LOL...I used some pipe insulator made out of bubblewrap thats covered in silver stuff....then I flocked the inside of it.....thats all.....

[silvinator]

Not too worry bytor, I forgot I even asked! :P thanks for letting me know anyway. amazing what you can do with the simplest of equipment - milk jugs, pipe insulator, cardboard, what next!?

[bytor666]

Well, now that you've asked....I've just made a new telescope tube for my 12" scope out of .....PAPER...!!!!....I just don't understand how nothing sags !!!!! HAHAHAHAHA LOLOLOLOLOL
----------------------
MARK
12" GSO SCOPE
TELEVUE DROOLING CERTIFICATE

[RAJAH235]

Hi Guys,
Mods.#1. Sold Tasco 4.5" and bought 10"DOB. (very important mod).
#2. Ebony Star formica on base plate.
#3. Moved position of teflon pads in side plates for best movement/sticktion.--is that a word?
#4. After fitting all the new bits, (8x50 finder/carry handle/switch assy. for the electrics/heater on finder, with internal led/electronic focuser,------- a final balance.
#5. Dismantled the focuser and repacked with new thinner
teflon strips, so that the electric focuser unit did not overload. (almost no image shift).
#6. A heated/2x red led illum. e/p box.
#7. A Magellan 1.(Made 3 adjustable feet for base).
#8. 12v 7a/h Gell Cell to run it all.
#9. Added a circuit to the battery charger, to enable it to be left on charge indefinitely. (It is now a float charger).
#10. Learned how to collimate the beast!!!!!!!! and
#11. How to safely clean the optics.

[gaa_ian]

Finally did the milk jug thing ... I hadn't bothered till now as I thought the Az movement was OK.
I was quite surprized the difference it made, should certainly help with high powered hand tracking.
I did notice that the teflon pads had worn somewhat, but that's a good sign though
It means Ive been using my scope lots!
I only needed to fit 4 washers to get the right balance.

[meade expert]

Hi Raja235

Your system looks good..........
You seem to be very apt at improvising.
Do you do any imaging through your scope?

[rumples riot]

Hey Meade expert Welcome to the mad house.

Funny name to give yourself, you're just asking for it with that name.

[RAJAH235]

Hi meade expert. :hi: :welcome: & thanks. :thumbsup:
No I don't image thru the DOB. I'll leave that to the experts, Mr. Ice & co. Although I have been known to take the occassional afocal shot, when I remember to take my camera along. Not good tho!. :shrug: Sometimes I just use my 'curved rod' camera tracker for wide field shots. (35mm slide film).
What gear do you have??? :D L.