I have fabricated a customized equatorial wedge for a colleague. An equatorial wedge is simply a platform that is tilted to precisely match the latitude of a place. When used with a wedge, an altitude-azimuth telescope mount may be used in equatorial configuration.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I have been using a Baader Neutral Density (ND) 5.0 Solar Safety Film filter for several years now in solar photography and visual observation. According to the specifications, it reduces solar intensity by a factor of 100,000.
The filter looks like a thin reflective plastic sheet, about A4 size (20 cm by 29 cm). When used with binoculars or telescope, it must be cut to the right size to cover the whole aperture of the optical instrument and installed securely on a rigid frame. Alternatively, the filter may be used without a telescope. Based on my experience, while the solar film may look very delicate and fragile, it is very durable and does not easily get damaged. Special attention, however, must be given to ensure that the film does not get stretched or folded to retain its properties.
The Baader ND 5.0 solar filter produces sharp images with good contrast without changing the white balance. The filter I purchased in 2011 which has been used extensively in almost every solar event visible in my locality is still in excellent condition.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I’ve built a DIY dedicated flat field panel using a repurposed LED light fixture. The flat field panel is a light source with relatively uniform brightness. The panel attaches directly onto my telescope and can be used for taking flat frames.
If a telescope with camera captures a target that is known to have a uniform brightness or illumination (such as this DIY flat field panel), the unevenness in the illumination of the field such as vignetting or presence of dusts are revealed. When a flat frame is applied to an image, any variation in brightness or illumination across the frame is leveled out, thus, vignetting and dusts are removed in the image.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
To clean the telescope’s lens or mirror, disassemble the lens or the mirror from the cell, making sure to mark the sides of the glass elements as it is necessary to reassemble them following the correct orientation as determined by the factory. In this video, I used my Sky-Watcher 100ED as an example. Follow these instructions at your own risk and exercise outmost care when cleaning telescope lenses.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I’ve built an electronic automatic focuser (EAF) for my Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED refractor for automated and precise focusing. The focuser was built with a stepper motor from an old printer, a gearbox from an electronic screwdriver, A4988 stepper motor driver, and an Arduino Uno.
The focuser is ASCOM compliant and works with astronomy software such as the Nighttime Imaging N Astronomy (NINA) for automated focusing during unattended imaging. When the autofocus command is called, NINA takes a series of photos (with a Canon 50D DSLR) at various focus distances and measures the diameter of stars for star fields or the highest contrast for moon and planets. It then calculates the proper distance travel for best focus, and then moves the focuser to focus. An automatic focuser ensures that stars remain focused during unattended imaging runs while you are away from the telescope.
This DIY electronic focuser attached to a standard Crayford focuser features 50,000 focus positions, with buttons for manual focus adjustment and calibration. The controller keeps track of the draw tube’s current position and saves this information even when the focuser is powered off.
I have tested the focuser on several imaging runs now and it appears to be working fine, especially with planets in which I image at 3600 mm focal length.
Related links:
DIY Electronic Automatic Focuser (EAF) | Reflector
DIY Electronic Automatic Focuser (EAF) | Telephoto Lens
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I’ve built a simple DIY intervalometer for deep-sky imaging, to enable my DSLR camera to take a series of photos of galaxies and nebula. It features a rotary dial with preset exposure times. When used with an autoguider setup, the intervalometer allows taking unattended exposures, while the telescope tracks a galaxy or nebula.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I’ve built a remote shutter switch for my Canon 50D to enable it to take exposures longer than 30 seconds, which is essential in astrophotography. Since the camera already has a battery grip, I just bypassed the battery grip’s shutter button and put an external switch. To make it removable, I used a wire that plugs into a socket hidden neatly in the battery compartment.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
By attaching a webcam or a dash cam to a telescope using a special type of adapter, it is possible to take up-close photos of planets.
Web Camera
Replace the webcam’s lens by a special type of adapter called a webcam-to-telescope adapter. Insert the webcam with an adapter into the eyepiece barrel of the telescope’s focuser.
Dash Camera
I repurposed my old dash camera as a planetary camera. The lens was removed and replaced with a webcam-to-telescope adapter and then mounted on to a telescope.
Related link: View posts on camera modification projects
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I have performed filter modifications on a number of DSLR cameras (Canon 450D, 700D, 1200D, 500D, 1000D, 1100D, Nikon D3100, and Fuji X-A1) for me and my colleagues. It involves the removal of the stock UV-IR filter, making the camera more sensitive to H-alpha wavelengths. This modification is helpful only when shooting targets with H-alpha emissions, as most DSLR camera’s standard (stock) filter blocks this part of the spectrum.
Take note of the shift in white balance (reddish hue), which is to be expected in this type of modification. Focus will be affected, your camera may no longer focus with compatible lenses unless you add a filter between the lens and the sensor, to address the shift in focus and to filter out UV-IR. If used with telescopes, you need a DSLR-to-telescope adapter and achieve focus using the telescope’s focuser.
Here are sample images taken with the cameras I have modified (posted with permission).
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Guide scope rings or guide rings are mechanisms used for mounting guide scopes. A guide scope is a telescope used to monitor tracking accuracy while a main telescope takes a long-exposure photo. Errors in tracking are detected with a guide scope by monitoring a guide star. Corrections are made by the mount to keep the guide star centered, and thus, keeping the main imaging telescope pointed at a target for the whole duration of an exposure.
This DIY guide scope rings set is used with a 60 mm f/5 guide scope and a 114 mm f/8 imaging telescope.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Smartphones can be used to image the moon by holding it next to the eyepiece of a telescope. For smart phone cameras, a mid-power eyepiece such as a 25 mm eyepiece yields good results. This imaging method is called afocal imaging, in which a camera with its lens is mounted next to another image-forming optical system such as a telescope or a pair of binoculars. To hold the phone camera steady while taking a photo, a smart phone-to-telescope adapter may be used. The adapter below was built using a mobile phone holder attached onto the side of a 90 degree diagonal mirror (star diagonal).
Another version of a smartphone-to-telescope may be built using inexpensive materials using a piece of plywood, hose clamp, screw, and rubber bands. Secure the hose clamp onto the plywood using screws. Use the hose clamp to hold the eyepiece in place. Use rubber bands to hold the smart phone camera and adjust as necessary.
Related link: Universal Camera Adapter
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Dew heaters or heater pads are telescopes accessories used to prevent dew from forming on the telescope’s lens. During long imaging sessions, it is not uncommon for the main lens of refractors to form dew. A heater is used to keep the objective lens at a temperature a few degrees C above the dew point to prevent the formation of dew.
I used nichrome wires from a local electronics store to build several DIY heater pads for my telescope, which I find useful in keeping the lenses free from dew especially when imaging in remote observing sites.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I’ve built an aluminum plate for my equatorial mount to allow it to carry the main telescope and the guide scope for autoguiding purposes. In autoguiding, it is important to minimize flexing between the imaging telescope and the guide scope, thus, a plate with suitable thickness helps address this problem. This DIY plate measures 12 cm by 20 cm by 1 cm and made from a solid aluminum plate from a local metals supply shop. Holes have been drilled on the plate to allow attachment of various loads such as DSLR cameras and different telescopes.
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Related link: Sky-Watcher 100ED Refractor
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
During an exposure, the imaging sensor of a DSLR warms up, resulting to noisy images. By cooling down the sensor, it is possible to eliminate or somehow minimize this thermal noise.
I have made a number of attempts to accomplish this with a Canon 450D and a Peltier module, however, it appears it is very difficult to implement without running into problems such as condensation and frosting.
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Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
The Logitech 4000 webcam is capable of imaging planets and can be modified to take long exposure images to serve as a guide camera. The modification requires a serial port to externally control the camera’s exposure time using a guiding software such as GuideMaster and PHD Guiding.
The long- exposure modification allows the camera to detect faint guide stars, which is a useful feature for a guide camera. The diagram shown here was a modified version of M. Burri’s (2002) parallel port interface for a Logitech 3000 which I have adapted to work with the newer Logitech 4000 and a serial port.
Related link: View all home-brewed DIY astronomy equipment
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Night Sky in Focus 