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

Just thought I'd show my setup and the Keter Storage unit I use. Still awaiting delivery of the low profile focuser.



Plenty of space for everything in this, and because it's all already outside, it makes setup and tear down a lot quicker and easier, plus the scope is always at ambient, ready for use.

That was actually my first preferance John when my gear consisted of the scope and a small eyepeice case. Would have stored the scope with the OTA in situ on the base in a horizontal position. Had the depth to accomdate the base. Had the height to accomodate the horiz OTA on top of the base. Alas I was about 2 inches short to accomodate the OTA length. The 10in version of my scope would have fitted like a glove.

It really does make all the difference alright having the scope near ambient already and outside near your observing area. Theres many times I went out observing when all I had to do was wheel the scope out of the shed, that had the scope been inside and I had to disrupt everyone wheelin it through the house, banging of doors, bouncing it down steps, waiting an hour or more for cooldown, that I just wouldn't have bothered.

Best money spent so far on an 'Astro' purchase if you can call a shed that.

Calibos wrote:
It really does make all the difference alright having the scope near ambient already and outside near your observing area. Theres many times I went out observing when all I had to do was wheel the scope out of the shed, that had the scope been inside and I had to disrupt everyone wheelin it through the house, banging of doors, bouncing it down steps, waiting an hour or more for cooldown, that I just wouldn't have bothered.

This is the main reason i only get out observing half as much as I would like to. Unfortunately circumstances dont allow me to remedy this any time soon, what with living in rented accomodation, and possibly an appartment in Dublin in a year or two, but that still doesnt allow me to have the scope in a shed ready for use. All in all Dublin is very unfriendly to astronomers!

I thought getting a shed alarm would have been easier - i.e. get one in Woodies etc. but they are not as readily available as you'd expect. So I just bought the following on ebay - about €22 incl shipping:
cgi.ebay.ie/LOUD-PIR-Motion-Alarm-for-ca...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
This will give me more peace of mind once fitted.

Its finished! Hallelujah!

I got the last few items I wanted a few weeks ago and finally got the chance to fit them over the last few weeks during any spare hour or so that I had. There were a few mistakes that were made and I had to redo a few things after my first attempts highlighted unexpected obstacles to be over come.

So many man hours and a fair few €€€ later..........

Shed moved to top of Garden closer to viewing area with scope all packed up on trolley.

Scope moved over to viewing area on Trolley, not unpacked yet.

EP Case Reconfigured to make room for Philips 900nc Webcam, selection of Barlows, Howie Glatter Laser Collimator and Blug(laser barlow target), and the black pouch to the left contains, an eyepatch (I be a pirate astronomer, oh'arr!! ) and a pair of red safety glasses that I got for working on my Green laser pointer that also double up as Nightvision preservers when one has to go back into the brightly lit house during an observing session.

This is my old homemage EP Case (was onjce a toolbox). Now it is an Accessories Case. Top level holds my Cheshire Sighttube combo and older laser collimators (any takers at €30 each ) (Don't need them now I have my Glatter) Inside the large white tube is the red Rubylith sheet for masking my laptop screen. Inside the smaller tube are the cables for connecting my Intelliscope computer to the Laptop utilising Starry Night Pro+ 6.23 for Telescope Control. (My Dob is still push-to, so its not full Starry Night Automatic scope control) Instead you use the visual interface of SNP to point the scope at objects. Like using the scope as a giant mouse, the view changes on the screen. A lot better, cooler, more fun, easier than looking at a 2 line lcd screen on the scopes controller!!

I lift the top layer out of the case and protected and cushioned underneath are stored, the scope computer, EQ platform controller, Rigel motorised focuser controller and a few other bits and pieces moved from the Eyepiece Case.

Heres everthing unpacked ready for use. Takes about 5 minutes to unpack and set up the gear and another few minutes to polar align the EQ platform. Most obvious is that I have done away with the scopes original base altogether and mounted it directly to my Brian Reed RoundTable Equatorial Platform. This both speeds up setup, one less thing to carry by hand, one more thing that can be carried by the trolley. I also found before doing this that the Eyepiece was reachable only on tippy toes for little old me depending on were the scope was on its travel on the platform and depending on where in the sky I was pointing. Doing away with the scopes own base saved me about 3 inches. Just enough to get the EP back within reach at all times without stretching. In the pics you can see the transport blocks tied together by a metal rope. These lift the scope off the platform runners and motor for storage and stransport. There is a large bolt not visible that holds the whole assembly together which is removed when the scope is in use.

The other obvious mods in the pics are the laptop table mount with mouse pad. The Astrozap SCT dew shield used as a dob light shroud instead . You can also see the side braces I installed. The Orion 12in Dob is a little too heavy for the base it shares with the 10 inch version of the scope. There is flexure when rotating the scope in azimuth. Imagine not only having to contend with stiction when aligning on objects but also flexure. ie thinking you have moved the scope in azimuth only to find it bounces back because you have actually just flexed the forks. The braces solve this. Speaking of stiction. I finally installed ebonystar and a new set of magic sliders. No stiction now. Smooth as butter. Also visible is a light switch!! This is actually a little mod for my Orion fan. These dont come with a switch. One has to plug/unplug the dc jack to turn the fan on/off. The jack and socket isn't going to last long that way! I Isolated one of the battery terminals with the switch bridging the connections. Switch is located conveniently within arms reach.

Next up is a close-up at the EP end of the scope. Rigel Motorfocus equipped Low profile moonlight focuser, Orion 9x50 Raci finderscope relocated closer to focuser, then Telrad. Near those two is a switch I fabricated for my Green Laser pointer. Again, isolating the battery terminals and splicing in some wire and a dip switch. Wrapped in black insulation tape till I get my hands on some of that heatshrink stuff. Basically a rubber O-Ring holds the normal micro-switch permanently in the on position and the dip switch now makes/breaks the power connection with the battery. No more reaching over and trying to hold the laser microswitch down while pointing the scope while trying not to push the laser in its mount nor the scope out of alignment. (Thanks especially to Darryl Pfitzner Milika over at ICEINSPACE for this idea)

Heres a pic of my newly flocked OTA. Got the flocking paper from scopestuff. Also blackened the edge of my secondary and secured the mirror to its holder with glued on picture clips and cable ties in case the adhesive pad holding mirror to secondary holder should fail.

Heres my re-done Fan and shroud. Now the fan is isolated from the mirror cell instead of screwed into it like its designed to and like I had it originally. (How silly is that! ) Used lots of self adhesive draft excluder strips. Now its totally vibration isolated. You can feel the shroud vibrating but not a twitch from the mirror cell, mirror or OTA now. BTW, those aren't three gaping holes in the shroud (defeating the purpose of the shroud). Thats three patches of spare adhesive Flocking paper sealing up around the primary collimation screws. In the other pic you can see the battery pack for the fan. One lead goes to the fan and the other lead goes to the light switch for turning the fan on/off without touching the power cable like before.

So thats it! Finished at last. Thats the last penny I can or will spend on this scope....ever....I promise......getting bored of this astronomy lark now though.....