Posts Made By: Mike Clemens

How about looking into (2) 5x Contax/Zeiss Loupes that point at super high resolution LCD screens which are connected to a pair of zoomable DV cameras? Then you get huge brightness, zoom, adjustable color temperatures, image stabilization, whatever.

Extra points if I can switch the two LCD screens to pure white and drop 35mm slides in front of them for stereo slide viewing.

OK.. errr. that's not really what you were talking about was it

Project "ATM TMB175 f/8" is well underway. The lens is ordered, the AP 2.7" Feathertouch focuser is on hand, an affordable supplier of thick walled aluminum tubes has been located, and a local machine shop who can turn and thread tubes has been located!!

Next Friday I hope to get my first (42 pound) tube turned down into a 5 pound OTA tube, with 20 TPI threaded ends for the lens adapter and focuser adapter to screw onto. Thats the "critical" juncture for me, and the final dimensions I end up with from the machinist will drive the dimensions for the rest of the parts. They aren't certain what they can do until they see the tube. They dont particularly like the idea of turning 37 pounds off the tube either, for whatever reason. (Recycle it!)


Here's the latest model. Wish me luck...

So after all these TUBES WANTED ads I've placed, and all the searching on the net, and discussing it here in the forums, I've still never been given the name of a machine shop I can contact who can just supply custom tubes outright. What's with that!

I'd just like to be able to say, give me a 35" aluminum long tube, 20 TPI threaded for 1/2" on each end, 7" O.D. with walls somewhere from 0.08" to 0.1" thickness. I can't believe there's not 50 vendors who can do it in the USA.

Mike

Has anyone tried these fiberglassed phenolic tubes from a place like from Public Missiles?
http://www.publicmissiles.com/
3.5 pounds is light for a 36" 7.5 O.D. tube.

I told y'all I'd order a fiberglassed phenolic tube from http://www.publicmissiles.com as a potential lightweight but strong tubing solution for my TMB175 project. Well it arrived today, and I had no idea what to expect when I opened the package. Let me tell you, it's awesome !!

The tube arrived smooth as a babies bottom, is pleasently light (I'll weigh it tomorrow.) The fiberglassing job looks superb to me.

Here's a couple of pics:

http://www.scopenews.com/tmb175/tube/phenolic1.jpg

You can see in the edge detail it looks like a totally uniform layer of fiberglass (actually 2 layers I think.):

http://www.scopenews.com/tmb175/tube/phenolic2.jpg

Also the publicmissiles.com custom length cutting job looks great. Haven't tested it for squareness yet but the cut looks super.

Now it's time to get the aluminum endpieces turned which will fit into the tube ends.

Mike

I don't have a micrometer, or else I could probably figure this out on my own. Perhaps someone could help me out?

I am making a sliding dewshield assembly on my refractor project, and I want to have a brass compression band under a soft felt interface for clamping/releasing the dewshield.

Can someone tell me the thickness of the brass band that people like Astro-Physics use in their barlow eyepiece clamp, or Televue use?

I'm eyeballing it at 1/32nd inch or veryyy slightly smaller. I see McMaster has got 0.032 and 0.025 brass bands in stock, and wondering which one is better.

Thanks!
Mike

This one starts with a 7.512" I.D. fiberglassed phenolic tube from http://www.publicmissiles.com, light and strong.

Add a custom machined aluminum ring on the focuser end, which slip fits an Astro-Physics 4" focuser (or AP's adapter to convert to the 2.7" focusers that are dear to me, as shown.)

Add another custom machined aluminum ring on the lens end, to hold the TMB175 lens.

Fasten three 10-32 allthreads between the lens-ring and the focuser-ring, just like the TMB's are built. This allthread frame keeps the scope together and provides an easy method for spacing and adjusting any baffles.

Add a final custom machined aluminum ring for the dewshield, fitting a production TMB175 baffled dewshield.

The custom aluminum parts were black powder coated. The fiberglass tube will be painted by an auto shop in town.

First light could be tomorrow!

Here's my homebuilt TMB175/8 after a night out watching Mars, the Moon and Saturn. I've spent about 30 hours at the eyepiece with Mars since August, and the 175/8 has really delivered.

Mike

(I'm not angry at anything or anyone, dont read me wrong. Just a frustrating failed attempt at using a new scope.)

I rcvd a new FS128 "short version" from Astronomics today. I had called them up after ordering it and asked them if it would have the parts I needed to use the telescope when I received it. Was a 2" ocular adapter included? or not? I had bought an FS102 back in 2000 and I thought I needed to buy it separately.

Neither Anacortes or Astronomics could answer that question, were these 2" adapters included at some point to cause this to be unknown?

So, there is no 2" adapter. No problem, I can order one, not on Thanksgiving, but on Friday, for delivery on Monday. And also no problem, I've got a 1.25" diagonal and small eyepieces, I'll just use those!

Well, looks like the new "Short Version" is so short as to be unusable without extensions? Which are also.. not included? I could not reach focus without pulling my little diagonal out until I had left about 1/4" of its barrel in the telescopes clamp, and then pulling my eyepiece out until about 1/4" of its barrel was in the diagonals clamp. Is my scope missing a crucial, normally included piece? Or is this normal trouble for the new short version?

I almost always binovue, so I appreciate the extra in-focus, but it seems like I'm going to need some more parts to make this scope usable.

1) a 2" ocular adapter
2) Some (hopefully full diameter) focuser extensions. As a second best solution, I guess I could use a 2" extension tube like the front part of my Astro-Physics BARCON barlow?

So finally, my QUESTIONS:

(Q1) Is this normal, or, are there parts missing from my FS128 scope box? the 2" ocular adapter? the extension tubes to be usable at all even with 1.25" eyepieces?

(Q2) Are there full diameter 2.7" focuser extensions I can put between the drawtube and the (upcoming) 2" ocular adapter? Or, what do I use to get solid extension for 2" devices?

Thanks for any help! I sure could use it.

Mike Clemens

I know.. kind of ridiculous... you can laugh, but have you noticed that new Taks smell wonderful I've owned maybe 15 refractors but only the FS102 and FS128 had this smell to them. Its... wonderful!

I guess it's like new car smell. I know you can buy Takahashi green paint for touch up, but can I get a bottle of new scope smell? Just remove the eyepiece once every few months and spray it in the OTA...