Single axis or dual axis drive

[Fifth Element]

Hey guys,:hi:

So Ive finally worked out how to use the Orion CCD imager and my question now is in regards to a single axis or dual axis motor drive. I have an Orion Astroview 120st.

From my limited understanding single axis (RA) allows for tracking and object and the dual axis (DA) allows for centering an object??:question:
I thought i would just get the single axis, as it would be cheaper but I would love some guidance :)


Any suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Many Thanks xx

[dannat]

is t an eq3 or eq5 mount? prob just get the RA axis drive, you can still do manual slow-mo corrections by hand yourself

[Mickoid]

I'm with Daniel on this one, you can manually adjust the declination with the slow motion control rod. You'll still need reasonable polar alignment first for all this to work properly. Good luck.

[Fifth Element]

Thanks guys, much appreciated, I spoke with the dudes at Bintel today, a dual axis drive is about $200, might have to shop around and try and find a single axis cheaper, expensive hobby:thumbsup:

This forum rocks, really appreciate your time:thanx:

[doppler]

A cheap RA drive motor is one of these units. I got mine from Aust geographic shop for $50, runs of a 9v battery and has a variable speed controller. Not sure who sells them in Aust at the moment but they are easy to find on ebay. Search google images for RA drives and you should find a link to a supplier.

[Fifth Element]

Thanks Doppler, I did see one of these on the Astroshop site for $69. Do you find it easy to control without the hand-held device? Is the tracking speed ok? I was unsure, so any advice would be great:thanx:

[doppler]

For what it is it does a pretty good job as far as short focal length and wide field goes. The motor fits onto the ra slow motion shaft and there is a small knob you turn to fine tune the tracking speed. You need to see if the supplied coupling is the same diameter as your slow motion shaft, but you can get various sizes on ebay if needed. It is a cheap way to have a dabble in some astrophotography and a bit of tracking makes visual a lot easier as well especially at higher magnifications. As with any tracking you still need to learn how to get good polar alignment.