mount drive

[GReilly]

Looking for a RA drive for an AOS Samson mount. 1.25in shafts.....

[koputai]

Hi Greg,
I'm working on building a drive for my own Samson at the moment, maybe you could do the same. How much of the mount and drive do you have?
Cheers,
Jason.

[GReilly]

Hi Jason,
Thankyou for your response and my apologies for being so slow in answering. I neglected to checkthis post for a while.... obviously!

I haven't any parts at all yet. Just have the bare mount. Also looking at how the drive could work with a navigation product like Argo Navis.

Please don't hesitate to pm your response so I don't miss your answer.
Greg

[solissydney]

Hi
Argo Navis works just fine on my Astro Mount, so should it on your Samson Mount
Ken

[koputai]

Hi Ken,
Do you have any pictures of your Argo installation?

Greg,
So you just have shafts and bearings, with no drive gears at all?
If that's the case, I think it's going to involve probably more work and cost than it's worth. Maybe look at doing a Roboscope drive, using Meade motors and Autostar?

Cheers,
Jason.

[solissydney]

Image of my Astro Mount fitted with Argo Navis
Ken

[GReilly]

Hi Ken,
Thankyou for the picture - very impressive. I assume the pulley wheel setup acts as a clutch for manual push-to while driving?

The setup looks very strong and steady - I assume it is permanent?

Greg

[Ian Robinson]

AWR in the UK may be worth asking about this .... they do retrofits to mounts , even GOTO system retrofits.

http://www.awrtech.co.uk/

Beakon Hill Telescopes also do complete drive systems .... no web site.

[solissydney]

No, the pulley wheel does not act as a clutch.
Clutches are part of the mount. No unlocking and locking using of any lever. One just pulls and pushes the telescope tube in Dec and Ra. The pulleys are geared to suit the mount. As the shaft turns the pulses are transmitted to the display on the paddle. Two arrows on the display tells you how many degrees and minutes to push or pull the scope in DEc and RA. When they both show zero you are on the target of your chosen object, or very close to it using an eyepiece. In my case with the 12 inch scope, (lots of overhang), I am always within half of one degree of my chosen target.
Hoping I have explained it properly.
Ken