Re: [Utah-astronomy] Equatorial Platform
I found this website in Sky and Telescope magazine. I wish there were reviews of this product. http://supernorthstars.tripod.com/index.html Debbie On Sat Oct 23 12:02 , Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> sent:
I've had the parts to build a couple of them for decades, but no time. Now that the kid is grown up, I plan to get to it soon.
On 10/22/10, Nate Jackson myfuneralcar1972@yahoo.com> wrote:
There is a new guy in the club getting ready to build one for his dob. He got the plans from Bill Kennedy I believe.
________________________________ From: Jay Eads jayleads@gmail.com> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Fri, October 22, 2010 5:30:05 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Equatorial Platform
Just curious if anyone locally has ever build their own equatorial platform for a dob? I've seen some plans out on the net like this http://www.astrosurf.com/aheijkoop/Equipment/EqPlatfor2.htm that don't look too difficult to do (but knowing me I would need some advice every now and then). These or platforms like them, provide up to an hour of tracking and I'm just curious if 1. anyone has experience locally and 2. if anyone else is interested this winter in making one with me or in being a point of reference if needed?
-- Jay Eads _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
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Debbie, Thanks. I did a search and over on CloudyNights the links led me to the Yahoo Group at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/eqplatforms/ The biggest issue on them that I see is it does not sound these are custom made platforms for a given latitude. It his is correct then you will have to tilt the platform in the N/S direction. No big deal but you will have to deal now with two tilts N/S and E/W. Not sure what that will do for the stability of the whole setup. Also, the platform will have a worst case tilt of 10 degrees in the E/W direction and 3 degrees tilt in the N/S direction. The amount of tilt might not be enough to flip a dob over but it might impact the AZ stability in case the DOB has a nice/smooth AZ motion. Not a big deal since the user has the option to reduce the E/W tilt of the platform though that would translate to shorter tracking time.I think I am going to post in the messages on the group and see what people there recommend and give it a go at building one. This link http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2418954/pag... a platform made for about $30 in 2008. If I can find one for my latitude at a decent price I'd go that way but I fear I can make one for far cheaper as I have plenty of time when I'm off teaching and this will keep me occupied during those times. Oh, the 20" Obsession is down south at a family cabin. I share it with my brother in law and based on some things, I plan to sell my 1/2 in it back to him and then decide what to do with that money. I'm making a 12.5 truss and I've learned I don't want to go above 15" on a dob but I also have been thinking it might be time to add a refractor to the mix. On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 9:28 AM, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
I found this website in Sky and Telescope magazine. I wish there were reviews of this product.
http://supernorthstars.tripod.com/index.html
Debbie
On Sat Oct 23 12:02 , Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> sent:
I've had the parts to build a couple of them for decades, but no time. Now that the kid is grown up, I plan to get to it soon.
On 10/22/10, Nate Jackson myfuneralcar1972@yahoo.com> wrote:
There is a new guy in the club getting ready to build one for his dob. He got the plans from Bill Kennedy I believe.
________________________________ From: Jay Eads jayleads@gmail.com> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Fri, October 22, 2010 5:30:05 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Equatorial Platform
Just curious if anyone locally has ever build their own equatorial platform for a dob? I've seen some plans out on the net like this http://www.astrosurf.com/aheijkoop/Equipment/EqPlatfor2.htm that don't look too difficult to do (but knowing me I would need some advice every now and then). These or platforms like them, provide up to an hour of tracking and I'm just curious if 1. anyone has experience locally and 2. if anyone else is interested this winter in making one with me or in being a point of reference if needed?
-- Jay Eads _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
-- Jay Eads
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