[ZeroID (Brent)]

Starting new thread on this as previous hedaing is now very misleading. Although any advice will be happily received.

Current situation is that mirrors have arrived and so I am pushing hard to complete.
The Spider has been the focus of attention and came together well then I pulled it apart and isolated one pair of legs from the hub and the other pair so I can use them as the conductors for the internal dew heater of the diagonal. No wires, less diffraction. The mounting brackets for the spider to be fitted shortly. I am very pleased with my spider construction.

The mirror support diagonal is now being modified and setup for the heater and mirror backing plate. 2 or maybe 4 390 ohm resistors to be fed by low voltage (12V - 3 V)from a power pack will provide the watt or two that requires. Inside of the diag support will also get insulation to reduce unnecessary heat loss.

The UTA appears to be quite heavy so it's going to get some serious weight reduction. I'll cut big sections out of the side panels but I'll get some rigidity back by adding some short lengths of 10mm wide aluminium angle to the edge at critical points.

Basic setting circles have been added to the base and I'll add a red led light, spirit level and pointer for setting. The red led light is a cycle rear unit and also will give some illumination so I don't trip over the scope in the dark.

Last serious bit to build is the focusser. A 2" capable Crayford with reducer for the 1.25 eyepieces I currently have is the plan. Just working on that up in the design department now, you can hear the clanking and see the smoke coming from my skull as it whirs around.

I'll add some pix soon