Hi All
I have 2 scopes (16" and 8" traveller), both DIY, and am currently building a 14" binoscope. None of my scopes are GoTo and I don't get as much use out of them as I would like as I'm a bit lazy to struggle to hunt for DSOs in my light polluted back yard. I was also spoiled for a few years with a Meade LX200 so miss the joy of just touring the sky effortlessly after just pushing a few buttons.
So as my winter project, I decided to build 2 Onstep STM32 blue pills with the smart hand controller (SHC).
After looking online at Jaycar to price parts, it was quickly apparent that using eBay / aliexpress was the only way forward for me as 1. not all parts are available at Jaycar and 2. just the ESP32 controller was $39.99 (vs around $10 inc postage) on Aliexpress. Price disparity varied on the little bits and with some parts up to 50x (yup!!) more expensive. However, it would require a bit of patience on the posting time. The locally source parts at $300-$400 (ex motors) was too much to justify so I bought off other online marketplaces.
By bulk buying off ebay and AliExpress (6 sets), it worked out at about $85 per set. WIN! However, there is the 6-12 week wait for parts.
To reduce the complexity of building I also ordered the PCB's for both the controller and SHC from easyEDA. This took less than a week to arrive as they only have DHL as a delivery option so I ordered 20 sets to spread postage and a number of people on the forum have expressed interest in my surplus.
I'll have a number of spares, and will sell these as a package kit to anyone interested (at cost plus postage only!) once I've done my first build and have a complete parts list. It is a time-consuming PITA drawing up the shopping list and then find/buy fiddly little parts but since I have to do it, hopefully it will save other duplicating effort. I've attached my list - it remains draft until I finish my build as it's likely missing some things. I will update it as I progress.
NOTE: There are 2 types of ESP32 controller (which I found out a bit late). It's well documented on the build instructions but I missed that (oops!
). In a panicked rush, I ordered a second batch of microcontrollers, but the first supplier was also kind enough to recall their original order and swap out the original controllers for the correct ones. They had a no-returns policy, so I have a few extras now
.
Fast forward 2 months and the parts are now starting to dribble in so the build has commenced....Wish me luck!
Scott