Quote:
Originally Posted by Wavytone
Aaah ... so you want the impossible dream. Unfortunately Jeremy there really is a reason why people pay quite a lot of money for what you ask, it is not trivial.
- a small altaz mount,
- that tracks,
- doesn’t cost a motza.
You can have any two, but not all three.
There are solutions but they all entail buying a new mount - not adapting yours which was never built with motorisation in mind.
A not insignificant part of this is that it entails a small computer of some kind to work out what speed/direction the motors should turn, for which it requires knowledge of the location, date, time and where the scope is pointing. And for that to work it needs encoders of some sort and also a calibration routine.
In other words the functionality of the SynScan handsets, or the equivalent.
Possible ways:
- buy an iOptron Cube, this is the simplest all-in-one altaz solution;
- buy a Skywatcher AZ-GTi, AZEQ5 or the much bigger AZEQ6;
- find and buy a secondhand T-Rex (has worm drives) and find a “train & track” gadget (was used with dobsonians) and somehow connect the two.
- buy a Losmandy AZ8, which has the worms and fit motors from the GM8 (which is similar but equatorial) then figure out how to build and program your own handset, by which time you will have earned a degree in electronics.
- buy a Rainbow Astro harmonic drive mount. That is around $US 10k.
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I think I have explained it wrong (or people have got it wrong)
All Iis where to get a motor and control box from that can turn a small load, adding a bracket to the mount is easy
Eccoders, handsets have ZERO to do with it, no more than it has with a focusser