Mini Scope

[Vinnie]

Here's a little DIY that you all might be interested in.

I've put this together from an old manual focus film SLR camera lens. These are a dime a dozen these days and you can pick them up for almost nothing at garage sales etc. Or you may have some laying around that haven't been used for years.

This one is a Minolta 52mm 210-70 tele zoom, plus a 2x tele extender, with an adaptor turned up from a couple of plumbing fittings, and a 2x shorty barlow at the end before the standard 1.25" diag.

With a 10mm plossl it gives me a 52mm zoom scope of approx 25x to 85x and the views are quite clear.

You will have to tinker a bit, if you want to put one together, to get the distances between things right so that you can focus, and the barlow is essential, focus can't be achieved without it.

The whole thing breaks down in seconds to fit in a small camera bag, and I guess you could leave it in the car all the time, or in the saddle bag of your Harley (that's where mine is), or carry it on as cabin baggage on a flight.

[Multiverse]

So what exactly would the point of this be? Not at all saying i think it is pointless lol just it looks cool and i think i have some of those things in my house that my dad doesn't use anymore. But just wondering what this was for.

[Vinnie]

Its just a very small and cheap scope, that is easy to make , a fun project, and something you can always have on hand if an unexpected opportunity for good observing turns up maybe if you are travelling. Like some of the guys never travel without a pair of Binos for the same reason

Good to look at the night sky with

[FatherGuse]

... beer in a bottle ... BRILLIANT ! ! ! ...

... been playing around with this very same idea because I have a small fortune invested in old Cannon FD lenses and gear ... my thinking was that along with astrophotography this would be an excellent way to "recycle" some of the expensive (well, once it was very expensive) Cannon Glass ...

... also pulled out my old photography filters for the same reason ...

... besides ... how much fun is it to actually "build" something from parts that were not originally intended for such a purpose, and "tune" it to work like it was meant to be that way in the first place? ... great fun man ... enjoy, enjoy, enjoy ... and you now have a great terestrial viewer as well as a stargazer ...

... clear skies ...

[Vinnie]

Yes, Bill

Just doing something useful with all those old camera bits and pieces that are incidentally very high quality glass.

Since you mentioned filters, its worth noting that 48mm camera filters screw straight into 2" astronomy hardware.

I use old 48mm Linear Polarisers, Skyglow, and 80 and 82 series from time to time in my 2" gear. Hoya filters are actually the same as the astro brand Lumicon (ie Hoya is the manufacturer that supplies Lumicon) which is not a cheap brand. At one time Lumicon's advertising blurb actually said that they only use Hoya glass.

I have bought old cameras at garage sales/auctions for a few dollars just to get one filter that would cost a lot more from an astro supplier. Food for thought......

[jstange2]

Now I will have to start watching auctions and garage sales.

[Vinnie]

Originally Posted by jstange2

Now I will have to start watching auctions and garage sales.

You'd be surprised some of the stuff that does turn up!

Whilst I am not a full on ATM (amateur telescope maker) I do, and have done many scope/mount modifications, DIY improvements, repairs etc for myself, and more often for others. (I have an engineering trade background)

Even old scopes/mounts etc that are almost trashed still yield useable parts, as long as you don't pay much for them, and old camera gear often turns up a nice find

[DarkTempo]

Damn similar to my first scope, made it when i was about 7 years old :P however on my objective i actualy removed the last lens to pump up the focal length to about 50cm, worked pretty well

This things also work well as finderscopes (just as an ideea for @Multiverse :P)

[roverich]

Hi vinnie ... Great post ....I am going to try with an old manual lens i have , if i can get some parts toghether ...

[BobDob]

Sweeeet idea, Vin. Thank you! There's gonna be a whole lot of scroungin' goin' on...