By Simon Dawes
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By Simon Dawes
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| Equipment | ||
| Images | ||
| Location | ||
| ATM | ||
| Techniques | ||
| My Software | ||
| spare | ||
| Links | ||
| About Me | ||
| Ramblings | ||
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On This Page |
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Scope
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Artemis
CDD
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Electric
Focus
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SC1
Webcam
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Guidescope
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Dome
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My main 'scope is an Orion Optics DX300 on a Vixen GPDX mount with Sky Sensor 2000PC Here the 'scope is sporting a cardboard filter holder for the Baader solar filter, notice also the solar filter over the finder, the unmodified ToUcam is being used here to take video of the Sun during the 2004 transit of Venus. If you look carefully you can see the home-made electric focuser bolted to the standard focuser. The 'scope is now getting on for 10 years old and the mirror is in desperate need of re-coating
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| Aretmis
285AL CCD
This is a great CCD for the price - about half the price of the StarlightXpress camera with the same CCD chip, the only draw back is that you have to assemble it yourself! - it is now available from Atik for a couple of hundred pounds more than the DIY version - I'm new to CCD imaging and have been very pleased with my purchase and recommend this camera to anyone who wants a decent CCD on a strict budget but is able to spend a couple of evenings tinkering about with a hot soldering iron... The camera has some neat features that I haven't exploited yet, such as being able to control a modified webcam and has an expansion port for things like an electric focuser.
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Essential if you are imaging, here is my '£12' electric focuser, not quite up to the job of focusing with heavy loads but does a great job when I'm using a webcam. Details of how to make this can be found in my ATM section. This image is of a friends electric focuser using my design :-)
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| Modified
Webcam
I set aside a day to modify my Philips ToUcam, made the circuit, then set-about disassembling the webcam, at this point I realised the pictures on my screen were about 50x's magnified, the whole circuit-board was about the size of a 10p piece! at this point I gave up and searched Astro buy&sell until one came up. The Modified webcam is used with guidedog to guide my scope.
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I use a second-hand
ETX90 OTA as a guidescope, connected to a modified webcam
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I was lucky enough to be given a 9 ft dome by a local astronomer who had become too frail to use it anymore, the members of the local society, CMHAS, helped me dismantle, move and erect the dome. The base was made by an old friend of mine, the pillar is separate to the main base. |
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Dome Base Here is the base ready to accept the fibreglass dome, note the small pipe for cables, and the main pillar
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