Scope Mods, Have you done any/Plan to do any?

Over the last few Cloudy Nights I have been planning what mods I would like to do to my scope.

I find that both the planning and doing help to keep the astronomers depression at bay while the clouds 'Stop Play'. I've seen this mentioned on other forums too where people claim its the only thing that keeps them sane while its cloudy. ie at least they feel they are doing something worthwhile and astronomy related while they wait for the skies to clear.

So, I was just wondering what others here have modded on their scope. Or have you all got too many other demands on your time in the real world to be fiddling with the scope or did you all buy the 'Perfect Scope' already?

Heres a few of the mods I have planned to my Orion XT12i Dob over the next few months, starting at the top and working my way down/back but not necessarily in the order they will be done:

1. Make a Dew Shield/Light Shroud for the front of the OTA that will attach by velcro for easy attachment and removal

2. Drill my OTA! :shock: and move the 9x50 Raci finder over a bit so I can fit my Telerad between the finder and Focusser

3. Purchase and fit a 'Feathertouch' or 'Moonlight' Dual Speed Focusser

4. Purchase and fit a Dew Heater for my secondary and Telerad

5. Drill my OTA again! :shock: and attach 2 carry handles on the OTA

6. Purchase and install a Fan for the Primary with a fan shroud and a ring baffle just above the Primary to re-use the fan air that has just cooled the mirror to disrupt and remove the Boundary layer of air.

7. Build some kind of control panel with switches to turn on/off heaters and fans etc Probably mount the Intelliscope Object Locator on this too. This will be mounted on the side of the Dob Base.

8. Purchase a 'RoundTable' Motorised EQ Platform.

9. Build a base mounted laptop table. I first thought about something like on that Obsession that Dave Lilis posted in Darraghs Battery thread. But that was mounted on a pole attached to the side of the obsession which is OK for him as he has a servocat. a Tilting EQ Platform might be a problem re balance issues. Now unless I see someone on any Astronomy forum post pictures of their XT12i mounted Dob Driver II I think an EQ platform would be a simpler and less complicated solution to tracking.

So balance on a platform being an issue, what I came up with was a I_I lawnmower handle attached to the sides of the Base (Removable) that would lean over the back of the scope/base instead of to one side. Something like a swivel TV stand or parts thereof mounted to the I_I, with custom made laptop table attached to that. ie. When the scope is at Zenith the laptop table would be almost against the OTA, ie as close to the Whole scope/Base Centre of Gravity as possible. While the laptop/table would obviously want to pull over the scope backwards this would be balanced by the weight of the Battery that would power everything being mounted on the front of the base so the Centre of GRavity should be approximatly back in the middle again.

Re. the Laptop Table. An idea I had (I had the idea before I saw the Heated EP Case in that Dave lilis Obsession link !! ) was to built into the laptop table a little storage compartment for my Hyperions with ducting running from the laptop hot air exhaust fan into the EP storage compartment to keep off the Dew.

10. Purchase Starry Night Pro and integrate that with the intelliscope where the scope is a giant mouse moving the view/crosshairs in Starry Night. I know that can be done with the likes of Stellaruim but Starry night does seem to offer a lot more functionality and the Pro version has full highres CCD sky map.

11. Who knows, I might even end up hitting the Visa card for a Mallincam.

OMG. Imagine at an outreach project even having a cheap but small and bright office projector mounted in the laptop table connected to the mallincam projecting an image of the dumbell nebula or M51 etc on a tripod screen. How cool would that be!!

Hi Keith

I think your credit card is about to go SUPERNOVA! Your ideas sounds good though, let’s hope it doesn’t stay cloudy for too long!

Clear skies
Mike

Definitely get a Telrad (or similar) finder - you'll probably end up ditching the optical finder once you start using the Telrad!

Dew heater for the secondary - shouldn't really need one on a solid tube scope! Have you had problems with the secondary dewing up? Consider placing a couple of 1/4W resistors on the back of the secondary (attached with silicone) and powered by a PP3 9v battery and switch by the focuser - or by your mirror fan battery...

Mirror fan - definitely worth fitting! Will speed up cool down time significantly. One on the back, blowing onto the back of the mirror and another (optional) blowing up across the mirror's front surface from the lower edge to break up the boundary layer.

Motorised EQ platform - don't buy one - make one! They're not rocket science and there are loads of plans out there, driven by old disk drive stepper motors and threaded rod. If you can cut wood without cutting your thumbs off... you can make an EQ table!

Phil.

ohh Keith, where do I start! :lol:
The fan is a good idea, I now have mine running on the scopes power.

1, I'm getting a temperature controller heater for the secondary, that should be here soon. I was going to make it but figured I've enough on my plate at the moment.

2, I'm just finished making a dew heater for the telrad, its gets really warm, probabily too warm so maybe I have too low a resistance in there, I'm running it through the kendrick controller for now. I'll put up details of this soon.

3, I'm considering running my laser pointer off the same power as this thing just eats batteries, or at least seems to be susceptible to a small voltage drop in its battery.

4, While I was at it, the red light for the telrad now uses this power also, no more batteries here at all.

5, Build a power pack like the link I put up where its houses the battery and keeps the eyepieces warm, and who knows I might be able to run a small electric oven off it so I can make up a fry while observing, all the better :lol:

6, Put a carry handle for the laptop on the scopes main rocker box, this is at the bottom of my currently long list.

I put on carry handles on the 20", the best thing I ever did !!
A small control panel came with the servocat, I use it for controlling the Servocat/Argonavis, the power to the UTA and the fan.
I also ran a power cable up inside one of the truss poles, I used grommets to avoid the cable been cut by the surprisingly sharp edges, it makes for a neat way of getting power up to the top of the scope.

It's all ahead of you Keith.

You wont know its your scope with all the changes. Better write your name on it.

Definitely get a Telrad (or similar) finder - you'll probably end up ditching the optical finder once you start using the Telrad!

I've already got one but there wasn't enough room between the focusser and the 9x50 Raci Finder so I put it on the far side of the finder.

Sure its my telrad that helped salvage my observing session with you guys up at Cloon Wood on the 11th when I couldn't get my scopes computer locator working. I just checked how yours and Fintans were positioned relative to varius stars when viewing various objects and positioned my telrad accordingly. For instance I was able to home in on the M65 and M66 Galaxy pair in Leo in about 10 seconds after checking Fintans telrad. Very handy piece of kit for initial alignment of computer, handy for easy objects where I know where they are and don't need the computer to help me and very handy when the computer refuses to work at all!!

WRT the telrad positioning, I have now realised that if I don't creak my neck too much I bump the OTA leaning over to look through it. If I bend my hips out away from the OTA when leaning over so as not to bump it, I end up not only with a sore neck but sore hips, abdominal muscles and shoulders! I'll be drilling a third hole beside the Finder dovetail and moving it over 1 hole giving me enough room to put the telerad in between.

Dew heater for the secondary - shouldn't really need one on a solid tube scope! Have you had problems with the secondary dewing up? Consider placing a couple of 1/4W resistors on the back of the secondary (attached with silicone) and powered by a PP3 9v battery and switch by the focuser - or by your mirror fan battery...

I haven't actually had any dew problems with my secondary but thought I was just lucky so far. Since reading this I have seen it confirmed elsewhere. ie not really needed on solid tube. Thanks for that tip Philip. WRT the telrad dew problems. Have you done a similar thing, ie with resistors and a 9v battery and switch. Are these parts I could order from the likes of Maplins? Any chance you remember the part numbers for your telrad dew heater. At least there is plenty of spare room inside the telrad to fit the battery and wiring!!

Mirror fan - definitely worth fitting! Will speed up cool down time significantly. One on the back, blowing onto the back of the mirror and another (optional) blowing up across the mirror's front surface from the lower edge to break up the boundary layer.

I know I am drilling a few small holes to attach handles etc to my OTA but I don't fancy the thoughts of cutting a large diameter hole in the side of the metal OTA for a side fan!! The plan here is to make a shroud/back cover to the back of the tube with a hole for the fan and some small holes for the collimation screws. This will stop the air being deflected back off the mirror but force it up around the rim of the mirror into the tube. Just a few mm above the mirrior surface will be a ring baffle around the tube that will direct/deflect the fan air across the mirror to disrupt the boundary layer instead of that air just coming around the gap between the edge of the mirror/cell and tube and rising straight up the sides of the tube.

Motorised EQ platform - don't buy one - make one! They're not rocket science and there are loads of plans out there, driven by old disk drive stepper motors and threaded rod. If you can cut wood without cutting your thumbs off... you can make an EQ table!

I can cut wood without cutting off my fingers but I sure as hell can't even cut a straight non jagged line. Any woodworking type job I have ever undertaken with my famous last words, "Sure thats easy I could do that myself, I'm not paying someone to do that!"..has ended in disaster, while not the medical kind but the wasted money, materials and time kind! I'll be leaving this one to a pro!

Even the Laptop table will be contracted out to someone I know who has the skills and the tools to do a good job. I'll just draw up the plans and get him to build it.

Phil.

3, I'm considering running my laser pointer off the same power as this thing just eats batteries, or at least seems to be susceptible to a small voltage drop in its battery.

That reminds me of something else that I wonder is feasible. I like the idea of a green laser pointer.

1. That I can use in my hand to point out stuff.
2. That I can mount on the OTA
3. and this is where I wonder about feasibility...You know the way an EQ table must have its axis Polar aligned. I was thinking I could make a little altitude mount attached to the polar axis mark on the EQ table. Pop in the laser pen/pointer into the little mount on the EQ platform and be able to do an accurate alignment. Then just pop the laser pen/pointer back into my pocket or onto the mounting bracket on the scope. Does that make sense? Or am I barking up the wrong tree WRT polar alignment of EQ Platforms?

Of course all the EQ platform stuff is moot if I can find install pics of a Dob Driver on a scope similar to mine and if I decide its something I could manage to install myself. Would much prefer the 'Poor Mans StellarCat' tbh


[edit] Went searching again after this post and found install pics on an Orion XT10 Dob. Very messy looking and very complicated looking an if I did get into a bit of simple astrophotography, field rotation would be an issue. Not an issue with an EQ Platform and neither whould I need to hack into my base to install it either! EQ Platform for tracking it is then!