Telescope – Mad Scientist Guy

How To Install The ZWO EAF To The SVBONY 503 ED Telescope

I recently purchased the SVBONY 503 80ED telescope. I love the dual focuser but I wanted to use the ZWO EAF with hand controller (Electronic auto focuser). I’ll show you how to install it.

In general, the steps on how to install the ZWO EAF to an SBVONY 503 telescope are as follows:

Gather your tools and materials. You will need the following:
- ZWO EAF
- SBVONY 503 telescope
- Allen wrenches
- Flexible coupling
- M5 screws
- Spacers
- ZWO hand controller (optional)
- ASIAIR (optional)
- Other ASCOM software (optional)
Remove the focus lock screw from the SBVONY 503 telescope.
Remove the single-speed focuser knob from the SBVONY 503 telescope.
Attach the flexible coupling to the focuser knob shaft.
Attach the motor bracket to the focuser lock screw hole and tension hold screw hole.
Insert the motor body onto the flexible coupling.
Tighten the grub screws on the motor body.
Align the motor body with the motor bracket.
Attach the motor to the bracket with the M5 screws and spacers.
Adjust the motor bracket so that it is just touching the motor body.
Tighten the screw on the motor bracket.
Test the EAF to make sure that it is working properly.

SVBony does have an install guide that you can check out here.

If you are using the ZWO hand controller, you can use it to control the EAF. If you are using ASIAIR or other ASCOM software, you can use that software to control the EAF. Now, I bought the hand controller because I do not want to bump the scope while focusing. Each time I bump it, I am forced to wait a few seconds for the scope to settle down before taking the next test image. This waists too much time and the hand controller solves this problem. Given that it only adds $49 to the cost, I think it’s well worth the money.

The hand controller has 2 speeds which allow you to switch between fast but course corrections and then fine tune the result when you are close to focused.

Celestron Starpointer Review and Install

My Hadley Telescope has a basic finder that is 3D printed. It works ok but it lacks the ability to be fine tuned.

I decided to upgrade and get a professional finder – The Celestron Starpointer.

This finder can do the following:

Adjust left and right
Adjust up and down
Project a laser image retical with circle

The retical is not a dot, it’s a circle. This is useful since a dot would block the star you are trying to see. With a circle, you can point the telescope to the center and still see what you are looking at.

I designed and printed out a mount that work with the Hadely.

You can download it here.

Finderscope Mount.stl

Finder Scope mount for Celestron. Works with the Hadely Telescope

There are no supports needed but you may need to scale it down. I increased the size to work with my printer and my telescope.

Mount Attachment To The Hadley

Insert #10 nuts into the two slots and then thread in #10 machine screws. The length should be around 1″

What I liked About It

I love the micro fine up and down adjustment. This made the whole process easy. You can adjust as necessary on a bigger object like Jupiter, then you can find smaller objects like Saturn easier than ever before.

What Could Be Improved

There is a switch on the side that turns the laser on. It also increases or decreases the brightness. I find myself forgetting to turn the laser off. There is no auto off feature. If left unchecked, it will drain the batteries if you forget as I did.

Simple Solar Finder

It may seem simple to point your telescope and easily find the sun. What could be easier? It’s just a giant fireball in the sky, how hard could it be? In reality, it can be difficult since you cannot look through the finder scope. Without some feedback, this can be frustrating.

Thankfully, there are a number of solar finders available. Today I’ll show you how you can print your own with a 3D printer.

Warning – Use A Solar Filter

You cannot under any circumstances point your telescope to the sun without a Solar Filter. If you look at the sun without a solar filter, you can be instantly and permanently blinded. You can Search For Filters or even make your own with a filter sheet. I chose to make a mount for a filter sheet. You can download it here for the 127EQ: filter-holder.FCStd

DIY Solar Finder

In the video above, you will see how I used my simple 3d printed solar finder. It works by using a small hole in the first plate (the one closest to the front of the telescope). The sun shines through this hole and then it must pass through a second hole. Once it’s through the second hole you know you are close. The final stage is to fine tune the suns image on the 3rd plate.

Mounting

My Celestron PowerSeeker has a camera piggy back connector. This accepts a 1/4″ machine screw. Simply attach it to this mount and align the front edge parallel to the mount.

Model File

You can download the stl file here finder-Body.stl. There are no supports needed and it is quick to print. I used PLA with 30% infill.

Images

The sun is fascinating and you can see sun spots quite easily with almost any telescope. I used a simple webcam to take these images using eyepiece projection.

Stellarium Quick Reference

Date/Time

Newtonian Z-Axis Ball Bearing Upgrade

I want to improve the z bearings to make the telescope smoother going up and down. This can be accomplished by installing high quality ball bearings.

I chose Timken sealed ball bearings since they are high quality and very smooth. They also have a large shaft diameter which is needed for the best stability. #ad Order Them Here

Watch the Full Tutorial

Download the model files

You will need

2 Timken Bearings #ad Order Here
2 bearing holders
2 bearing opposite side holders
3 swivels

Zipped Files:

z axis parts

The Hadley – Open Source 3D printed Newtonian Telescope

The Hadley can be printed at home with your own 3D printer. The telescope is a 900mm Newtonian reflector. I used an Ender 3 to print out the parts.

I had a lot of fun building mine and have taken some good photos. You can see the rings of Saturn and the craters on the moon. I also saw Jupiter and 4 of it’s moons.

Filament: PLA

Parts Needed:

See the full build

How To Build

First Step

The first thing you need to do is to print out the small test part. This part has a hole in it the same size as 1/2″ steel rods that support the telescope. It also has a nut and screw assembly.

The test part should be printed first to test to see if it fits

Print this out as is and see if you can slide the rods through the hole. Also test if you can slip a 10-24 nut.

Most likely you cannot due to shrinkage. To fix this, measure the actual diameter of your 1/2 rods and then the actual diameter of the printed out test part. Find the difference in % and the scale the parts in your slicer. Print the scaled part again and see if it work. If so, then use this scaling factor to print out all the parts.

Print Your Parts

I built mine from the bottom up.

The lowest part is the LTA or lower telescope assembly. This assembly holds the mirror cell. The cell has adjustment screws so that you can properly collimate the telescope.

Once this is all printed, you need to install the hex bolts below the mirror itself. This has to be done before you glue the mirror onto the cell. I went to a couple of hardware stores and could not find the right hex bolts, so I just took a 10-24 machine screw several inches long and jammed on a nut prior to installation. That worked out just fine.

On the lower side of the hex bolts, install 3 small springs approximately 1/2″ long. The length is not that critical. You just need some wiggle room to that you can properly align the lower mirror.

Here is a clip from the main tutorial showing how this is done.

Glue Mirror To Cell

I just glued the mirror in place with plain old silicon sealant and it worked great. Be sure to center the mirror in the cell since it will improve your image when properly centered.

Mount Interface

The mount interface holds the telescope and allows you to pivot up and down. There are 2 files, one says Planets and the other does not. I could not see any difference between these two files. I just picked one and went from there.

When I first built it I used a rocker box. So I printed out the Z bearings and it works ok. Later I took them off and installed Ball Bearings which worked out better for me. You can checkout that post here.

I also wanted ball bearings so that I could motorized the telescope which I have done. I love the motorized version so much more since it’s a snap to view any object at high magnification.

You can watch the short on YouTube Notice how I can easily adjust the telescope in small increments at high magnification.

Sites

The sites are installed next. One goes just above the the mount interface and the other can go on top, or just below the UTA.

Upper Telescope Assembly (UTA)

The telescope is almost done. The upper telescope assembly holds the focuser and the spider.

Spider

You have several choices of spiders and they vary how the diffraction spikes are shown. I chose the James Webb version just because I think its the greatest telescope ever built. It’s just a matter of preference.

Now when you print the spider, you need to embed nuts. This can be done by adding the pause print into your slicer program. The nuts are required to that the three machine screws you insert for the secondary mirror collimation will work. As I recall the designer wanted 6 nuts but you really only need 3. It appears that he designed it with 6 for stability, but 3 work just fine for me and it’s less complicated to print.

Model Files:

The files are available here and released under Creative Commons (4.0 International License) Attribution—Noncommercial—Share Alike

Designer: Maff

Tag: Telescope