update#1 "No tools required except for a chair!"
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well the new lounge suite arrived today, part of the toing and froing of being married to an astronomy nut. So sitting on my part of the "bargaining chip for the dob driver" suite, i started reading the instructions for installing.
I must say, i think i can handle this. Cut a few slots in the dob base, a few holes for the roller bearings. Screw my 560mm x 1mm aluminium sheet to the top of the bottom ground board and so on.
It has two quick release attachments for disengaging the drive for manual use - very neat!!!
Software side of things - looks like goto is there etc and an ability to talk to a guide scope, but i will worry about that later.
Chatting with Gary B, and i have told him i want to retro fit it to the GS dob base. If it can be improved upon, i will chat with the brilliant M Pinner and work out an aussie version that can be used to fit to bintel or andrews or saxon etc
More updates to come...... now where are those drill bits?????
az axis of motion is green. a quick 360 degree round trip and it worked. Except for one spot where the aluminium has a low point and the wheel does not grab, but a sledgey will fix that!!!
now for the alt motion
i am very happy, because i can now at least get some more planets at their transit point if needs be even waiting to finish the alt axis.
nice hand controller and am now about to link to the laptop to set up configurations etc
Man you are on a mission.
I made a mistake of putting the battery (a motorbike battery in a box) on the opposite side to the az drive. If anything it needs all and any weight on the SAME side, to give it more grip. Not that I am teaching you how to suck eggs of course DP.
Keep at it, all IIS is watching.
You really wear a red torch while in the sack?? Now that is more weird than the pink dress from the "What colour will I paint the mount" posting.
Wow, there's a blast for me. I had a Dob Driver II on my 14" Dob about 9 years ago? It was great! I loved the way it trained itself as you made manual corrections. it was really liberating after a year of pushing the thing around. You're going to love it!
I have been tracking mars at 600x (5mm vixen with a 2.4x barlow in a 1250mm scope) and it stays in middle of the eyepiece for 15 - 20 secs. More than enough to adjust with the hand controller.
not sure of seeing, don't care, i am going to image mars.
more photos later, i am going to play.
thanks Gary B (go New Zealand!!!), you are a legend and so is my wife for letting me buy it!!!!
