well... made some progress so far with the electronic focuser project i'm working on at the moment. I've tried to keep it as simple as possible, and used components that are easily obtainable here in aus. It'll be driven by a stepper motor, with a hand controller and also can be computer controlled.
Hand Controller:
Houses all the components.. bascially only 3 controls on it.. 2 buttons to move the stepper clockwise and anti clockwise, and a speed control.
Software:
Has continous run clockwise and anti-clockwise, that can be speed controlled. Also single step in either direction. Also coming is a preset function.. so you can have presets of positions of the focuser.
Motor Mount:
Don't know yet.. I ordered a crayford
.. so I'm just waiting for it to come before i start seriously considering it. I want to make it a geared drive.. cause i'd prefer it to just a friction drive or a pulley as i think a gear would be more accurate.. which is what u'd want if u'r using the presets.
Now.. just want you guys for any input. Anything, suggestions, critisisms.. I'm no engineer.. and I'm not really one of those skilled people who is good at making and designing stuff like mick, asimov, mhodson etc... The truth is i had very very limited knowledge when i embarked on the project but i'm learning heaps as i go. It's just something to do on those cloudy nights
el