[amsat-bb] Re: looking for info on using a telescope tripod for automatic tracking

[DF2MZ]

Hi Ronny,

the motors for this kind of telescope drive are mostly synchronous 
motors for AZ and DC motors for EL. The synchronous motor runs at a 
fixed frequency to compensate earth's rotation. This is all not 
compatible with antenna rotor control interfaces.
You need some kind of angular encoder or you need stepper motors. Also 
telesope drives are slow, much slower than what you need for satellite 
tracking. The AZ drive on a telescope only needs to perform one rotation 
per day. It may have a faster correction mode but don't expect much from 
such a cheap thing.

You will probably need to design something from scratch in order to 
interface with the popular programs.

Cheers
Edgar



Am 08.12.2011 11:18, schrieb k4rjj at comcast.net:
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> Hi everyone.  I found a Meade telescope trpod with the az/el gears on it and a worm drive for each.  There are no motors on it but I think that could be fixed with a call to Meade parts.  What I'm looking for is a solution to drive the motors with instruction from one of the sat tracking programs out there.  Any help would be great. 
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> The tripod is a medium duty model and has a top mount that is perfect for an Arrow yagi set.
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> I made a short video of it.  Tell me what you think and what can be done.
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> Thanks!
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> Ronny
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> K4RJJ
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> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_BcS6HjxTU
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