Couch Potato Telescope

Couch Potato Telescope
Notes after building the CPT Binocular Chair

I’ve seen the design for the Couch Potato Telescope (CPT) binocular chair many years ago. Sim Picheloup of Houston is the inventor and despite the name Couch Potato Telescope title Sim gives his invention it nothing to do with telescopes. The “CP Telecope” is strictly for binocular astronomy. The CPT allows it’s user to recline comfortably at various angles and swivel around horizontally. The beauty is while the view is reclining and spinning around the binoculars are suspended exactly in front of the user’s eyes.

After getting Celestron 20x80s I knew that I could have to do something about a mount because my neck was telling me that the photographic tripod just wasn’t cutting it. My astronomy pal, Rick, purchased a hardware kit from the Sim directly at the 2009 Texas Star Party. Mr. Picheloup sells his invention at various levels: Plan only, Plan and tubing, Hardware kit with plan, fully assembled. I obtained copies of the plan and decided to purchase the hardware at the local Home Depot.

The plan is 27 pages in length and at sometimes very unclear. There is a huge parts list of a mixture of parts, including a 12-inch lazy Susan bearing; polyethylene tubing; carpet tape; bicycle inner tube, screws of various sizes, and much more, about 160 parts total in various sections of Wal-mart and Home Depot. Having Rick helping was good because the plans are often sometimes confusing so even buying parts was challenging. It took two trips to the Home Depot each one about two hours in length to find all required parts. Some parts we couldn’t find so we had to come up with a substitute. The plan called for thin a specific pipe tubing but we found a copper pipe worked just fine and was much easier on the pocket book. If I had to
work on it again I would have purchased the hardware kit from Sim, which was listed on this geocities.com site for around $100. (Yahoo shut down geocities.com so Sim’s website is no longer up). Parts cost me around $85 locally.. I would have gladly paid the extra $15 to avoid the headache of staring at the hardware isle at Home Depot for hours.

The construction took about 10 hours total spread out across 2 days. As stated before some parts of the plan were confusing but we eventually figured it out. You start by pre-drilling holes in various parts, PVC pipes, electrical conduit elbows, and a few more random parts. Next you have to think back to your scouting days and tie some knots in rope. Then, friction joints that are the whole secret to the whole CPT design.

Some basic woodworking and mechanical tools are need and once the little sub assemblies are done the construction is fairly quick.

There are some improvements that Rick developed that we implemented in the design
and we also developed a few modifications of our own we developed while building my CPT. Some simple ones were attaching bungee cords to hold the chair down, adding a head rest to the beach chair, tying the clevis pin to the base.

As in typical fashion anytime I get something new it is cloudy for a good while afterward and that is the case now. The forecast doesn’t look promising.

I’ve tested the chair in my living room and it easily supports the weight of the 20x80 binoculars and Rick has even mounted 25x100s on his with success. One possible major over haul I might eventually do is to replace the ½” thick swivel board with a thicker board. I’ve read other CPT reviews on the internet and many have made this modification. For now I haven’t used the chair under real observing conditions so I’ll decide if that overhaul will be worth it.

Clear Skies Y’all! - Matthew

Buying a Telescope Series (Part 2 - Planispheres & Binoculars)

Not the best quality video... but has some good information for all those considering getting a Telescope for Christmas.



Next Blog on this subject will be posted on 11/28/2009.

First Light: Celestron Skymaster 20x80

Well I decided to try our a set of the Celestron 20x80 binoculars after taking a look though Rick's at Hill Country State Natural Area a week or so ago. I've read many mixed reviews about these. Rick's seem ok. I found that B&H Photo in NY had them for $115 with free shipping. Not bad considering MSRP is around $300.

I figured I'd take my chances and hope for the best so I ordered a set and figured I had about a 50% chance of getting a good set. If not they came with Celestron's No Fault warranty or I could exchange them through B&H. Or if worse came to worse sell them to a pawn shop.

So I rolled the dice and today UPS delivered the binoculars. I have to say before I got the box open I had the same feeling as when I got my 16" Lightbridge from the "brown Santa"...that feeling was kind of like... these are a little bit bigger than I thought it would be.

I paid a little extra for shipping so they would be here today this paid off in more than one way. #1 clouds are rolling in as I type this, #2 our club had our weekly star party at a local park. So I took these and left the telescopes at home.


Binocular Night at the Park (First Light!):
I set the 20x80s up on my very best tripod a Velbon Carbonfiber Model and I took a stool along. I arrived at the park just after sunset and just before moon set. This week our club's weekly star party must have been unoffical binocular night. There were 3 astronomers using binoculars Wednesday night, the most binoculars we've had at the park. Because the moon was about to disappear behind trees first light was on the thin lined moon. I have to say I was impressed with the view. These binoculars really "rock" the moon! The view was excellent and sharp.

Next, I set my sights on Jupiter. I could see the 4 moons and Jupiter. I was a little dissapointed in the amoount of color distortion on Jupiter itself... I got some red on the side of it. I happened to set up next to another astronomer, Ed H., using the Celestron Skymaster 11x70's I called him over to take a look. We compared we agreed the image in my 20x80 was clearer than the 11x70's. (I thought about getting the 11x70's instead so this confirmed my choice). Needless to say this image wasn't that bad and it acceptable in my book as I didn't buy these to use for planetary work.

Then I moved to M31. This was a really nice sight even in the light pollution of San Antonio, TX. I could clearly make out the galaxy and I was totally impressed with the image I got. It was 142.58742221% better than my 10x50 Celestron Close Up Binoculars. I sat there a long time just staring.

I searched around Cassiopeia for a while and then I landed at NGC457 a.k.a. "ET"/"Wall-E". Nice sight the eyes of "ET" looked great.

Then I moved on to the double cluster and that was really nice. It is amazing how small it looked with only 20x. I'm used to seeing it at more magnification in my telescope.

At this point in the night I started to really think my purchase had paid off. I had rolled the dice and actually got an acceptable pair of these discount 20x80 binoculars.

While pondering my gamble it was also about the same time the Pleiades (M45) was high enough to see with the binoculars. These 20x binoculars provided and eye filling view of these 7 sisters. I thought I'd better get a wider set of binoculars like some 11x80's but I think that 20x is nice. I'm still close enough to see things in detail but still wide enough to take in a lot of the sky.

I chatted with folks for a while. People came and took a look though the binoculars and they were all impressed. Bryan T. also was using his binoculars to work on the Astronomy League's Binocular Messier Club. When I walked up to him he was looking up Neptune on his iPhone. I have to say I love these apps on the iPhones... I just don't want the bill! I'll have to look for a used iPod touch! (Rick what are you doing with your old one?) Neptune was above Jupiter and just above 3 stars in a line. I decided to star-hop with the 20x80. I started out on Jupiter moved to Nashira naked eye visible star above and to the left (south) of Jupiter, then to Deneb Algedi which was above and to the left (South) of Nashira. From Deneb Algedi I simply panned to the West to find a line of 3 starts. (I really like lines of stars as the are easy to confirm your in the right place!). Above this line I could see a blueish little "Star" that became more visible with adverted vision. That was Neptune! The line of stars I saw were (45 Cap, 44 Cap, and 44 Cap).

It was getting cold and and saw just about everything I wanted to except Orion's Nebula which was still in the trees. So I packed up left the park. After a quick stop to get a bean and cheese taco at Taco Cabana I was home. Now Orion's Nebula was at a point in the sky where I could get a look, but some thin clouds started to roll in. I set up the tripod and binoculars and took a quick peak before heading in to write this. I was treated with the nebulosity in the Nebula which was a nice sight despite the thin rolling clouds. After a quick look at the red star Betelgeuse I headed in and the clouds did the same!

First light was a blast with these binoculars. I saw one Galaxy, 2 Star Clusters, a nebula, 5 moons, and 2 planets! I'm happy with my el'cheapo binos!

Making Binocular Lens Caps

What you will need:
Your Binoculars
Duck Tape (I used crome like Duct Tape)
Masking Tape
Scissors
Ruler/Straight Edge
Spiral Notebook back.



1. Get your binoculars.


#2. Lay ends of surface you wish to cap on notebook backing. Then, trace surface on to backing with pen or pencil.



#3. Cut out circles that you created in step 2.


#4. Measure the depth you wish your caps' side should be. Then use a ruler/straight edge and make strips using those measurements. You need to have a long strip so it will fit around the lens (plus additional overlap).


#5. Cut out previously made strip and place around edge of capped area (the lens you are making the cap for). Use masking tape to tape adjusted size. You want it snug but lose so you can take it off easily. Tape both the inside and outside of the circular shape you create.




#6. Place the round piece over the lens while you have your edge piece. Then use masking tape to "mask" up the lens cap. I used masking tape because it was much easier to work with than duck tape.



#7. Now cover the whole thing with duck tape while it is on your lens.

#8. Take off cap once it is totally covered.

#9. Trim off excess tape to clean things up.

#10. You're Done!!!!!!