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3-axis balance idea.


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I'm helping Peter, a robotic shed client, set up his rather tasty Avalon M-uno/Baby Q and we came across the problem of the heavy focus motor off to one side. Dual rig owners are used to the need to balance in this extra axis but solo setups can often ignore it. However, most focus motors cause an offset to one side of the OTA. Using bits we had, we came up with this solution:

1846250169_3axis.thumb.jpg.b465f50496b47cbd23f19240054fa2e9.jpg

 

A mini saddle plate is bolted to the clamshell at right angles to the optical axis and the guidescope is attached to its dovetail at right angles to the normal way. This lets us move the guide scope, on its dovetail, right and left to offset the focus motor's weight, giving us perfect balance in any orientation. By good fortune we found two holes to allow the guidescope to bolt rigidly to its dovetail but, at right angles to its design orientation, the mini saddle plate is located by only one bolt at present. It's a hefty bolt, though, and we're not worried.

@FLO  This might be a product idea if done properly. Ideally a bracket for the top of the tube rings or clamshell would carry an arm allowing the guidescope to be slid then clamped off axis. It would be a bonus if the guider could also slide backwards and forwards to fine tune balance in Dec. (This can also give control over the position of the main scope in the main saddle plate. Moving the the guidescope lets you balance the main scope further up or further down its saddle plate in order to clear piers, observatory roofs, etc etc. It would be nice to buy a proper version of our lash-up with holes in the right places, etc.

Olly

 

Edited by ollypenrice
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