Who wants to get an inclinometer

[Dennis]

Hi Guys

Here is my home made inclinometer. Made it using a piece of Alu Angle, 360° protractor, fishing line and a plumb bob weight.

Cheers

Dennis

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Originally Posted by Dennis

Hi Guys

Here is my home made inclinometer. Made it using a piece of Alu Angle, 360° protractor, fishing line and a plumb bob weight.

Cheers

Dennis

You know what Dennis? That's arguably the most accurate one discussed so far. Most of the commercial ones' pendulums tend to bind on the casing to a degree - so you're never quite certain that you are measuring right.

Well done - nice, cheap, accurate and perfectly simple.

[Dennis]

Hi Chris

Thanks!

I tried to minimise the potential setting errors by using the right angle Alum bar so it contacts along two “sides” of the CW shaft.

I used a scribing gauge to mark a parallel line on one side of the Alum angle and aligned the scribed protractor baseline with the “scratch” line and then glued the protractor to the Alum angle using a contact adhesive. The adhesive “melted” the protractor baseline ink hence it looks a bit undulating on the close up.
I then drilled and tapped a couple of holes and inserted nylon bolts to hold the protractor firmly in place. I clipped the ends off the protruding nylon bolts so they were flush with the Alu angle inner surface.
Finally, to make it a hands free operation, I fitted a couple of Velcro straps so I could firmly clamp the assembly to the Dec shaft, leaving hands free to set the Altitude adjustment.

I suspect that the accumulation of measuring and assembly errors would make this device accurate to between 1° and 2°, although you can easily read to ½° on the protractor scale.

The main disadvantage with the overall design is the fragility of the assembly, so I make sure I pack it well when travelling to astro camps.

Cheers

Dennis

PS – Monte, thanks for the details on the magnification of the Tak PAS, at x10; I’ve been wondering what it was!

[TheCrazedLog]

Originally Posted by montewilson

I was in Bunnings Belrose on Friday and they have three in stock. In the special tools section. They are $40.38 each.

Have fun!

They have one less now

Thanks for that

Anthony

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Thanks Dennis, you just saved me $40, was going to buy one of the Bunnings ones but got all the bits for making your design in the shed
Got some small but strong ex hard drive magnets for attaching to the counterweight bar. Makes it clip on and off easily.


Bill

[Dennis]

Hi Bill

That’s great news!

A man’s shed and its contents is indeed a treasure trove; much misunderstood, undervalued and sadly neglected in the modern era, yet yields so much of value, at such a low cost. And the fun of simply making simple things!

Cheers

Dennis

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Just finished it, singing "All Australian Boys Need A Shed" as I worked.

Bill

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by Glenhuon

Just finished it, singing "All Australian Boys Need A Shed" as I worked.

Bill

LOL - I was listening to the John Williamson Platinum Collection just the other day, with this very song blasting out!

Cheers

Dennis

[koputai (Jason)]

I've been holding off getting a digital inclinometer until I saw the mechanical ones, so popped up to my local (Belrose Bunnnings) yesterday. They still had two left, but for $41 it's a piece of crap. The dangley bit on both of them would often stick, and if the unit was off vertical by even a tiny amount, they would bind excessively.
So, today I did what I should have done months ago and bought a Wixey digital off Ebay for $63 shipped. Much better value.

Cheers,
Jason.