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Leveling Base
for
XT-12 Intelliscope
When you assemble the Intelliscope, the instructions tell you to
set the base on a perfectly level surface. Then, you install the OTA onto
the base and stand it vertical -- using a level, check to see that the tube is
vertical. There is an adjustable stop on the base that you adjust to
ensure the OTA is vertical in relationship to the base.
When you use the Intelliscope, you start off with the OTA vertical -- then --
turn on the handheld controller, find two alignment stars, and align the scope.
It is easy to misinterpret the instructions about the OTA being vertical -- read
carefully:
- When you assemble the scope, set the base on a perfectly flat
surface -- check with a level -- install the OTA, stand it vertical, measure
the OTA for plumb, and adjust the stop on the base so that the OTA is
aligned perfectly vertical in relationship to the base.
- When you use the Intelliscope controller -- set the
scope on the ground, plug in the controller, DO NOT TURN THE CONTROLLER ON,
then move the OTA to its vertical position against the stop. This does
not mean that the OTA must be perfectly vertical -- that is, if the scope is
on the ground and the ground is rough or not level, the OTA will be slightly
out of vertical -- that's fine because the OTA, when it is against the
vertical stop on the base, is vertical in relationship to the base.
Carefully read the Intelliscope instruction manual and it tells you the
scope does not have to be on level ground after it has been assembled.
- HOWEVER -- sometimes it's not possible to find a good spot to set
up the scope, especially if you are at a viewing location that is on rough
ground. For this reason, I made a leveling platform that I can use in
case the place where I set up the scope is really rough. This article
shows how I built my leveling platform. I rarely use this platform --
just find a patch of ground that's reasonably flat and plunk the scope down
there, but, sometimes I am at a location where the ground is quite rough and
this platform comes in handy to keep the scope sitting on a solid
foundation.
Here are some photos and a description of the leveling base -- construction
is pretty much self-explanatory and the base is applicable to any Orion
Intelliscope scope. Note: I am a fairly careful craftsman but in the
case of this leveling bases, I made it up as I went along, bought some
materials, hacked away with my saw and drill, and let it roll. If this
base is useful to you, please feel free to modify it.
The problem was to make a base on which I could set my Orion XT-12
Intelliscope and then level the base. I figured I needed:
- A triangular base.
- Adjustable legs on all three of the corners of the triangle.
- Holes in the base into which the feet on the XT-12 would sit.
Here's a photo of the finished product.

The base is made of 3/4-inch B-C plywood. The bottom edge -- the edge
facing you -- is 35 inches wide, I don't recall the other measurements --
finished size will vary with the size of your scope. Look at each corner
where you will see a 1/8-inch X 6-inch eyebolt. These eyebolts screw in
and out of a T-nut in the plywood. On the end of each eyebolt is an acorn
nut that rests on the ground. By turning the eyebolt in or out, I can
raise or lower the corners of the leveling base -- with the scope sitting on
this base I put a bulls-eye level on the scope base, turn the eyebolts in and
out until the level shows level and the scope is then sitting level and is ready
to align.
Note that adjacent to each eyebolt is a 1-1/4-inch hole drilled through the
plywood base. The XT-12 Dobsonian baseplate has three hard plastic feet --
those feet fit into these three holes -- the locations of these holes will vary
depending on your scope. Note that there are two holes roughly in the
center of this base. The bottom of the XT-12 base has a bolt that holds
the XT-12 base together -- the head of that bolt rests in the upper one of these
two holes -- the lower of these two holes is a mistake.
Here's a close-up view of the leveling legs.

The leveling leg has three components. This photo is taken looking at
the bottom of the leveling base.
- A T-nut that is set into a
hole drilled in the corner of the leveling base. I used T-nuts with
3/8-16 threads. The T-nut is fastened to the base with three small
screws.
- An eyebolt with threads to
match the T-nut. I used a 4-inch long eyebolt -- this length will give
you plenty of adjusting range.
- An acorn nut that serves as a
foot for the eyebolt. I plan to replace this acorn nut with a hard
rubber or plastic foot as soon as I can find one.
Construction process
Construction of this base is self-explanatory but here's a rough idea of how
I did it.
Materials
I got all the material at my local big-box hardware store (Home Depot,
Lowe's, etc.). My materials were:
- One 4-foot X 4-foot piece of 3/4-inch plywood.
- Three T-nuts, 3/8-16 threads.
- Three eyebolts, 3/8-16, 4 inches long. Don't use anything
shorter than 4 inches.
- Three acorn nuts with threads to match the eyebolts. Or, if
you can find a plastic or rubber foot, or any other foot, use it.
- Black paint -- exterior latex, gloss or semi-gloss.
- #6 Phillips screws, 1/2 inch long, to secure the T-nuts to the
plywood base.
Building the base
As stated previously, look at the photos and you should be able to build your
own leveling base. Here is the process I used.
- Get together all materials; a pencil; a yardstick; tape measure;
telescope; saw; drill with assorted bits and hole saws.
- Lay the plywood on the ground.
- Set the telescope on the plywood.
- Using the pencil and the yardstick: mark the points where the feet
on the scope base sit on the plywood; using the yardstick as a straightedge,
lay out the base -- make the base a triangle that is somewhat larger than
the base of the scope.
- There is a bolt that attaches the bottom half of the scope's base
to the top half of the base. The head of that bolt protrudes out of
the bottom baseplate. You must drill a hole in the leveling base to
accommodate this bolt head otherwise the scope will not sit level on the
leveling base. More about this later.
- Remove the scope from the base and cut the base out of the sheet
of plywood.
- The feet of the XT-12 are 1-1/4 inches in diameter -- using a hole
saw, cut a 1-1/4-inch hole in each of the three places that you marked for the scope
feet.
- Now -- I rubbed chalk on the head of the bolt in step 5.
Then, I set the scope onto the base -- the feet fit through the three
1-1/4-inch holes and the bolt head rested on the plywood. I lifted the
scope off the plywood and there was a chalk mark where the bolt head hit the
plywood -- cut a big hole here -- I used the 1-1/4-inch hole saw.
- Drill three holes, one in each corner, to accommodate the T-nuts.
Measure these holes so they are evenly placed in the corners of the plywood
triangle.
- Set everything aside and paint the leveling base. I put three
coats of black, latex, exterior semi-gloss paint on each side and the edges.
- After the paint is dry, turn the plywood upside down. Stick the
T-nuts into the holes drilled for them in each corner and secure them with
the small Phillips head screws.
- Flip the base right-side up. Screw the eyebolts through the T-nuts
so an inch or so is sticking out the bottom of the plywood. Turn the
plywood over and put an acorn nut on each eyebolt and tighten.
Your leveling base is now complete -- sit it on the ground. Place the
scope on the base so the feet on the scope go through the three holes in the
base.
I use a bull's-eye level -- lay it on the scope base and turn the eyebolts in
and out of their corner holes to level the base.
That's it.
If you build this base, please send me an
e-mail with photos so I can see your
improvements.
Here are the same photos as above with annotations.


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