backyard creations

[cjamo9 (Clinton)]

After purchasing a second hand 12'dob of ebay(Mistake). i was having a hard time moving it around the backyard so i made the trolly(still unpainted). the wheels came from two red hand trollys from supercheap which worked out cheaper than getting them individually and i got the axels as well. the curved part of the handel also got cut from one of the trollys. the steel frame is solid as i welded every join myself thoroughly. 20mm marine ply base.

the base box was the next idea just cause i wanted some slow motion controll. its all 20mm marine ply. it is hinged at one side with a 10mm stainless shaft and bearings purchased from small parts and bearings here in australia. it has a linear acuator i got from china, ebay again. in different positions it gives me 10-13 deg with variable speed from .4mm/sec to 4mm/second max movement 100mm. i havent done the maths to figure what deg per second it is yet. the base will be fitted with rotational control in the form of a friction motor and two lazy susan bearings so it will still turn freely on one of the bearings( not yet created so ill deal with all those hiccups when i get to them).

the control box is made up of parts from jcar and ebay, it has 3 pwm contollers($12 each, ebay) which give me 10-90%, reversible control of my focuser and base box motors, power is from a 12 volt seald lead acid battery in the base box. and transfered back and forth through 8 pin din plugs. the focuser has its own rj45 pluged lead.

the focuser is made from 2mm alloy plate, belt and pully from miny parts and bearings and a 20rpm motor off ebay. only good for fine focus but i can still use the big nobs for coarse focus.

hope you all like my creations and realise how much work ive put into them.

any suggestions for improvement would be appreciated also.

Thanks. clint.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Nice bit of work there Clint .
A trolly makes a huge differance in getting out under the stars , compared to lugging bits out ,, and back in at midnight , good show mate . Good bit of enginuity .
Oh yes how does your 12 inch from e/bay perform ? I have never had the chance to meet anyone who has one . ( does it have a brand name ? , any name tag? )
Thanks .
Brian.

[cjamo9 (Clinton)]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

Nice bit of work there Clint .
A trolly makes a huge differance in getting out under the stars , compared to lugging bits out ,, and back in at midnight , good show mate . Good bit of enginuity .
Oh yes how does your 12 inch from e/bay perform ? I have never had the chance to meet anyone who has one . ( does it have a brand name ? , any name tag? )
Thanks .
Brian.

Hi again Brian,
its a bintel dob, when i picked it up i had a look at the mirror and it was filthy. the guy i bought it of said it was just dust and bugs. when i got it home and checked closer found out it was corrosion so i sent it away to get resurfaced, 8 weeks later ive got it back but it wont get past about 250 mag befor it losses sharpness. i talked to the peolpe who resurfaced it and was told it was seeing conditions not the mirror surface. guess ill see soon enough. i should have bought a new one it would have cost me less than i paid for this one by now.
Apart from all that i love the low mag wide field stuff, see so much more of the nebulas and faint fuzzies compared to my 127 mak or little jones bird celestron 127 newt.
by the way the ioptron cubepro hand controller has returned from the states(at a very reasonable postage rate aswell). it was a burnt out voltage regulator. it works very well now with full lists on the goto. my skywatcher 127 mak is a little heavy for getting any good picks at longer than about 20sec exp but ive ordered a little 90mm mak, see how that goes.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

250x is nothing to sneeze at ,, I tend to agree at that magnification , the atmosphere will dictate what is seen .
Stick with it because a few nights a year you will be able to crank 500x out of your baby and then you will see what 12 inches can do .
I have a 10 inch f/10 newt in NZ and that scope on the few perfect nights will handle 500x easily and the moon and planets are spectular at that mag., but those nights are few and far between .
Glad the cube hand controller is back , Ioptron's great service strikes again .. very good .
Brian.

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Clinton ... After purchasing a second hand 12'dob of ebay(Mistake).

Sorry Mate ... just had to laugh at that one ... anyway ... I reckon you did a fine job on those ' home grown ' mod's.
I particularly like the fine focuser mod ... looks very neat indeed.

The Wooden Box thingy ... that's a nice piece of wood work also.
Brian would love that ... he's a bit of a ' artsy - craftsy sort'a guy ...
I'm in trouble now ... I'll bet he bites on this one.

Nice mod's mate ... keep up the good work.

Flash

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Me and my eaiel will track you down in Townsville later this year , Flash !!!
But yes nice work .
Brian.

Originally Posted by FlashDrive

Clinton ... After purchasing a second hand 12'dob of ebay(Mistake).

Sorry Mate ... just had to laugh at that one ... anyway ... I reckon you did a fine job on those ' home grown ' mod's.
I particularly like the fine focuser mod ... looks very neat indeed.

The Wooden Box thingy ... that's a nice piece of wood work also.
Brian would love that ... he's a bit of a ' artsy - craftsy sort'a guy ...
I'm in trouble now ... I'll bet he bites on this one.

Nice mod's mate ... keep up the good work.

Flash

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

Me and my eaiel will track you down in Townsville later this year , Flash !!!
Brian.

I'll come through the back roads in " Stealth Mode " ... I'll spot you first ...!!!

Flash

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

mmmm , What if I get a hair cut ,,, .
and descise my painters easel as a telescope tripod ? .
Hmmm..
Hiding behind Clint heres E/bay 12 inch dobbo ?
,
Sorry Clint , I love a 12 inch , like your baby .
Brian.

Originally Posted by FlashDrive

I'll come through the back roads in " Stealth Mode " ... I'll spot you first ...!!!

Flash

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

Hi Clint

Great mods there mate, i've got the same scope and mount, so i feel your pain trying to move and point it. I'd love to see some more detailed photos of the base box and slow-motion controls you've devised, they sound like great ideas. I'll be following your progress with great interest.

Davin

[cjamo9 (Clinton)]

the box is completed and had its first test last night. the slow motion controls worked very well although not slow enough for any kind of tracking. at high mag they are slow enough to move the 12' without overshooting. im going to redesign the whole thing though because i need a ladder to get to the eyepiece now. im also going to go up a size with the lazy susan bearings(250mm-300mm). focus controll is also good but at top speed it sounds like a train. the pwm contollers only use about the central 3rd of the supplied pots. so the motors will come to a complete stop using the pots. i dont know if thats going to shorten their lives or not. i will post some more detailed photos of the box later today

[cjamo9 (Clinton)]

power supply at the moment is a 11.1v lipo. ive got a lead for the cooling fan of this power as well.

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

Excellent work mate, looks great, been thinking of trying something simillar myself, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Your photos have given me some great ideas.

Thanks

[cjamo9 (Clinton)]

when i redo it im going to do away with the box, its to high im going to use the scope base and mount things to the trolly base. i havent figured it all out i my head yet but when i make it ill post it and pm it to you if you like.

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

Ok, sounds great, id be interested to see what you come up with