I have been flat out at it all day, but I am pleased to say . . .
IT'S FINISHED!!!!!
I started at about 10:00 am this morning and just finished at 9:43pm tonight!
I am exhausted.
After I have a sit down, a cold drink and a bit of a rest (mind more than body) I am going back out, plug it in and give it its first run.
I am pleased with how everything fit together perfectly and the paint, brass and chrome all look terrific together. I will take a daytime shot tomorrow.
I placed the whole unit on concrete footings to make it stable in the soft ground (that took 4 hours alone) and it doesn't move a whisker! The whole unit is so heavy it is very hard to move it on purpose!!!
Another 20 minutes and I'm off to test it at tracking.
Anyway, here are the pics.
Pic 1: Start of assembly and the digging out.
Pic 2: The footings in.
Pic 3: Completed - Lot's of Brass and Chrome.
Pic 4: The whole completed unit.
Impressive! Would love to make 1. Hey, is it possibel to retrofit a EQ mount tripod (or fork tripod) with a motor drive option to an 8" F6 Dob? as they start at $295 odd + motor drive kit... has anyone done it/recommend it ??
Well, it tracks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!
A few bugs to iron out but it works. Yippeeeee!!!!!
Paulee, you can stick a dob on an EQ. That's what this one is for. I tested it tonight with my sons 8" but it was put together for my 12" Dob to go on. One of the members in here (Ving) has just stuck his 8" Dob on an EQ mount. Unless you know a lot about machining and welding etc, just buy the EQ mount and motorise it, or buy a motorised one. I didn't build the one above, I restored and altered it.
That's one of the bugs Asitracker. I have to get the speeds down pat. I had it going too fast, too slow and everywhere near, but not spot on yet.
No Planets visible to test on coz of the cloud but I managed to keep Orion Neb in the FOV for about 4 minutes using a 9mm EP. And I haven't even done a polar alignment yet! Not bad considering an object only lasts about 15 seconds without tracking at 9mm.
No imaging for a while yet. The bugs are minor, but one is a biggy.
I'll have to change motors which will mean new mounting plates as well and maybe the whole housing
Sorry for the confusion AsiJohn. The motors 'speed' isn't a problem.
The motor speed is controlled by the 'Stepper' program in the lappy. I can make it go any speed I want. I can even adjust it by .0001 of a second if I want. I just have to work out the exact speed.
The problem with the motor is that it is a 50 step motor. It really needs a 200 step motor. Being a 50 step motor is making the image in the EP vibrate. A 200 step motor should smooth this out.
Ah yes, I fully understand now....I've got a few steppers in my shed of course lol!
You got one organized?....if not tell me what U need & I'll see what I have. BTW I thought they usually rate steppers degrees per step? For example, I have a 1.8 deg per step motor sitting here in front of me. I guess your talking 50 steps per revolution?
well done Ken, i am really keen to drop in and marvel at this in march. top stuff!!!
360 divide 50 = 7.2 degree per step stepper.
i would have thought the gearing smooths it out. ie you would just need a larger ratio reduction for the 7.2 degree compared to a 1.8 degree. I seem to remember bert mentioning the ratio? Do you know what reduction it is. Ideally i ithinik you are meant to step while tracking at around 15 times a second, so you just need to reduce the motor down to get to that rate???
It is always a balancing act between the time needed to slew to a new target and smoothness of tracking an object
I managed to keep Orion Neb in the FOV for about 4 minutes using a 9mm EP. And I haven't even done a polar alignment yet! Not bad considering an object only lasts about 15 seconds without tracking at 9mm.
Fine piece of engineering, sounds like its going to be a little beauty of an EQ.
Asi, I will check on what can be done with the motor and then let you know if I need another. Thanks mate!!!
Here are the daytime shots of the finished mount. I have placed them next to the pics of how it looked when Bert gave it to me. As you can see, if was worth restoring!
EQ Mount - FINALLY FINISHED!!!!
