The Watch House Equatorial Platform

[Laurie61]

Santa bought me one of these for Christmas although it actually arrived late November so I have had a few months to try it. I have been very pleased with it in general, it is solidly built and copes with my 300 mm f6 dob without problems. First night out with it did produce a ‘nearly’ moment when the scope started to topple off the platform, this could have been me not setting it up properly.     My brother, Neil, was visiting and we used it for 2-3 hours after this hiccup with no further incidents. After discussing the previous nights observing experiences with Neil we decided to fit clamps to the platform base to hold the dob mount in place, this was more for our own piece of mind and a belt and braces approach which some may think is a bit ott.

Next time out was Christmas night, the seeing was nice and steady but with high cloud so it was bright targets only. Jupiter was showing the GRS and there was also a shadow transit. At 200 x the platform was tracking smoothly with Jupiter hardly moving in the field of view, at 300 x there was still very little movement visible. I had hoped to be able to use the platform for planetary imaging and with the seeing OK decided to set up with my afocal kit for a quick test. With a 9mm ortho giving 200 x at the eyepiece and a canon G9 at max optical (4x ish) I ran off a few video’s of 90 sec long. Jupiter did move across the field of view but I didn't need to adjust the aim during the run. See result below.

The only issue I have had with the mount is not being able to set up in daylight and then go out later and start using. This is because the mount is not recommended to be left set up, with weight on the drive roller, as its hard rubber could deform if left for too long which could affect drive performance. It is also recommended that you do not leave the top on the base during storage for the same reason. I decided to fit a parking arm to the top which lifts it clear of the roller and allows the scope to be left in place without risking any damage. I can now set up the scope and leave it outside for a few hours and also store the dob base and scope on the platform. All in all I have to say I'm very pleased with the platform and would recommend one for anybody with a standard dob.

A few photo’s

Base showing drive and supporting roller bearings

Base with top 

Detail of retaining clip and hole in platform top for dob foot pin. 

Dob base secured to platform

Platform with dob base 

Ready to go 

Parking arm mod  in park mode

Parking arm released. Held open by magnetic catch.

Jupiter, afocal with dob on tracking platform.

 

[John]

Great report on an interesting product 

I had one of these for a while and enjoyed using it. The only downside for me was that it took up quite a lot of space in our already crowded dining room. It worked very well though. You have made some interesting modifications to yours.

[alan potts]

Firstly a very nice report. Secondly, a crowded dining room, it would not take much in the way of DIY skills to turn it into a rather nice occassional table.

Alan

[Laurie61]

Thanks for the comments. Ah, an occasional table, that's one mod I hadn't thought of   

[GaryT]

I have the Watch House platform with my Orion Optics 300mm f4 and really like it. However I have tried to contact the company recently with no success and I worry about what to do when the rubber roller needs replacing. Does anyone know if the company is still in business and if spares are still available? I don't need a replacement yet but I am concerned for the future.

[vlebo]

I have the Watch House platform with my Orion Optics 300mm f4 and really like it. However I have tried to contact the company recently with no success and I worry about what to do when the rubber roller needs replacing. Does anyone know if the company is still in business and if spares are still available? I don't need a replacement yet but I am concerned for the future.

Looks like they are not around anymore . i tried a couple of links to their website but keep drawing a blank.

[Mike73]

I've had the Watch House platform but I currently use this one from TS, there really is no difference in operation. The TS one doesnt look so home made, is lower and is cheaper.

Also Sumerain make them now, cheaper again than TS.

[GaryT]

The TS/Sumerain platform looks good, but I think my Watch House is pretty solid and will last the distance except for the rubber roller which obviously has a limited lifetime. It should last 150hrs and then was meant to be dismantled and returned for a complete drive roller replacement.. I am a bit of a way off given a lot of wet and windy evenings, but it would be nice to think there was some other way of replacing the rubber when I need to. I would be willing to pay for spares of rubber/ metal shaft if I could get hold of them. why didn't I take up a practical subject like engineering?

[luminova11]

Is the TS one adjustable for latitude somehow then? 10° seems a lot to be covered by one profile. The plans I have have different profiles for each change of 2°. I like the idea of making one and financial constraints make a commercial platform a no go at the moment.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[Mike73]

The TS platform has wooden feet so the North sector is fixed at 45˚ so you would have to shim the height until it is correct for your latitude.

I've got around this by putting a bolt through each 'foot' of the platform, I've then aligned the platform near enough perfectly on Polaris, marked the position of each bolt head, drilled three small holes in the patio for the bolts to go in and then adjusted the height of each bolt so Polaris is once again aligned.

I now have zero set up time with excellent tracking for about 40 minutes every time!

I used to just use a compass and level for my old Watch House platform and I'd get about 5 minutes between nudges, dont know why I never thought of the above before!

[luminova11]

That's a good solution. What is your method for aligning the platform to Polaris?

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[Mike73]

That's a good solution. What is your method for aligning the platform to Polaris?

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

Scroll down to the bottom the the page.

http://www.astrosurf.com/aheijkoop/Equipment/EqPlatfor2.htm

[luminova11]

That's great thanks. I got my plans through that site and have browsed it often but have not found that before.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[Mike73]

Yeah its a bit of a faff to align like that all the time but if you do it that way once then mark your feet and note exactly what shims you use you can set up a EQ platform with good tracking in no time at all.