Single Arm Fork Equatorial Mount

I started the design and fabrication of a large equatorial mount for my 12" F/4 imaging newtonian.

Some of the basics on the mount are as follows:

-Single Arm Fork Equatorial

-Fixed Latitude, designed for Tucson

-Large 4.75" R.A shaft

-11" Stainless steel friction drive with a 1" Alumina Bronze roller and 2 stage timing belt reduction

-Siderial Technology Servo II system with pittman motors

-Polar scope for R.A axis

-Quick disconnect between R.A and DEC

-R.A weights approximately 65lbs, the Declination will be approximately 60lbs

-4" Shaft on DEC 

-7.5" worm gear for DEC drive with spring loaded linear rail system for backlash removal

-Steel tripod, approximately 45lbs

If you have any further questions on the design I would be happy to answer them for you. I will be adding pictures as the mount takes shape and undergoes testing.

Christmas 2011

Single arm fork mount for astronomy

About a year ago I got back into telescope mount making for a brief period. An old friend needed a mount for a homemade refractor. Given my past experience with Gemini Instruments, lets just say I couldn't pass up the opportunity

The basic mechanical features are:

-Dual tangent drive system(preloaded with air piston)

-1" hardened stainless steel shafts

-Radial bearings for all major axes

-Aluminum and brass construction

-Dovetail weight adjustment for altitude axis

The machine time was around 40hours, with $200 in materials.

Here is a step by step pictorial representation of the mount:

Lightning photos

clouds and tall buildings

Photography on campus

Astrophotography with the new DSLR