Keiths next scope modding plans

they can be plagued with thermals from the house below

If you can see vultures and eagles circling above your house, it'll indicate that you've thermals!

lunartic wrote:

I really need a truss no matter what

After lugging a 16" scope around it'll be a medical one you'll need.:laugh:

LOL :laugh:

I am still not sure why the need to lift/transport the mirror tub and base together into the car. Surely one can have them separate and just pack in such a way that the mirror tub doesn't roll around. How do SCT users cope with transporting their OTA's without them rolling around in the car?

Anyway, upon farther research it seems its actually a Lightbridge 16inch that would suit integration with the Dob Driver II better. The Altitude bearing system of the GSO strut although making the Intelliscope mod easier, would make the Dob Driver II mod harder.

My thinking now would be to save €600+ by getting a lightbridge and that price differential would go towards getting a car spraying workshop to paint the scope in a black 'Knight Rider' stylee :laugh: ie. Matches with my Knight Rider theme and obviously black being a better colour for a scope. Honestly, what genius thought white would be a good colour for a scope!!

So the price differential pays for the paintjob, I get a scope more suitable for Dob Driver II, can still fit the intelliscope with a little more work, get a 6 pole truss system, so no farther work required on that front, and I should still have some spare cash left over to get a carpenter craftsman Cousin in law to build me a stronger(less flexure), lighter base out of plywood, fit larger Alt bearings to the LB so the base can be shorter to fit under the roof of the car, larger bearings mean I can use the rim drive version of the DDII instead of the pulley/belt version which is more accurate and reliable.

All thats left is for the Dob Driver folks tech2000 to read my email, see the sense I am talking :laugh: and finally pull their finger out and 'finish' (its ongoing apparently) the rewrite of their roboscope software in C++ so it will work on all OS and finish the ASCOM driver interface. Then we'll have DDII Goto via The SKy planetarium software running on a pocket PC at the eyepiece!! Cheaper and arguably better than the other aforementioned product combo. (when one has the hardware setup and calibration done right, the DDII can reliably count 720,000 !!! encoder ticks....without the need for encoders or DSC!!)

As for the roof Observatory. If the house move goes ahead, its that or nothing. The house has no gardens to speak of. Just patch of Zenith view out back and plenty of sky out front......along with about 7 orange street lights directly visible from the small front garden. So its crappier seeing but unobstructed view from 30° up and streetlights shielded from view, or better seeing but no DSO's. Planets from the front yard and DSO's from the roof. Thats kinda why I also need a more transportable scope because I will be relying more and more on Dark Sky and Outreach trips for my observing fixes.

I am still not sure why the need to lift/transport the mirror tub and base together into the car. Surely one can have them separate and just pack in such a way that the mirror tub doesn't roll around.

As I said above...that's what I do!
When I'm talking about the weight and associated problems, I'm only talking about the mirror tub without the base!
The base is far, far larger, maybe around 32-4" diameter or more.
It's not only (at 54 pounds)just as heavy as the mirror tub but it is very awkward also because of shape and weight distribution, and when you put it into a car it devours space...hence the need to park the mirror tub in it to accomodate them both.
Remember that in trying to pack the mirror tub so it doesn't roll, that it weighs 58 pounds...that needs something very solid to stop it rolling.
So, you need a boot with three feet of space in every direction to accomodate the base only, before the mirror tub and secondary section go in.
That's a biiiigggg boot for any car.

I know some might be starting to wonder why I don't just build a scope if I was going so far as building a new base but I think by the time you buy even a GSO 16 mirror and all the truss clamps, mirror cell etc you are almost at the price of a chinese scope already and then there is the fact that it is a lot easier to do a decent job on fabricating a new base for this style of chinese truss dob with straight edges and a hemisphere cutout for bearings, than it is to fabricate an attractive orthagonal Obsession stlye rocker box and complicated UTA, correct lenght trusses etc

Anyway, thank you all for contributing to this 'Flight of Fancy' thread of mine!! :laugh: When I say that I don't mean to imply it was wasted effort entertaining the thoughts of a Walter Mitty, but it certainly is not a done deal yet. Have to see how a few things pan out before proceeding but I certainly appreciate all the advice and have taken it all on board. Lots more thinking to do!

I'll leave it at that and sometime in the next few weeks/months if the urge to write down my next 'stream of conciousness' hits, I'll update this thread.

Thanks again lads.

keith

Arrggh, can't get Knight Rider out of my head!! The scope idea and the theme tune!!:laugh:

Eamonn. I don't suppose you could do me a favour. I can't find the exact dimensions of the 16" lightbridge anywhere on the net. Would you be able to tell me a few dimensions. The groundboard diametre is 32inches? Is that correct. The OTA tube diameter is what, about 19 inches? How tall is the Mirror tub/Lower OTA from the feet to the top end tube ring. How tall is the base from the feet to the top of the Alt forks? How tall is the UTA?

Have a load of spare cardboard and would like to make up boxes to these dimensions to see if or how I would pack this scope into my car.

Just spent a few hours on the Lightbridge yahoo group that I just joined today.

I am reminded of an Austin Powers Dr Evil quote. Something about Over elaborate easily..... :laugh:

Those yahoo lightbridge feckers have done everything already!! There is nothing uniques in my plans. Oh wait...my scope will be unique. It'll be the only lightbridge called Knight Rider! : blink: They have come up with much more elegant simpler solutions as well... Damn those clever sods!!:laugh:

First up, Transport issues solved. These guys have implemented the captive nut and knobs idea I had for a base that dismantles into pieces and flatpacks for transport. Thought of the idea myself independently but these guys did it years ago :laugh:

Dave Lillis. I haven't been ignoring your advice! :laugh: Servocat and Sky Commander it is! Stellarcat do a kit designed for the Lightbridge for $1600 or $1800 with an Argo Navis. This actually isn't that much dearer than the Dob Driver II when you think about especially seeing as DDII price increased recently up to about 1200 for all the bits I'd need. The extra $$$ is getting me a kit just as accurate tracking if not more, but even more importantly something that slew at about 8°/s instead of 1°/s and even more more importantly :laugh: , usable without Laptop and with Laptop actual proper integration with SNP+. Those +++ lots gotta be worth $600 more!

For the base dismantling lads bolt 4 wood blocks 2 per side that the side pieces lock into with knobbed bolts. Dowels underneath stop the side pieces bowing in or out. 2 knobbed bolts per side attach the side pieces to the front piece. Basically one would put the groundboard in the car first. Then the sidepiece without the alt motor and dsc encoder laid on top of the groundboard. This piece would rest on the 4 base locking wood blocks and thus would not squish the AZimuth servocat motor and pulley and servocat control box. Then the front base piece and finally laid on top of that would be the side piece that has the altitude motor assembly and dsc. I'd enclose the alt motor in a protective box/shield. Probably mount the fan controller here too.

This is going to be easier than I thought!!