Low-cost tracker design plans

[admin]

Hi all,

Much in the spirit of StarTools, Rowland Cheshire has been working hard on making that other part of the astrophotography equation more budget friendly and accessible; image acquisition.
On his site you will be able to find detailed plans for building your own Tangent Error Minimized, Double Arm Drive. His design uses the latest developments in user-friendly DIY electronics to improve the classic 'Barn Door Tracker' design.
If you are looking for a low-cost solution for long(er) exposure photography and a bit of DIY doesn't faze you, I heartily recommend you have a read!

http://www.synergous.com/flatpress/inde ... arm-drive/

[astroimagery]

Very interesting! Has anyone here tried this out?

Be interested to know how it goes.

[Rowland]

Hi Karl. Back in the day, this was a lot of fun. Looking at your site, I think you would be disappointed with the results. Besides, there are better designs out there. Basically, I wanted to passively eliminate as much tangent error as possible apart from more complicated approaches. It worked quite well, but the big limitation was my fabrication skills. There are, however, some very precisely machined DIY devices out there. I don't maintain the site anymore.

[admin]

I unstickied it. It was a cool project nonetheless!