Not wanting to drive back down to Ace, I started rummaging through my junk pile to see if there was anything I could use to fabricate a new coupler to replace the aluminum spacer I had tried to use. I looked at some 1/2″ steel bar stock I have, but decided I really need a […]
So I attempted to to build a flexible focus extender for the ETX-70AT telescope. The concept is solid, and the price is right but mistakes were made. I spent a grand total of $2.42 at Ace for an aluminum spacer, a foot of cable, and some set screws. As I drilled and tapped the holes […]
Several weeks ago I removed these three items from the Meade ETX-70AT telescope in preparation for tearing it down: That’s the focusing knob, and the tripod bolts. I put them in a “safe place” so they would not get lost, but once I got around to tearing the telescope apart and putting it back together, […]
More telescope fun. I have an Meade ETX-70AT telescope that I got at a pawn shop for $15. It was missing the battery pack, eyepieces, and the focuser seemed jammed. Since I have eyepieces that fit it, and the focuser seemed like it might be an easy fix, I naturally bought it and brought it […]
Fairly clear skies last night, so I took the Dob out for a test viewing. I found that the bolts I was worried about hitting when adjusting the telescope up and down were the least of my worries. I think they only hit once or twice, and even then they weren’t too jarring because the […]
I have a 4.5″ Newtonian reflector telescope that I got for $10 at a local thrift store. The views are OK, but the dovetail mount to the tripod is super wobbly, and the thing will shake if you even breathe on it, so I decided to build a Dobsonian mount for it. I designed some […]
Found some lugs, found the starter relay, and cut one of the leads from the secondary to hook it up: Next I started looking at the control board, and it occurs to me that I want all of this stuff in an enclosure of some kind, but I need to be able to access the […]
I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the subject, narrowed my approach down to two methods, and I may end up building both. One involves a rewound transformer salvaged from an old microwave oven, and the other a really big capacitor. I already have the transformer, so that’s where I will start. Step one […]