EQ platform

[Dave scutt]

Hi all.

I was looking at purchasing an EQ platform for my dob.

i came across this kit which is a lot cheaper , i was wondering if anyone has used one or got one.

would it work just as well as an EQ platform.

Dave 

[Louis D]

17 hours ago, Dave scutt said:

would it work just as well as an EQ platform.

That's a DSC kit which is intended to help locate objects.  You still have to push the Dob about to find the object and to continue tracking it once found.

Maybe you were thinking of a GOTO kit?

Edited September 22, 2022 by Louis D

[Dave scutt]

8 hours ago, Louis D said:

That's a DSC kit which is intended to help locate objects.  You still have to push the Dob about to find the object and to continue tracking it once found.

Maybe you were thing of a GOTO kit?

Thanks @Louis D i just wanted something cheap that would help me track.

i guess it's going to be a EQ platform then

[Dave scutt]

Another question.

I like the wheels on my dob , makes my life so much easier and quicker getting the dob out.

Would the EQ platform work with this setup or could i do some modification to make it work .

Dave.

 

[CraigT82]

I think you’d probably have to lift the dob off the trolley and put it on the EQ platform. Are you making your own platform or buying? If making you could probably design it in a way to accommodate the trolley. But then again you’d still have to lift the lot up onto the platform so might as well lift the scope in its own rather than scope + trolley.

Or are you thinking of having the scope on the platform and then having both on top of the trolley? Supposed that would be ok if the feet of the platform have somewhere to sit on on the trolley and the trolley was level (though I think some platforms have levelling built in though). Might make the EP quite high though.

[Ratlet]

There's a guide here on building your own.  It looks relatively simple.

I'm not sure if you would need to modify your current setup, but I can see it working.

I was humming and hawing about getting a 10" dob but the DIY equatorial base has given me a firm push towards aperture fever.

 

 

[Dave scutt]

13 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

I think you’d probably have to lift the dob off the trolley and put it on the EQ platform. Are you making your own platform or buying? If making you could probably design it in a way to accommodate the trolley. But then again you’d still have to lift the lot up onto the platform so might as well lift the scope in its own rather than scope + trolley.

Or are you thinking of having the scope on the platform and then having both on top of the trolley? Supposed that would be ok if the feet of the platform have somewhere to sit on on the trolley and the trolley was level (though I think some platforms have levelling built in though). Might make the EP quite high though.

I was hoping i could have the scope on the platform and then both on the trolley 

[Dave scutt]

1 minute ago, Ratlet said:

There's a guide here on building your own.  It looks relatively simple.

I'm not sure if you would need to modify your current setup, but I can see it working.

I was humming and hawing about getting a 10" dob but the DIY equatorial base has given me a firm push towards aperture fever.

 

 

I would like to build my own but not that clever, anyone building them on here .

[Louis D]

There's nothing stopping you from putting both the EQ platform and Dob on a cart together.  To make the stack more compact, the Dob's original ground board can be replaced by the EQ platform's upper board.  You just have to transfer or replicate the sliding materials from the ground board to the EQ's top board.  Depending on the design, you may need to use tie-downs of some sort to lock the upper and lower platform boards together during transport so the upper board doesn't slide or slip off the lower board.

[PeterStudz]

I have a DIY EQ platform for my 200p Dob.  Constructed using the excellent instructions on this forum. It’s a very useful piece of kit that I now would not do without.

It’s certainly possible to do what you require. But as @Louis D points out you need to be able to lock the lower and upper platforms during transport. You could modify a commercial ready made EQ platform and it would be quite simple . Many possible ways of doing this but the simplest way (I think) would be a couple of clamping knobs/bolts through the boards. In fact this isn’t a bad idea - I have a worry (maybe unfounded) that the boards could move at an inappropriate time and damage the motor and/or gears. Whatever you do it’s still going to require some DIY.

I believe that David Lukehurst makes these to order. Might be worth seeing if he can help. 

https://www.dobsonians.co.uk