I finished building a refractor using the Surplus Shed 70 mm objective and wanted to check it out with a cheshire. I got first light and a good view of Jupiter, at 30x and 70x, but the color was pretty obvious.
Somehow I couldn't see paying $34 plus shipping for such a simple tool, after making a telescope, so decided to "make my own."
I have been making my own eyepieces and have a lot of 1.25 Al tube. I cut a 6 inch piece and drilled a 1 inch access hole 1 inch from the end. I drilled a 1/8 inch hole through the center of a 1 1/8 dowel and cut off a 45 degree angled piece about 1.5 inches long.
I used the shiney side of some Renolds aluminum foil to cove the angled wood and slipped it into the tube, eyeballing the alignment.
I slipped my new cheshire into the focus tube, shined a flashlight into the side hole and saw why I had problems.
I rotated the lens until the figure eight changed into a donut and tighted the objective lens retainer.
Now if it clears here in St. Louis, expected for Sat night, I hope to see some real improvement.
Thanks for reading.
Mike Wendler
Somehow I couldn't see paying $34 plus shipping for such a simple tool, after making a telescope, so decided to "make my own."
I have been making my own eyepieces and have a lot of 1.25 Al tube. I cut a 6 inch piece and drilled a 1 inch access hole 1 inch from the end. I drilled a 1/8 inch hole through the center of a 1 1/8 dowel and cut off a 45 degree angled piece about 1.5 inches long.
I used the shiney side of some Renolds aluminum foil to cove the angled wood and slipped it into the tube, eyeballing the alignment.
I slipped my new cheshire into the focus tube, shined a flashlight into the side hole and saw why I had problems.
I rotated the lens until the figure eight changed into a donut and tighted the objective lens retainer.
Now if it clears here in St. Louis, expected for Sat night, I hope to see some real improvement.
Thanks for reading.
Mike Wendler
