HomeImage GalleryEquipmentProjectsRockets





Projects

 That which has been is what will be,  That which is done is what will be done,  And there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there anything of which it may be said,  "See, this is new"?  
It has already been in ancient times before us.                       Ecclesiastes 1 v 9-10

EQ-5 / CG-5 PIC Microcontroller based hand controller.

This is a DIY project to make a replacement hand controller for the EQ-5 equatorial mount.

The standard hand controller is vulnerable to overvoltage or reverse voltage destroying the 40 Pin microcontroller. It isn't possible to obtain a replacement microcontroller or even a hand controller, which results in having to buy the whole unit, stepper motors and all once again.

This project gets round that problem by allowing you to build your own replacement hand controller.

The Features include:
Smoother half step driving (approx. 20 steps per second) rather than the standard full step method (10 steps/sec)
Faster slew rates of up to 25x Sidereal rate.
The ability to independantly switch the RA or DEC slew buttons... Very useful when swapping between the eyepiece and webcam view.
Free modifiable hex and source code for the PIC16F627(A)

Click here (or the image) for more details

Battery Free Electric Focuser

Electric Focuser

Fed up with your telescope wobbling about when trying to focus your webcam.
Here's the answer, build yourself an electric focuser from two servos, best of all... No Batteries Required!

Click here for more information.

Hints and Tips

 This section contains some random observations I have made from time to time while imaging. I place them here because there is a small possibility that they might be of use to someone else.

Imaging Mars (and other planets) using the full dynamic range of the webcam.

Barlows, Extended Barlows, Focal Reducers and their effect on Image Scale.

 


Copyright (c) 2004 James Hardy. All rights reserved.