Piggy-backyard

To get me back in the swing of DIY enhancements and pictures, I came up with some goals besides “get a better camera.”  Better tracking, manual guiding, and use of filters seemed good goals.   Guiding a filtered piggyback camera appeared a good way to start.

Here’s the set up on the deck, with the 50mm f/1.4 on a small ball head piggybacked to the scope.  Lots of wires, including camera timer, paddle for dec/RA +/- guiding, heater, 12v supply, and focuser (not really needed for piggyback).  I need to add a heater to the camera too, I guess.

You can see the new bar on the bottom for counter-balance weights.  I looked to buy a dovetail system for this, but decided to make one out of a shelf bracket, sliding nut, and bolt with washers.  It didn’t take long and actually works pretty good.  Some of my tracking error in previous shots was likely due to lack of balance.

For the filters I had some 1.25 eyepiece filters from my dad (Hα, Hß, Oiii/UHC), but nothing I could mount on a camera lens.  Clip-in filters for a Canon camera body or lens are available, but pricey.  A little research and some measurements led me to the idea of making my own clip-in filters from the 1.25’s that dad had sent.  Unmounted, they are around an inch in diameter.

With a compass cutter and some foam left over from a dew shield, I started experimenting with making donuts to fit the filters on the inside and enough outside diameter to squeeze into the 42mm gap that crop sensor Canons have behind the lens.  The compass-knife I bought made quick work of this and I’m glad I didn’t have to cut a traced circle with an exacta knife.  It’s important to buy at least one new tool for a new project.

Here is the end result.  Pictures of actual nebulae will follow in my next post!