WHY you SHOULDN'T build a Dual Scope (even though they're amazing 😜)

My Patreon: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek My Merch Store: cuiv.myspreadshop.com/ Dual Barrel Frankenscope components: WarpAstron WD-20 Mount: bit.ly/3wxNbGI Aliexpress cheap dual dovetail: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DEnP1Wr Adjustable Saddle (actually just $130!): s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DcJVxWR Apertura CarbonStar with coma corrector: bit.ly/3W7ZFiA SW Quattro 150P Budget Newt: bit.ly/3BABCxl Proper dual dovetail: tinyurl.com/4rx8j435 Scope adjuster: tinyurl.com/3625nvuv TOUPTEK IMX571 APS-C Cooled camera: tinyurl.com/mr2yhvcw OGMA versions (use code CUIV on checkout for a small discount!): getogma.com/ ZWO 2600MC Duo: bit.ly/3Jti7KQ (HPS) or bit.ly/3M8IkPS (Agena) or tinyurl.com/2227k637 (FLO) Building the scope: https://youtu.be/166AxhdrScI First Light: https://youtu.be/dh_Bl4oJF94 Processing Live Stream: youtube.com/live/DHIZMyhNskk Affiliate Links Amazon affiliate: amzn.to/49XTx01 Agena affiliate: bit.ly/3Om0hNG High Point Scientific affiliate: bit.ly/3lReu8R First Light Optics affiliate: tinyurl.com/yxd2jkr2 All-Star Telescope affiliate: bit.ly/3SCgVbV astroshop.eu/ Affiliate: tinyurl.com/2vafkax8

Hello Cuiv, I am a mechanical engineer which also uses dual imaging setups like this all the time. We use large adjustable rings such as you find on a finderscoope to parallel our instruments. A main point to make in your setup is to add a pair of 1/4" aluminum bars between the top rings of your two scopes to keep them from flexing. Is easy to make and drill to fit and will totally solve most of your flexure issues. As far as making big rings, you can have a machinist cut some thick aluminum tubing into slices and add the threaded holes. Alignment will be very fast and repeatable.

Note that when attaching more than one scope to a single mount, there's no hard requirement that they both image the same target. If you mount is reasonably rigid and properly aligned/guided, it is "tracking" the entire sky accurately. This means that in addition to dual-barrel frankenscopes as shown here, it's also possible to mount a "piggyback" camera/scope (usually a substantially lighter and wider-field one) to your main telescope and point it at an entirely different target for the night. Image a deep-field target with your big newtonian/refractor, and put a ball mount or something with a mirrorless camera and a wide-angle (or short telephoto) lens pointing somewhere else and you can get double the value out of setting up and running your mount for the night!

I have enough frustration with trying to get everything right with one scope. I can only imagine what you must have been feeling trying to get this kind of set up working the way you wanted. I won't be trying a duel scope set up anytime soon ! LOL... And looking at your sky on the balcony with all those clouds in the background, well, I have had one clear night over the last month and that was with a full moon. (Not normal here for June).. I think with my recent interest and all the money I have spent this year I should have known that it would bring an incredibly cloudy and rainy summer ! Here's hoping the fall months ahead are more cooperative and I can actually use my new equipment....haha... Cheers and all the best from Utah ;-)

Not only the Frankenscope has this aligning issue, but every Newtonian too, called Cone error. It happens After the Meridian Flip. After the flip the defraction Spikes will not fit anymore. So a decent solution is highly appreciated to have a very precise possibility of adjustment.

I would try joining the two scopes together, at the bottom and top of each OTA. For this I would make (3D Print) two saddles for each scope. The saddles would profile around each OTA, and would join to one another. I would use a ratchet strap to hold the scopes together in their respective saddles. It would probably still be tricky to align them, but flexure would be much more controlled. You could use engineers feeler gauges to shim between the saddles to help with the alignment. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be cheap and fun to try..

Most of my rigs are at least dual mostly more to maximise use of all the mounts I have. They take a little longer to build and set up but well worth the effort for taking multiple images of the same target at different focal ratios and filters, maximises the time of availabe clear skies

I would try upping the spring size in that adjustable dovetail mount to a heavier spring.

Baader Stronghold is such a solution

The Baader stronghold device is more stable, as its screws are not sping-loaded but push and pull on a metal block

I think your next assignment is to do the same thing, taking into account suggestions from your subscribers, with two 12" inch Newtonians... The push-pull screws are a good idea for aligning the views! 💡👍

Great video Cuiv! I think your idea should work. In order to secure the settings a locking device would be needed. A grub screw would be enough.

Been watching your videos for two years now, today was the first time you’ve been interrupted by a commercial, wow.

My double rig is made of 2 x (Evoguide50 + QHY183c), filter drawers on both, sitting on a losmandy plate, with the guide scope in between both Evoguides. At first I used the Skywatcher guidescope base to adjust alt-az in the second scope, but It gave funky stars, So I put the slave evoguide on its original collimatable rings, That have made adjustment easier, and now both scopes aim almost exactly to the same point. The nice thing with double setups is you capture much more data (I can't image all night long), but taming the whole thing is a hassle (verify aim, 2xfocusing,...ugh). Sometimes it has taken me 1-1.5hrs until everything is ready to start taking pictures, although once everything is adjusted it holds quite well for several sessions. All in all I'm liking it, but it's def a pain in the behind, lol. Stars are almost but not perfect in one of the scopes (there must be some flexure). That idea of linking them with a bar could work. I''ll try and let you know. Clear skies!.

I did this years ago with two 80 mm refractors using a home adjustment platform for one telescope. Basically a couple of aluminum plates, with a clamp on the top plate. One screw was used to fix the scope tip(with stabilizing bolts once in the correct position), and then slotted bolt holes allowed for changing the X-axis of the scope. It worked, but it takes some time, even with a relatively straightforward adjustment mechanism. But I feel your pain, it's a lot of work to fabricate yourself and minimize flexure. The pixel scale you're shooting at makes a big difference too.

I can see the appeal of a dual set up but after all the nightmares you've been through trying to line it up I think I'll stick with the 10" Newtonian lol great video as always clear skies!!!

I wonder if flexture can be reduced by joining them with a second plate on top. Alignment would be harder though. This is probably easier with refractors as cone error will be less.

All I do is shoot dual with filter wheel on one and quad on the other...ADM dual bar and alignment bracket...even have rotators on both

Dammit Cuiv, if you had waited, I was all set to build the saddle for you, very much as you describe! 😂

Many useful learning experiences here, even for those rigging only a single scope for AP. Hey, how about aligning the diffraction spikes between the two spiders? 🕷