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Disclaimer: All the how-to directions below are for information only. They are not intended to be sold or used for unlawful purposes. The author takes no responsibility if they cause the user bodily harm, loss of life, or cause the damage of any property, person, dog, cat, or any other animal. They are presented for information only and all liability is on the part of the reader.
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During the course of developing the skills needed to be a good astro-photographer sometimes it becomes necessary to take the law into your own hands and build what you need. Not everything out there is tailor made these days to fit your exact application. Be careful of the one size fits all stuff and think about what your doing before hand so that you do not end up creating more problems than you solve. All that being said, building stuff can be fun because you can make the equipment fit your needs and do exactly as you want if you employ careful planning. You can also save alot of money in the process. Most astro gear out there is way overpriced so a little do-it-yourself project can be just what you need to save both time money and piece of mind. For example when I first started out I wanted a way to take full disk images of the Moon with my Kodak DC280 camera. Using the adapters on the market at the time was troublesome to say the least. The only one available was a eyepiece projection system that was large bulky and extended the camera beyond the focus point there by requiring that I use a barlow to reach focus. Because of the barlow I never could image the full moon at one time. All the adapters and barlow added up to over 60$. I ended up designing a better system that was configurable for any camera that did the same thing but did not require the use of a barlow and saved 50$. I also was able to achieve a full disk lunar shot also. Below are some of the simple projects I have worked on and the outcome of which can be seen in my gallery images.
Project 1: Simple yet highly effective White Light filter system
Project 2: Pro version of my White Light filter system
Project 2b: Beginner level How to use Registax 4.0
Project 2c: Adapting a Coronado 90mm, 70mm, or 60mm to a JMI NGF-C focuser
Project 3: Simple 30fps B&W USB2.0 imaging system
Project 4: Oak Case for a Takahashi 130mm Scope
Project 5: Building a better solar finder scope
Project 6: Discussions on White Light filter and imaging
Project 12: Creating movies with Registax 4.0
Project 13: Building a simple Herschel Wedge
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