Star Atlas eyepiece templates

[goober (Doug)]

Just trolling for ideas ...

When star hopping, I use a 1x finder, and a 3 degree FOV eyepiece to star hop to a target. I mainly use Sky Atlas 2000 with the plastic overlay for various FOV's to zero in. I have also recently started using the MSA, also with overlays.

But... I'm sick of these overlays blowing off the table, or becoming almost invisible at night. I've made my own temporary acetate overlays as a solution, so if they blow away, big deal - go make some more.

I'm looking for a heavier and more visible solution. Some potential ideas are...
- metal washers of different diameter holes that match the atlas scale.
- wire, bent into rings, which I saw in an article somewhere.

But I'm sure someone out there has done something simple, original, and clever, and is just aching to share their knowledge.

[edwardsdj (Doug)]

Hi Doug,

I saw the article on wire bent into rings somewhere too. Looked really practical to me and I'm keen to make some myself Just haven't got around to it yet

I would have thought that washers would obscure too much of the chart.

I'm very keen to know others ideas on this as well.

Have fun,
Doug

[goober (Doug)]

I like the wire ring idea too, but have no idea how to get it into a perfect circle of a specific diameter.

[Kokatha man]

Hi - what about drawing templates? Available in various sizes with a range of circles/holes, usually in a flexible green or orange tinted plastic (weighty enough for light/moderate breezes - strong winds no; but who'd be obbing then?) but they also come in aluminium.

Art supply stores and quite a few better newsagencies. Regards, Darryl.