CUSTOM SHOP

Equipment and Capabilities

Starting from your requirements, budget, and other constraints, we develop a design solution which can comprise optical, mechanical, electronic, and software items. Electronic design is performed via Autodesk Eagle, which is used to generate schematics and PCB artwork and drill data. Mechanical design is performed using 3D CAD / CAM tools in Autdesk Fusion 360, which includes FEM analysis for strength and mehanical resonances. Mechanical fabrication is performed in-house or via job shops. Our in-house capability includes the following:

• 14"x40" manual engine lathe
• Bridgeport manual mill
• Haas 40"x20" travel vertical machining center
• NIST traceable gage blocks, measuring tools, etc.

Our site has over 200 sunny days each year and features a test pad for testing mounts. It is also windy. We also operate a nearby observatory at a dark site. This site has been used by NASA JPL to discover several NEO asteroids.

Multi-Telescope tiltable dovetail plates

About

We make custom mounting plates or "bars" which allow multiple telescopes to be put on a single side of a telescope mount. Some examples are shown below

	P type dovetail to carry two RASA 11s, one of which is on a pneumatically actuated rotary table (seen from below). Shown here with the Astro-Physics provided Losmandy type dovetail saddle.
	Single tilting plate adapter between AP 23 inch P type dovetail and AP Losmandy-style long D saddle. Tilts in one axis only, but has about +/- five degrees of travel.
	Triple mounting plate (34 inch) with outer two tilt adjustable for Paramount ME II, AP, and Xerxes Scientific mounts. This plate has +/- 5 degree adjustability in the plane of the plate (in declination) and 0.5 degree vertical (out of plane = RA). It's designed to carry three RASA 11 telescopes, and replaces (or bolts to) the ME II versa-plate when installed on that mount.
	Custom threaded adapter for customer's refractor telescope to Baader steeltrack focuser. Customer's telescope tube must be provided in order to fabricate the mating threaded part.

Double plate with pneumatic actuator and precision slew ring turntable.