I recently completed a project to build a scotch mount so I could take some widefield sky shots.
Attached are some images of the StarTracker.
The mount was loosely based on this one:
http://www.astunit.com/tonkinsastro/...handscotch.htm
The wood was from some offcuts I'd had lying around for some time now. Add a few nuts and bolts, a hinge etc. from the local hardware shop ( < $10).
A bubble level ($3).
A lid from an old Milo tin.
The ball and socket mount was the most expensive part of the whole thing at the princely sum of $27.
The angled mount that the bolt threads through was a mistake. I thought I'd bought a flat mount and didn't notice until I'd already measured and drilled the hole and affixed the mount that it was in fact angled.
So it changed from a tangential drive to a semi-isosceles drive. Luckily it didn't affect things too much according to my calculations.
Attached also are a couple of images taken using the mount:
Southern Cross: 10 x 64 s @ ISO 100
Omega Centauri: 6 x 48 s @ ISO100, 8 x 48 s @ ISO 200
Stacked in Registax.
I am quite pleased with the results so far given that it has been quickly cobbled together and the hinge has a bit of side play in it. It has been recommended that brass hinges are the way to go, so one day I might swap it over.
You hand turn the bolt at a rate of 1 turn/min. The length of the bolt gives me ~ 24 turns before I have to wind it back down again.
