A main obstacle facing beginners in astronomy today is the tough question of what to buy and what parts go well together. There are so many variables to consider, such as budgets, intended targets, vendors, and getting the rig to even work. Astro-Builder is a website that aims to provide free tools for the astrophotography community. These tools are mainly focused on more easily planning and purchasing components for a complete imaging rig.

Finding information on forums and blogs may be a challenging task, thus this project aims to simplify the building process and make astrophotography more accessible, similar to how PC building has. Most of the tools on this site are and should remain free, but the site will earn income from affiliate programs. More options for monetization to sustain server costs will be explored in the future, but the main builder tool, basic build sharability, and the future equipment comparison tool will always remain free for all.

Astrophotography parts are notoriously a fickle bunch. There are many different manufacturers across a variety of categories making high quality parts that are used by astronomers around the world. This fact makes it very difficult to gather data of parts scattered across the internet throughout numerous vendors, catalogues and stores. Astronomy is very decentralized compared to pc-building, and although we have tried our best to gather as many parts as we could find, there are naturally gonna be many parts you are familiar with that are not present on this website as of now.

Don't fret though! New parts are added to the database every day and specifications, links, and prices are manually scanned and updated as fast as possible. The goal is to have every piece of equipment that is used around the world by astronomers on this website, so feel free to use the first link below to submit equipment that you believe is relevant and deserves to be catalogued. You may also find specs and prices that do not match up with the link provided, and we are happy to fix any discrepancies — use the second link below.

• Submit equipment to add to the catalogue
• Fix incorrect specs, links, or prices

We are committed to providing free, centralized information about a diverse range of astronomy parts, and our catalogue is the second strongest resource that truly drives this website. Thank you so much for supporting the early stages of astrobuilder, and for being one of our first users.

To layout my intentions for the future goals of this website as transparently as possible, my end vision is to have this website exist alongside Astrobin, astronomy.tools, Cloudy Nights and the numerous astrophotography subreddits and discord as a resource widely used and respected by the overall community. My first and foremost intent is to be trusted by the community, thus all of my efforts will be focused foremost on addressing feedback and requested features from fellow astronomers.

Modern technologies have made it possible to develop and host a website with very little personal cost, and with the help of organic affiliate commissions and donations, I will dedicate my time and resources to perfecting this site in the eyes of the astrophotography community over time. I will consistently update the catalogue database with new and old products, refresh specs, explore partnerships with vendor APIs and content creators, and listen to feedback.

I do ask however that my personal creative vision and independence be respected and this site and its intellectual contents are in the end solely my own. I look forward to continuing to update this site with new content, new products, and new features in cooperation with the larger astrophotography community.

There are still lots of edges to smooth out and information to correct, especially regarding compatibility, specs, links, and prices. I am a solo developer and while I use "we" to talk about the astro-builder team, I only do it because of the simple fun of thinking of myself as a team. My minimal manpower thus leads to errors, mistakes, and not being able to fully scope out the needs of the community.

This is where YOU come in. Through a community based feedback system, I can slowly iterate step by step until most mistakes are fixed. This will require gentle constructive criticism and continuous support, but your voice will always be heard and deeply valued. Thank you for using my website and feel free to leave a donation to support my efforts.

AstroBuilder is built and maintained by a single developer in his free time. If this site has helped you plan your rig or saved you some research time, consider buying me a coffee — it goes a long way toward keeping the servers running and the catalogue growing.

Buy me a coffee