Summary

Snap, then glue together this two-piece mount for iPhone 3GS to a standard 1 1/4" telescope eyepiece.

Instructions

Snap, then glue together this two-piece mount for iPhone 3GS to a standard 1 1/4" telescope eyepiece. Works great for party viewing or tether it for a video feed.

The model doesn't use overhangs (other than two little ridges at the top and bottom) so the phone fit is snug, but needs either a delicate touch or a rubber band, velcro strap, etc to stay securely mounted.

Test fit the barrel to the case before gluing. Apply model glue to both pins and contact surface of barrel, then snap together. Remove rubber shade from eyepiece and slide it into the barrel. The fit is tight. Use coarse sandpaper on the inside of the barrel if a looser fit is desired for easiler or faster changing between eyepieces.

Locking the focus on the camera app allows for easier fine tuning of the focus using the adjustment on the telescope. Also, a remote shutter control (like using earbuds with inline volume toggle) helps to keep from jiggling the telescope when you shoot. The distance between the iPhone's camera and the telescope eyepiece is ~8 mm. This makes for a smaller field of view than the size of phone display, but acceptable.

With acceleration, Makerbot build time is about one hour.

Attached photos were taken using a 4.5" refractor. Moon pic is with 'moon filter'. The other is of Jupiter with 3 moons.

Designed using Tinkercad @ tinkercad.com/things/gB2P7x8ZQYT

Telescope eyepiece mount for iPhone 3GS (LaMee Labs)