Randolph Center Sky Clock -

My 8" Compact Travelscope.  (Ideas taken from Gary Seronik's article in Sky & Telescope.  PDF Version  Unfortunately, Gary's article didn't have a link to plans, so I had to work out how to build it on my own.  This was a fun task, even though it was sometimes frustrating.)  

One major difference is that Gary's was an 8" f/4.1, where mine is an 8" f/6.25.  This gave Gary one luxury of a shorter scope, making balancing easier.

The preliminary plans.  (Like any good carpenter, I deviated a little from these, but not much.)

Click here to see the plans.  (PDF File - 315k)

Here are some pics of making my scope

  The beginning.  Secondary cage octagon's have been cut!

  I decided to make a homemade focuser.  Found a plan for a Crayford-style using PVC pipe.  Took a bit, and like the rest of the scope, needed a little 'tweaking', but all in all works pretty well..

  Easing the focuser parts together.  ;-)   It's a tight squeeze to get the sink-drain pipe down into the PVC.  A little TLC always helps!

  Adding the focuser to the secondary cage.

  The completed secondary cage, with mostly completed focuser.  Just need to attach the knobs.  Until then, a little rubber tubing makes turning it easier.

  The completed mirror, rocker and ground boxes.  Still a couple issues surrounding balance, but otherwise complete.