Drive motor difference / cost

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

why do mounts cost so much more for a cheap pair of stepper motors added and some backyard electronics fitted.

 no infact why do drive kits cost as much as an entry level telescope, and again for a cheap pair of steppers and some mild electonics. ?

dual motors for an eq-5 ( an expensive mount at that ) price is 86 quid

dual motors for a eq3-2 ( a cheaper mount at that) price is 91 quid.

basic they are both nearly the same kit just different gearing.

and you would EXPECT the cheaper mount motors to cost less NOT more than a higher quality mounts motors.

so lets say you get an eq3-2 but you dont want to pay that over inflated price on motor drives.

can you grab two steppers, fit them yourself and just shove a synscan mainboard in and use 

a goto handset ? , but not have to pay out an arm and leg for a motor dive kit.

i cannot work out why the drives cost so much more for what liitle things they are,

i mean a couple stepper motors 10 pounds , a few few diodes, regulator and crystal a few quid

a box to house said stuff a couple quid. yet these drives command prices that reach entry level telescopes.

[clarkent]

Very good question indeed.

 Probably just what manufacturers believe can be gotten away with.

Moreover, why do you have to change both dual motors (non-goto) when changing to full goto (synscan/etc)?

You pay out around £100 for dual motor kits, then you pay out £300-400 for the goto versions. Crazy.

It would be great if someone offered DIY parts for upgrading at reasonable cost.

Are there any such sources???

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

be nice if companys came out and talked about why these things cost so much.

but money is money. 

i have been milked dry now , and i find out the gear i have got is useless, not a happy bunny.

i forked out £200 on the merlin mount theres no way i would get that money back selling it on.

i would'nt like to bet that the same stuff inside my merlin az goto is the  same stuff in these eq5 eyecandy everything mounts

and the likes. 

300 quid for a goto drive set for a eq3-2 , that makes me laugh and cry. just goes to show

i paid £29.99 for a EQ-1 drive motor. i had to pull it apart, i found the most crude

electronics used, a voltage regulator a few diodes a 555 timer a couple switches

and a potentiometer , most rubbish thing ever, as the power falls off the ra slows down.

your always listening to the motor and waiting to jump the pot up more to keep speed up.

or your watching for when your scope smashes into it. and it cost 30 quid

to make the device no more than 4 quid i would have said. 

so lets say they dropped motor prices, so many more folks would be interested

and a lot more units sold for a start. yes the market would saturate but thats it

right now people wont buy because of the cost and something that looks like it was made for the nasa

moon missions in the 60's. 

i dont blame companys and i do, but i blame the makers and the fat cats milking us

[malc-c]

If you feel that strong about it then use your DIY skills and build you own control board, machine a set of gears and bolt them to a pair of stepper motors.  My guess is that (unless you already have the ability to mill a set of gears) the cost would be appropriate to buying the SW upgrade.

When you progress to larger mounts, the electronics are a lot more complicated than a couple of diodes and a regulator.  The cost of which is reflected due to the R&D and not just the component value.

[ronin]

There has to be a reason otherwise someone (you ?) would start producing them and selling them. Looks easy to advertise as a retailer of ABSUK.

Try the AWR site for after market drive kits:

EQ5 bits: http://www.awrtech.co.uk/ih/ih_eq5.htm

The biggest cost is time, getting the motor box from one bin and the motor from another takes time, placing the motor correct to be held in place takes time. Even 5 minutes, assume £25 per hour, that £2. Soldering wires in place is slow and so is very expensive, 10 to 15p worth of time.

You cannot just think I could do that in 10 minutes, for a start, it is closer to a half day, and you have to get the bits. Driving to Maplins is a cost, your time driving to Maplins is a cost, all the bits are a cost, the electricity for the soldering iron is a cost, so is the chair you sit on and the bench you work at and the lights you use to see better with.

I can always recall celebrating a person birthday or promotion in Holland. The customs is they bring in cakes. There were about 18-20 of us talking over coffee and eating the cakes. The project manager passed the comment (in jest I think) "Well there goes another lost man-day." Work it out:- 20 people at 20 minutes, that is a whole man-day gone. These things happened about twice a week out there.

Want a laugh, get a stop watch, when you get up from whereever you are sat to visit to loo, start the stop watch, afterwards when back at your seat/chair wahtever stop the stop watch. Use the £25 per hour above to work out the "cost".

[sandyshaw]

It is called the Astronomy tax.

Oppertunist profiteering.

Look at some of the cheap motor and / or electronics available for astronomy made by individuals, they expect people to pay 100 to 200 GBP and it is not even CE approved equipment, they stick an Arduino circuit in some of them, put a plastic box on it then expect 100 to 200 GBP.

[sandyshaw]

I also blame "authorised distributers", if we could buy them direct, cut out the middle man.

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

ok now £750 quid for a drive kit for an eq-5 , your all crazy !!! 

i mean your all totaly off your rockers !!

oh and making something like this. nodoubt have synta lawyers on your case 

because they would loose money fat cats V the little guy never work out well.

star party, no thats a field full of cows ready for milking , thats how i am starting to see this hobby.

[sandyshaw]

or how about... get 100 people together who want the same mount... or items... then place a bulk minimum order direct from China

Screw authorised dealers.

[rowan46]

I don't get this bile directed against suppliers and manufacturers. If you don't want it don't buy it. As to being compared to a herd of cows ripe for milking I find that a particularly unpleasant simile. There are not hordes of vendors trying to flog us stuff at the sgl parties just people trying to get together with like minded people. Nobody makes you go to a star party it's your choice. Please stop insulting other people because they don't make the same choices as you.

[Kai]

I find it staggering that people will pay many hundreds or thousands of ££ for bits of glass in a metal tube

[sandyshaw]

I find it staggering that people will pay many hundreds or thousands of ££ for bits of glass in a metal tube

Well to be fair, they are paying mostly for the glass

[trazor]

I find it staggering that people will pay many hundreds or thousands of ££ for bits of glass in a metal tube

Even more amazing is that you all believe their are billions of Stars out their.

When in reality Skywatcher have painted a massive black backdrop with millions of white dots, and is selling all you suckers Telescopes to observe them.

Did you not see The Truman show............

[rowan46]

I find it staggering that people will pay many hundreds or thousands of ££ for bits of glass in a metal tube

Yes I have always been amazed that so many people watch tv