I am on a serious shed and office clean out and need to move these two items. They have served their purpose and time to move on.
In case you dropped into this page wondering what an Equatorial Platform is, they are used to carry a non GOTO dob so as to provide tracking whilst observing. The platform moves whilst carrying its payload (the Dob). Typically they will provide 30 - 60 minutes of observing until the platform has to be reset by moving it back to its starting position.
I have two of these, one is a home made version that I built from a kit purchased from a supplier in the UK. It has scrubbed up quite well and is very solid. I found that it struggled carrying the weight of my 12" dob fully loaded though this could be improved with a bit of work. I have tested the platform and it still works. It comes with the full instruction set if you need to modify it.
The second platform is a Johnsonian 5 pre made one that was quite popular in its hey day. I have tested this platform as well and it works fine. I have a printed copy of the manual for the Johnsonian 5. Attached are photos of both units.
Given the price of GOTO dobs these days I cannot expect to get much for these. They would also be costly to ship given that they are a bit on the weighty side. This is why I have decided to make them "Free to Good Home". On one condition - who ever takes them off my hands must take
BOTH . As I said, I am on a serious shed and office clean up and they must move on.
I don't think that it is practical to try and pack them and send them by courier so pick up from Bathurst NSW is preferred. I could travel up to one hour from my place to drop them off some where as well. Alternatively, I do try to get to the ANSW site at Wiruna each new moon so could take them there.
Please PM if interested or with any questions.
Clear skies,
Rodney