Wilcox 'rotating' ring for SN10

[Mark]

Just whipped up a Wilcox Ring for my Meade SN10. I used 19mm garden poly pipe and 2 x 150mm hose clamps.

I cut the poly pipe to length with a cut-away on each end to allow access to the screw. The two clamps were screwed together end for end and then fed into the poly pipe. The ring was placed onto the OTA and the hose clamp tightened to a snug fit. There is only one at the moment as the local Bunnings only had two 150mm clamps. I'll make another one for the other end of the OTA when I can buy another two clamps. The cost of the poly pipe was $8.00 for a 20m roll, and $3.00 ea for the clamps. Total cost of the project by the time I make another ring will be $20.

It works a treat. Simply loosen the fixed ring clamps and turn the OTA to desired position and re-tighten. The poly pipe has very low friction against the fixed ring and the OTA rotates very smoothly.


Mark

[Astroman]

didnt realise you could put two of these clamps end to end, thanks for the hint.

[Mark]

Always happy to assist. :thumbsup:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Brilliantly thought out mod Mark! :thumbsup:

They say that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" so today we've flattered you as best we can by using your clever design on my brothers "new" 114mm reflector.

So the 19mm polytube didn't look too oversized sitting next to the 114mm's much narrower mount rings we downsized the polytube to the next size down, ie 13mm.

This was a tight squeeze, in fact you can't get the screw end of the hose clamps fully inside this size tube, but we used 2 separate clamps like you did but 2 pieces of polytube, one slid over the strap part of each clamp and the joins butt up against each other at the screw ends.

This worked a treat! Best thing is Bunnings had 25 metre rolls of the 13 mm on sale for $3.98! (50 metre roll @ $13.98, so this was a real cost saver.)


Good on ya Mark!

[Mark]

Nice job Steve! :thumbsup:

The original design by Erik Wilcox called for the tubular trim off decorative garden edging as the ring material. However, this is expensive stuff to buy for the amount needed. It also requires more work as you need to cut the tube from the edging. The tubing is rather more rigid with a thicker wall than the poly pipe. However, the poly pipe is cheap, easier to work with and more than adequate for the job.

Mark