Hi All,
The project is now officially on hold, there was some issues that I can't resolve in my financial capacity at this stage but the problem now is entirely the drive mechanism. I require to fabricate a bearing/drive system that can contain the weight in the latitude I want. The system is not completely dead though as it will still works, the friction drive I tried was functional but the weight in the position caused too much slippage.
I can get driven bearing off the shelf but are quite expensive so will motorise it for ALT/AZ operation until I can get the right finances to complete it.
I am though considering another alternative, seeing the bearing is quite expensive I am considering building an EQ mount for the the 12" and possibly above instead. I am looking at a simple box design instead of crafting a thing of beauty I will go for a thing of functionality instead. I have plenty of stainless steel rod with 10mm taps on each end I will consider this option over the year.
You win some, you lose some
