Amateur Astronomy -- Do It Yourself

Amateur astronomers tend to be a creative bunch. Whenever a problem requires a solution, we will often create the solution ourselves rather than search for a commercial product. I'm no exception. Here I will go over some of the modifications that I have done to my telescope with the goal of saving some of you both time and money (and headaches). If any of you have a tip or home-made solution you would like to share, please send them to me using the suggestions page so I can include them here for others to use.

Cleaning the CG-5 Mount	This is for anybody who owns a CG-5 mount. It is a MUST-DO item to get the proper performance from it.
Quick Acclimation to Ambient	Cool you Newtonian scope down quickly to remove air currents in the tube.
Illuminated Finder Crosshairs	Make your finder crosshairs easy to see under dark skies.
Eliminate Dependence on Batteries	I'll detail how to build a 5vdc power supply for the cheapish Celestron drives (they take 4 D-size batteries). The power supply can take 6vdc to 30vdc input.
Tray Illuminator	Illuminate your eyepiece tray so you can see what you have there at night.
Motor Focusser	Here's how to make a focussing motor and controller using a floppy drive stepper motor and a bunch of Radio Shack parts.

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DO IT YOURSELF