Hey,
I have most pieces together I need for a barn door single arm with a curved rod - following this article here:
http://www.petesastrophotography.com (under Mounts/Barn Door Mount on the left hand side).
(even got a drill and a heck saw... wow!)
2 questions:
1. polar alignment - in the southern hemisphere....
a) if I place my compass so that it faces due south - and absolutely parallel to the hinges - is that "enough" alignment?
b) is it necessary that I angle my mount according to my latitude? flat on some really even surface is not an option?
c) if the only possibility is "drift align" - then okay. Tedious- but if that's what it takes I will study that on the web and practice.
2. rotating the rod:
does anyone know of a detailed picture (maybe ?in a building plan) on how to actually move the rod 1 rpm?
I mean like a picture that shows the nuts and bolts and gears and whathaveyou - how they look when they are finally fitted together?
Manually rotating it would be my top most goal, first. To SEE how it all works together... and understand more...
Ultimately, I'd be looking at a motor to decrease the chance of blur due to touching the mount. So a detailed photo of those connections on a curved rod tracking mount would be awesome, too. For the next step.
Please, I have never touched a tool apart from a screw driver - so don't drown me in rocket science
