Go Back   IceInSpace > Equipment > ATM and DIY Projects

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 05-05-2022, 06:13 PM
xelasnave's Avatar
xelasnave
Gravity does not Suck

xelasnave is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Tabulam
Posts: 16,866
Angle grinder..astronomers friend.

Well not only the angle grinder but also the new neat little Ozito bench grinder and a cute little vice have become just so handy in doing delicate adjustments to gear.

They enabled me to shorten an extention tube to enable the RASA to reach focus and you know how it goes you order spacers various tubes etc and wait only to find you need something else...It was a desperate move but the angle grinder saved a lot of work such there was little to do by the time I brought in the smooth file and fine sanding medium...The flash gauge I used told me my job was near perfect.

Next was the bracket to hold the EAF... it provided a range of opportunities but was just too long and so bring in the angle grinder and bench grinder, smooth file and sanding paper and it is now a perfect fit..

So last night I tried the Nikon and the 70/200 lens but extended it to about 180 mm focal length...the problem was it was now very difficult to see any stars other than the bright ones I used to focus and finding them was very difficult and then to find an intended object I had to take long for exposures to work out where I was...and nothing worked I got lost and stayed that way until the clouds rolled in prompting me to close up for the night..the idea was to get the camera rolling and go and get the the other scopes working..but no..all for the want of a finder scope.

Anyways today I decided to add a finder scope to the foot which I attach the camera to the mount and by grinding off the foot of the finder scope mount I made it flat to but up on the camera foot.

Very happy with the result so I painted it but its raining so I am not riding to the observstory in the rain to mount it and test it...but here is a photo.

Alex
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (IMG_20220505_184714_resize_61.jpg)
56.1 KB121 views
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-05-2022, 06:57 PM
AstroViking's Avatar
AstroViking (Steve)
Registered User

AstroViking is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2022
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 1,037
Clever work, Alex. A man and his power tools is a force to be reckoned with.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-05-2022, 10:26 PM
Saturnine (Jeff)
Registered User

Saturnine is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Wollongong
Posts: 2,134
Nothing like a few mods and creative thinking. Just be very careful with Angle Grinders, they can bite and grab into aluminium using cutting discs, and other metals as well. Have been using angle grinders for near 50 years as part of my trade so I know what they are capable of doing to metal and skin.
Good to see you're well enough to do some odd jobs Alex.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-05-2022, 11:13 PM
glend (Glen)
Registered User

glend is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 7,033
Nice job Alex. I limit my power tool useage to a Dremel tool these days, and even that can be dangerous.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 06-05-2022, 03:39 AM
Pepper (Steve)
Registered User

Pepper is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Daruka
Posts: 394
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saturnine View Post
Nothing like a few mods and creative thinking. Just be very careful with Angle Grinders, they can bite and grab into aluminium using cutting discs, and other metals as well. Have been using angle grinders for near 50 years as part of my trade so I know what they are capable of doing to metal and skin.
Good to see you're well enough to do some odd jobs Alex.


Little trick I learnt when cutting aluminium with a angle grinder,
Run the blade into a candle to coat the blade with wax.
Should stop it melting and biting. Cuts like sheet steel.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 06-05-2022, 01:41 PM
xelasnave's Avatar
xelasnave
Gravity does not Suck

xelasnave is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Tabulam
Posts: 16,866
Here it is on the mount seem ok
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (IMG_20220506_102051_resize_16.jpg)
97.6 KB90 views
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 28-06-2022, 07:07 AM
xelasnave's Avatar
xelasnave
Gravity does not Suck

xelasnave is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Tabulam
Posts: 16,866
After staring at and playing with the filter drawer, the extention tube, the multitude of spacers, reducers and the camera in an effort to figure out what bits to order so I could relocate the filter drawer to have it as close as possible to the sensor rather than the "get something working" position with a 20 mm extention tube between the filter drawer and the sensor, it occurred to me if I removed 2.5 mm of a particular external thread then I could cobble together the current bits with a repositioned filter drawer and correct back focus.
So call in the trusty angle grinder and my rock steady hands and cut that sucker off ...mmm...think about this ...what is the worst that can happen?...ruin the filter drawer that you waited months to sort out...have lunch and ponder...well fed and fueled I got to work..ground most of it off and finished it with the smooth file however I could not find my sanding paper so not entirely finished to my high standards.

So testing..night fall saw cloud everywhere but I need to know..there are gaps and with everything the way I want it hole shots will... so.open up and point the scope where it might open up and wait...half second exposures to focus...yes yes yes...I have focus and it seemed better although I could not do adequate tests..but it must improve things particularly at F2.2 you want those filters as close as possible to the sensor for sure.
I think the little doughnut stars I was finding in the bottom left hand corner are gone but this thing is so touchy with focus if it is not spot on you don't see them ..a curious situation where a little off focus produced overall better stars.
I looked into fixing tilt and that involves more than I was thinking so building a jig may be the next to do...
Latter the clouds cleared and for what ever reason I just could not bring my self to do more testing and contented myself by getting some luminance on the Prawn Nebula which I can compare with the ones I took a week ago which is a wishy washy test given moisture levels were different..

.ANYWAYS...A huge step forward and I have put off moving the filter drawer because it looked to be a pain working out the bits .. well of course it was a pain as that was what I was doing before the angle grinder opition occurred...more than an hour just looking and measuring and seeing what you can buy stuff..diagrams photos..an email to a supplier.

Again what a lucky little chap am I..getting it done and getting some sky.

Alex



.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 28-06-2022, 07:35 AM
Startrek (Martin)
Registered User

Startrek is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Sydney and South Coast NSW
Posts: 5,990
Alex,
I’ve had a 6” angle grinder for years, very handy tool
To cut my existing 100mm dia tripod holes in the deck to 150mm dia, so the EQ8-R feet will sit on the piers I used my jigsaw but the jigsaw blade is too long and would hit the concrete pier below as there’s only a 10mm gap between the underside of the deck boards and the concrete pier.
Hmm…… what will I use to cut and shorten the hard tempered steel jigsaw blade
Answer …… my handy 6” angle grinder , I even shaped the end to look like the original end of the jigsaw blade.
Worked beautifully !!!

Such a great tool ( quite safe if you use it properly and wear the appropriate PPE. The blades these days prevent kick back as their so thin, any issue and they just break off )

Cheers
Martin
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 28-06-2022, 12:09 PM
xelasnave's Avatar
xelasnave
Gravity does not Suck

xelasnave is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Tabulam
Posts: 16,866
Can you spare a few days up here as I need the set up you have and fitted not withstanding the observatory is already in place..not having the RASA rig on something like you have is causing big problems as I have to get thing running , cameras that is, and leave knowing the subs taken when leaving and coming back are ruined.

Still I must bite the bullet and put in some piers as you have done...actually later today I will look into the matter see where I can make the holes...but if you can't get here I will start without you...already the wheels are turning..the trouble is difficult jobs like that put me off and in no time at all I am running out the crippled old man excuse..what a wimp I have become..well I owe it to my dignity and self esteem to do this....knowing the asiar plus is on its way has stirred me up ..I want all guns firing...quanity first that I will in time elevate to quality...looking into camera tilt..seems you need a jig with a laser..another to do...

Alex
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 28-06-2022, 12:31 PM
Startrek (Martin)
Registered User

Startrek is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Sydney and South Coast NSW
Posts: 5,990
Only one nights imaging with the 10” CF @f5 and already I noticed this newt is a real light bucket
An f5 focal ratio is easy to collimate , focus and fast enough to grab those short subs if your finding it difficult to autoguide
As an experiment before my first light , I took a 60 sec unguided sub of the star Atria and was blown away with the level brightness from the 10” , my 6” and 8” were never that bright, not to mention the image size scale.
I guess you’ve invested money and time into that big RASA and I’m sure you will master it eventually as you are a very determined person.
I could never use a RASA , I’d give up with frustration and anger ( I have a bad temper which is not healthy but getting milder with age )
I’d love to help on site but I’m time poor.
Happy to answer any questions you may have in regards to my set up including piers etc…,

Best always
Martin
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 29-06-2022, 03:54 PM
xelasnave's Avatar
xelasnave
Gravity does not Suck

xelasnave is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Tabulam
Posts: 16,866
If I could lift the thing I would probably change it for a 150 mm Espirit.

The pier job looks hideously difficult so if that isn't a good reason to do it what is?

The tilt thing looks like fun.

Change your temper easily..just keep saying I am no longer cursed with a bad temper..it is that simple.. honestly all this astronomy stuff had me throwing up my hands in despair until I started telling myself..it is a small problem that may take time but don't let it take your dignity relax and you will get past it and on to the next one...

Damn clouds are back and I have so much work to do..and I think I am going to get some sort of solar scope set up to give me something to do between rests.

Alex
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 11:35 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement