Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes
I don't want to be a wet blanket but making the "wedge" is the easy part.
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Can never be a wet blanket, I also love to explore areas of development to see what options can be explored. Love to get feedback as well as I go sometimes it can give ideas to work with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes
The real problem will come when you need to redesign the azimuth (RA) and altitude (Dec) bearings. The Azm pivot is designed just to keep the "rocker box" central on the base. It will not form a stable pivot once you put a radial load on it.
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I agree this is going to be a challenge, I noticed in your drawing that you have used curtain roller. I am planning using the concept rollers although i will mount CAM Followers on an Ali bracket upside down to keep the base board flat as circles around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes
I once modified a Dobsonian mount to make the azm a substantial bearing with a new pivot that had thrust races to draw the two sections together firmly and ball race wheels replacing the three teflon rub pads. This made a very rigid assembly for driving with a geared stepper motor and belt. However if mounted as an equatorial platform the flexure of the rocker box was a still problem.
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Yes I understand this, I have removed sections of the box and looking at re-enforcing sections to reduce flexure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes
The Declination bearing will present another problem. The existing arrangement won't be very suitable. You will need to make a proper bearing that will hold the optical tube and allow it to move at least from pointing at the pole up to the equatorial plane.
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I agree declination is going to be a pain, but initially I will run this similar to an EQ Platform and fix the Dec as is and consider ideas slowly as they come. This section could prove to be the most comprehensive of builds but as EQ Platform do not have Dec adjustment then I am not missing anything in comparison.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes
As a digressing here you have given me a couple of ideas. I have a LX200 10" classic set of forks or a LX 6 set of forks here that I could use to hold an 8" F4 dobsonian without too much trouble and mount it on a wedge like in your picture.
These forks have the gear drives and I have a set of electronics that will fit the LX200. It would be an interesting project even if not very practical as I would expect my HEQ5 pro to be a better proposition for photography.
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It would be nice, unfortunately I don't have a spare set of fork here. Maybe that will come later if needed.
Photography wise, if I can get the same of better results as a very early platform version -
http://mswhin63.waelect.com.au/Deeps...11_17_30PC.jpg then I will be happy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes
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Nice plan, I am not the best at CAD at the moment, going back to Uni may give the opportunity to learn CAD design.
Bit rushed writing this as I had to go out cooking quickly after starting to type.