sloz1664

I'm of a similar vein Dave albeit metal and plastics as first as a Toolmaker, then draughtsman and finally as a Chartered Engineer. Always felt best though, working with my hands. Steve

Fabulous build Dave. I hope you have many happy years imaging. How many clamps...... Steve

Wishing you a speedy recovery Gina and whilst resting no more thoughts on future projects Steve

Yes great to have you back again Gina and I hope you are sorted health wise. I want to see you imaging again, so I can see more results from the ASI1600M. Steve

Hi Mike My motor drive shaft has a tapered spline at the base of the thread. I machined my drive gear with the same taper to mate with the motor drive shaft. Using a hand press I then "pressed" the drive gear onto the motor drive shaft . This then keyed the gear to the motor. I then locked it all together with the threaded shaft extension. Steve

Absolutely, the friction caused by wrapping, what is actually a 3 turn thread, will lock the wire rope and stop it slipping. Steve

Thank you Steve. Yes it's worked out very well indeed & yes that's a "damaged" Bourne encoder on top of the drive cog. I inadvertently damaged it by giving it too many amps. It needed restricting....doh Luckily I have a spare Steve

I have now received my Timing Belt from Beltingonline. So today,I will attempt to fit the Timing belt and mount the motor. Timing Belt secured to the Drive Belt Mount using Evostick Impact Adhesive (Dome Shutter fully open to extract the fumes). ( Motor mounted onto the Inner Wall and aligned with the Timing Belt. Well the Rain Gods were smiling on me so I had time to tension the Motor onto the Belt and connected the Motor to a 12 volt battery. The resulting action can be found here......... Dome Rotation.mp4 Who's a very happy bunny then.......... Next step.......Integrating it with the Levesdome & SGPro..... Steve

I see. I assumed you were powering the rest of your equipment from mains power, which is what I have done. Steve

I assume you will only be opening and closing the shutter probably once an imaging session, less than 2 mins per session. That's not going to task the batteries too much. To aid solar charging you could always programme the dome to follow the sun during the day to maximise it's charging capabilities. Steve

Hopefully, I will be using a 12v drill motor and nylon chain to drive my Shutter movement. Mike, the winch bobbin you used was it a single grove variety or multi grooved variety? Steve

I'm investigating automating my Pulsar Dome and powering the shutter is Phase Two of my project. I'm going down the route of battery/Solar Panel. I have six 12v 12 amp/hour batteries. I will use two batteries, one each side of the shutter. The remaining batteries held in reserve for the many, many dark and dismal days we have in the UK. Unfortunately I have a major task modifying the existing shutter prior to automating it. Steve

Thank you Steve. I have the Levesdome circuitry set-up on a test board which works fine. I also have the second board which will be integrated when I have the Dome automation working. Steve

Hi Mike, Your questions and many other factors have been going through my mind over the last year during my thoughts on how to automate the Dome. To answer your specific questions:- The wood is to be painted stopping any water ingress and I have no immediate condensation as i have a dehumidifier installed in the dome. The dome is a 16 sided hexadecagon, hence the need for the wooden shelf to ensure the belt is accurate to the motor and yes there is some Dome movement, although the addition of the wooden segments seems to have strengthened the structure. The compression spring will hopefully compensate. If not, I will be adding a fixed idler wheel on the opposite wall. Yes Mike, luck needed Steve

Ever since I purchased my Pulsar 2.1 Metre Dome I've been itching to automate it, to extend my imaging time and increase my sleeping hours. The first hurdle was how to mount a suitable drive system to rotate the mount. As anyone who posesses an older 2.1 metre Pulsar dome knows, it is not conjusive to being automated as there is no suitable means of support for driving the dome. I have decided to use the Levesdome project route. http://www.dppobservatory.net/DomeAutomation/DomeDriver.php . I have built all the electrics and it works ok. I am going to drive my dome using a toothed belt mounted onto a wooden shelf attached to the inside of dome. It will be driven by a heavy duty windscreen wiper motor, with positioning sequenced with a Mouser Encoder. The "wooden Shelf" or will be segments spanning the 16 flats of the dome, forming a complete circle and fastened from the outside by stainless steel screws. The circumference in which the toothed belt will be bonded, will be machined with a router attached "fixed" to the wall inner rim and trimmed to size by slowly rotating the dome. After bonding the timing belt in position the Motor will be mounted to the wall inner rim, with the drive gear sprung loaded onto the belt. Hope that makes sense. The drive belt mount segments were roughly cut to a master segment. They, in turn, will be individually fitted to the dome and it's manufacturing irregularities. The segments were secured to the dome with 5mm x 40mm long AB point security torx stainless steel screws. Two per segment. Photo showing the outer shell of the Dome with the torx screws in position. Photo showing the router mounted in position prior to machining. Now the "shelf / Drive Belt Mount" is positioned, secured and machined. I have now ordered the Timing Belt form Beltingonline. A type T10 toothed belt. 20mm wide & 6.250 metres long. Steve

As you are going to build an autofocuser. Look at Rob Browns amazing DIY thread. https://sourceforge.net/projects/arduinofocuscontrollerpro/. I have built three, one for each scope and all having it's own ascom driver.

Bring it on....We love a duel

Blimey Sara, another beast on a beast Steve

Blimey Steve, that's a beast on a beast :0 Steve

Me neither

That is a great result. I always feel particularity pleased when things go right. I am terrified when the time comes to clean the mirror on my Tal 200K. Steve

Hi Gina, It's got that William Otics look about it Steve

Hi Gina, I had the same issue with my win 7 pc> Frustrated at it chugging away loading whilst the sky was beautiful and clear. I replaced my hard drive with a SSD drive and it is now really quick. Loads in seconds instead of agonizing minutes. Steve

I agree with Steve. Fully regulated fixed 13.8 volts dc supply from Maplins, I have two and they have never faltered. Although I do have voltmeters indicating the relevant voltage sources. Steve

I struggled with powerline adaptors, kept unpairing and that was after I researched for the best adaptors for my situation, working at a 40 metre distance. I eventually hardwired with cat6 and haven't had an issue since. Steve