[elken2004 (Australia)]

Thought I might share this project

It took about three weeks to come to terms with working with Arduino gear and its software etc what an adventure. but all good in the end.

then the mechanics presented its own big challenge too.

items were
Arduino nano
Drv8825 stepper power module
Keys encoder module (better than using a two button setup
gives you the ability to to click for different speeds and a dial up feature, as in back and forth with focuser.

Lcd 1602 12c LCD panel
some vero pcb/headers/

I ended up with about 6 microns per full step, and go down to 1/32 steps.

The final pic shows the stepper in a box which was simply screwed to the stepper itself, with a cutout in the lid for cable and belt.

I could not get the direct to the shaft working reliably so after much work it uses the 10:1 knob which has a 5mm hole drilled from outside, and threaded to take a bolt which holds the gear.
There is no load pressure on the 10:1 shaft itself as the belt is not overly tight, it does not need to be ( that shaft is only 2mm thick too )

I now cant wait to test the 6" refractor with my ST8xe, using the ascom driver and MaximDL I can now do focus offsets.
No more blue bloom, or should i say out of focus.
when I can get time I will learn to use focus max for auto focusing..

I had done some test shots the other using the 80mm and my 60d, I got better
shots than ever before.

I should add that it is fully ascom compliant and has a stand alone window driver, as well as being fully stand alone without any computer. by just using the dial encoder for single stepping or dial up different speeds etc.
The adventure continues........