Needed a levelling base for the 16" Dob, a weekend handyman special, and I never welded before, at least wil much success. Used 40 mm box section from bunning's and a couple of 125 mm dome head bolts (totally threaded bolts). Very light and ease to get around
Nice work Arthur, and just as you described over coffee. Looks great for the driveway but you might need to get some small pieces of ply or such to put under the feet to keep all that weight on those feet from sinking them into the ground (or cow poo) out at Bretti.
Forgot to put them in the photo, cut out 6 x 150mm discs using the "lewen" jig and my router and drilled a 50mm hole in 3 of them and screwed those threes to the other three, giving me 3 nice round pads.
I'm just wondering why you need a leveling setup for your Dob?. I have four - 16" up to 28" now and don't use any leveling, the Argo and Servocat work fine even when slightly sloped. You can find very nice "feet" pads in bunnings near the furniture slider, threaded knob sections. Wood squares and rounds just right for base pads.
I'm just wondering why you need a leveling setup for your Dob?. I have four - 16" up to 28" now and don't use any leveling, the Argo and Servocat work fine even when slightly sloped. You can find very nice "feet" pads in bunnings near the furniture slider, threaded knob sections. Wood squares and rounds just right for base pads.
I was going to ask the same Question.
The aim of the dob mount was simplicity,Plonk down and start observing.
I have the same set up re Argo navis and can observe just about any where.
Cheers
I might be quirky but I'm a little anal about having the base as level as possible, it give me a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I am giving the scope the best chance of tracking correctly.
The same reason as I have heaters on my primary, I continue to view whilst other scopes pack up: aberrancy from heat in the image has never worried me, a mirror acting as a dogs water bowl does worry me
I'm just wondering why you need a leveling setup for your Dob?. I have four - 16" up to 28" now and don't use any leveling, the Argo and Servocat work fine even when slightly sloped. You can find very nice "feet" pads in bunnings near the furniture slider, threaded knob sections. Wood squares and rounds just right for base pads.
Per Skywatcher Manual
Quote:
AZ GOTO OPERATION
Initial Setup
1. Make sure the mount is level to the ground
As well as levelling it, to provide the best opportunity for accurate tracking, it also acts to lift the mount up away from the dampness on the ground.
Works for me as well Arthur, although for my levelling platform I did use the above mentioned feet from Bunnings on a piece of "Form Ply".
I'm just wondering why you need a leveling setup for your Dob?. I have four - 16" up to 28" now and don't use any leveling, the Argo and Servocat work fine even when slightly sloped. You can find very nice "feet" pads in bunnings near the furniture slider, threaded knob sections. Wood squares and rounds just right for base pads.
Hmmm, I have often wondered about why some want to level the base. I have setup my 20" on a very strong slope up at the Snake Valley club grounds ( that is strong slope for a paddock, not for the Tour de France!!!) sometimes and it has never been an issue for the Argo. The only benefit I could see is that with the Go To motors, a non level base may put undue strain on the motors is some configurations? But even so it would have to be a fair slope even then.
If you setup on a slope (assuming your Az bearing is good) then the dob will tend to want to point the heavy end downhill. Even though you can align your Goto or Pushto system if on a slope, you can't escape gravity. If your Az bearing is not so good, it may bind on the encoder shaft as the weight of the scope will want to go downhill, even just a little slope can cause this problem - resulting in encoder slip and may need to realign. Do I need to add that it's going to be harder on your motors to push the weight uphill when slewing. Leveling just makes sense, but I wouldn't worry about it if the slope is less than a few degrees.
99 times out of 100 I usually look to setup on the flattest level spot anyway. Even when on sloping ground if you spend a bit of time you can find a sweet spot. I just don't see it as necessary to build an adjusting frame which lifts the scope higher off the ground to get level for that occasional time when a couple of 2" square pieces of different thickness strategically placed ply will achieve the same result. KISS principle. But if a frame makes OP happy then go for it
I never put the thread there to provoke criticism or advocate that everyone go out and make one. I thought the reason for the threads were so we could share equipment ideas, if you don't think it's necessarily something of interest to yourself move on, if there is one person using a particular piece of equipment there may be someone else also looking for similar ideas. Thank you all.
Last edited by Arthur Alchin; 20-07-2014 at 08:20 PM.
Sorry if it sounded like criticism Arthur. That certainly wasn't intended. But a lot of beginners may read a thread like this and think dobs have to have a level base to perform well. When I started I was under that impression and would stress at camps if I couldn't find a nice level spot.
Anyway apologies if I gave a wrong impression and I actually do like your handywork!
