Cazz Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) I'm very impressed with your DIY skills on your dob, hanging onto to 'useful' things usually pays off. Like my windproof, warm, blue, star gazing fleece I bought in 2004 ish for £15 reduced from £50 odd, well, it's always been miles to big - but it's always looked a good value 'useful' coat, well now I wear it over my 3 other coats on cold nights. I knew it would come in at some point too. - Why has the first sentence come out so small? Edited October 24, 2012 by Brantuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Spot on Felix it looks graet and very well made. Are you going to illuminate it or just shine a torch at it when you need to. Thanks Mick I couldn't have done it without your help and advice though. Have realised though that I've jumped the gun a bit a screwed the top rotator plate of the lazy Susan into the rocker box base and not actually screwed the assembly to hold the OTA back on to it yet so will have to unscrew it again now! Ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Regarding illumination an just gonna shine my red head light at it as was looking into small lights but came up with nothing that had batteries that would last that long that was small and neat enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 That looks really good Felix - you made a great job of it I'm very impressed with your DIY skills on your dob, hanging onto to 'useful' things usually pays off. Like my windproof, warm, blue, star gazing fleece I bought in 2004 ish for £15 reduced from £50 odd, well, it's always been miles to big - but it's always looked a good value 'useful' coat, well now I wear it over my 3 other coats on cold nights. I knew it would come in at some point too. - Why has the first sentence come out so small? Thanks guys The pictures hide a multitude of sins! its a little rough around the edges kind of DIY. I would have liked to have got the platic rings made by a leicester company but they just quoted too much (£45 for the 2 rings and £15 P&P) whereas B+Q sell the 4x2 feet sheet of plastic for £18 = no contest! It took a while to make but I can see why people like making stuff, I do feel a little sense of achievement having made it myself As for hanging on to stuff I may become one of those 'Hoarders' if I try to keep everything!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 That looks fantastic Felix, a cracking mod there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 That looks fantastic Felix, a cracking mod there. Thanks Martyn I have hit a minor hitch I just put the top part of the rocker box back on and have found out that there is zero clearance for the tops of the 8 screws that hold the assembly that holds the OTA to the top board. They catch when I slew So tomorrows job is to use my trusty dremel multi tool to sand out about half a mm arond all the heads of the screws which will 'sink' them into the top board so they sit flush and will not catch when I slew. Afterall there is no point having a lazy susan bearing and having things catching and causing the view to be spoilt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Get yourself a countersink drill and countersink the holes then get some countetsink screws so they are flush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazz Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Great minds and all that, I was going to say i've counter sunk with a bigger drill bit before, not sure if that was right, but it worked. And can you swap the screws for counter sunk screws so they'll flush. You'll be a DIY expert in no time, lol. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Yeah that works as well Cazz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 (edited) Thanks guys I should have known there would be a tool specifically designed for the job. Edited October 25, 2012 by catman161 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 (edited) Well being that when I woke up SWMBO was not in and the car gone I surmised it must be Thursday. My wife stays at her brothers in Warwick on a Thursday to save on commuting costs as she works as a dietitian there. So going to the "local" B&Q to buy a countersinking drill bit and countersunk screws was out of the question as it is 5 miles away and I am still not allowed by my physio to cycle full stop or indeed walk further than 1 mile whilst I am still in the earlier stages of healing with my back injury. So I got to work with my (yep you've guessed it!) Dremel multi tool. As luck would have it there was a cylindrical sanding attachment that was the exact circumference of the head of the existing screws So I set to work on sanding or more like drilling actually where the existing screw holes were. I drew around the heads of the screws whilst they were in situ before removing them and off I went. However the battery ran out half way through so I have done 4 out if the 8 holes and the existing screws now are flush with the base and therefore should not catch on the slide glides when I slew. I will do the remaining 4 holes when the battery ha recharged. If I could turn back time I would have bought the mains powered version if the Dremel multi tool! Oh well, live and learn Edited October 25, 2012 by catman161 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 What would you do without your Dremmel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 What would you do without your Dremmel That's an easy one to answer Mick, either nothing or buy a mains powered Dremel! Ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyboy1970 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Looks great Felix, something to be proud of. Question - You polar align your RA circle then locate what you want to view, then for the next object do you re-align your RA circle with the pole before using it to find the next object? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Looks great Felix, something to be proud of. Question - You polar align your RA circle then locate what you want to view, then for the next object do you re-align your RA circle with the pole before using it to find the next object? Thanks Andy Yeah I would normally spend a few minutes looking at each target so I guess I will have to reposition polaris in the EP and set the azimuth circle back to zero in between targets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 You are wrong guys. No need to set it back to zero, just look up your next objects Alt/Az and move to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 (edited) Right so it's finished and put back together. There is still one more thing that I could do which is drill a hole through the ground board and put a hand or thumb screw in to secure the setting circle. However in a couple of tests just in the living room it does not seem to move at all when I slew the scope. It would obviously move if I accidentally bumped it. So I will see how it goes when actually observing and then do it if necessary. So below is a picture of it all back together with spirit levels and wixey fitted. Edited October 25, 2012 by catman161 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 You are wrong guys. No need to set it back to zero, just look up your next objects Alt/Az and move to it. Really Mick? Do I not need to redo it in between to allow for the rotation of the earth?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 It doesn't matter about the rotation of the earth. As long as it's levelled and polar aligned at the beginning and you use the Alt/Az from a planetarium software program such as Stellarium you will not need to zero it. When I had this on my 16" dob, I only ever polar aligned once and would visit perhaps 20 objects without ever having to re zero it. What I sometimes did to make it more accurate was once the object is in view make sure the degree circle and wixey exactly match what Stellarium says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyboy1970 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I would have thought the RA circle would have to be locked so it moves as the object is tracked and released when acquiring the next object. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Yes you lock the circle down once it's polar aligned then the circle never moves. As I said before you can make slight adjustments I found this had to be done after maybe a couple of hours but thats all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Errmmm..... it's an Azimuth setting circle on a dob - not an RA setting circle - just fyi Looks good Felix - do you have leveling in all three directions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Yes you lock the circle down once it's polar aligned then the circle never moves. As I said before you can make slight adjustments I found this had to be done after maybe a couple of hours but thats all. That's great. Thanks Mick. As I said the circle doesn't move as the top board moves independently of the circle via the lazy Susan but I will see how it works in practice and if I need to I will install a hand screw knob on the under side of te ground board like you said to lock the circle down to prevent accidental movement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Errmmm..... it's an Azimuth setting circle on a dob - not an RA setting circle - just fyi Looks good Felix - do you have leveling in all three directions? Hey Kim, thanks. Yeah X 3 adjustable levelling feet were the first things I installed on the ground board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Yep - you've got the feet mate but I was thinking more about the spirit level which needs to measure in three directions. To get horizontal all three sides of the triangle made by the feet need levelling. Maybe It's a tad picky but I didn't want you to have a d'ohhh moment first time out lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now