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What type of mount do you have? I have a VNS and definitely not sure on the accuracy of my build. Having said that, i'm extremely confident that everything is where i want it to be based on my calculations, but were my calculations right?  the main confusion I had was where was the pivoting point for the south segment to 90 degrees with the base and pivoting the segments in the other direction (don't know how to explain)
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Hi Greg,
I've built two styles of platforms. The first is similar to Ed Jones design:
There is a video description here
I used a tangent drive instead of the direct drive. The tangent drive was powered by a stepper motor. It rewinds automatically at the end of one hour's tracking. The circuit has a beeper which sounds to warn you rewinding is about to start. A different tone sounds when battery power is low. The code that runs the circuit also compensates for the small error introduced by using a linear drive. It's a nice system designed by the late Nils Olaf Carlin:
http://web.telia.com/~u41105032/Stepper/Stepper.htm
The other system I'm familar with is a group project we did at the ASV (Astronomical Society of Victoria). It used vertical sectors and a direct drive using a stepper motor. I'll post some photos in another post of the two platform designs for your interest.
How did you make the sectors on your platform? We used a jig to make ours. Ed Jones does his on a table saw with a sanding disk instead of the blade.
Did you calculate the centre of mass of your scope and mount? I ask because motor slippage in a direct drive could muck up the tracking if you did not.
I'm a bit confused by your last sentence above about the 'pivoting point for south segment'. In the southern hemisphere it is the South sector that would be vertical. A photo and a description of your alignment process would be useful.
The motor you have is used by a lot of people for their platforms so it should be possible to make it work. But I do agree that a stepper motor is likely to be better in the long term.
Regards,
Rod.