Solar Projector

thingiverse

This is a design for a simple, inexpensive and easily portable solar projector that can be used for a solar eclipse or just basic solar viewing.Update:I updated the design of the tripod cradle to include slots to hold the zip ties.I designed a plate with a hole to match the end of the monocular to cover up the larger hole needed in the tube cap to pass the body of the monocular through. This would be installed on the top of the cap after the monocular is installed in the monocular mount and as that is being attached to the tube cap. This also holds the monocular steadier.I also designed a lens cap with a half inch hole to stop down the aperture and produces a sharper but dimmer image.I included the 123DDesign file and left the cylinder I used as a reference for the desired diameter but I used a cone to create the hole so that it would reduce reflections from the sides of the hole vs. a cylindrical hole. You can move the cone up or down before subtracting it from the lens cap to achieve a larger or smaller aperture.Update 2:A friend decided to try building this and ordered the same monocular from Amazon but received a different version that is smaller in diameter and would not have fit the mount. He measured it and I designed a second version to fit the smaller diameter monocular without the thicker rubber coating. The front plate and lens cap had to change as well but you may be able to just reduce the existing lens caps to 96%. He tried my initial estimate of 95% but it was tight.See the photo of the 2 mounts side by side to see how much difference there is in diameter. The 2nd version of the monocular would probably have just fallen through the original design.I also created a template for cutting out the viewing window that is about 120 degrees which worked well when my friend used it and is better than the 180 degree cutout I tried on my original. It shouldn't weaken the bottom as much. I have had mine fall over when I set it on the bottom which is not recommended because it is top heavy with the monocular.I couldn't attach the Adobe Acrobat version of this template so I attached a JPEG version of the template and it should be sized for 2" high x 3.25" wide and be positioned just below the bump holding the bottom strap in place. This leaves a lip around the bottom to help maintain strength and keeps the bottom flat.