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Forum Challenge: Equatorial Mount for Astrophotography (Computer Controlled?)
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Challenge: Equatorial Mount for Astrophotography (Computer Controlled?)

Former Member
Former Member over 12 years ago

Hey Ben,

I would love to see you take on the challenge of building a equatorial mount to help ametuer astrophotographers take long-exposure photographs of planets, stars and other deep-space objects such as Galaxy's and Nebulae.

For those who don't know what an 'equatorial mount' is, it is a motorized tripod-mount-thing to cancel the effect of the earths rotation during the exposure time of a DSLR camera with telephoto lens and/or telescope.

Adding computer control could further improve the design by assisting the focusing and positioning of stars etc.

I realize this is a step up from your time lapse trolley imagebut if a challenge like this what to be solved, it would benefit a lot of astrophotographers like myself.

Thanks a lot for your time. (And for making an awesome channel on electronic DIY projects)

Liam

 

 

EDIT: Picture and Caption Below, Few Grammatical and caption updates

 

image

Picture (Above): A Picture taken from a fixed tripod of the night sky. Exposure time:30 seconds. If you look closely, you will notice that the stars are slightly elongated; this is motion blur due to the earths rotation, having a equatorial mount wont only eliminate these spoils in the photographs, but will also allow for longer exposure times, and a deeper, clearer view into space. The two orange lights on the horizon are (from left to right), a city 30 minutes away and a town 10 minutes away.

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  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago +1
    Assumption One: Understands the term "Declination",in re:Northern and Southern Hemispheres Assumption Two: Understands the difference between Right Ascension(R.A.) and Left Ascension(LA). Assumption Three…
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago in reply to Former Member +1
    Wow that's awesome! You'll never believe that I am 16 and building an equatorial mount then . If I (and Ben possibly) were to build a computer controlled mount, is there any other movements we could factor…
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago in reply to benheck +1
    Cost is relative to the value of the equipment being used and whether this is to be a lifetime avocation or a teenager's whim. I have a portable;trailer-mounted observatory,that I built from my own plans…
Parents
  • rodreig89kishore
    rodreig89kishore over 12 years ago

    Can someone give me some tools and directions to start with I am broke right now.

    And need to work myself  a nice unit

    I can take broken parts and fix them too image
    So I am willing to learn and prosper and Enjoy.
    And return the favour image

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  • rodreig89kishore
    rodreig89kishore over 12 years ago

    Can someone give me some tools and directions to start with I am broke right now.

    And need to work myself  a nice unit

    I can take broken parts and fix them too image
    So I am willing to learn and prosper and Enjoy.
    And return the favour image

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  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago in reply to rodreig89kishore

    Hi P.Kishore Kumar,

    I going to assume you were talking about a equatorial mount. The simplest and cheapest design is called a barn door. It is essentially a hinged door that opens slowly by the turning of a worm gear. You will need a motor and a timer circuit to keep the camera nice and sturdy, especially for long distance photographs (i.e. other planets). Just remember that a few thousanths of a degree could spoil your photograph (apparently).

    -from my research so far

    Liam

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  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Just check out this guys $200 version.

    http://petapixel.com/2013/08/10/buidling-a-diy-barn-door-tracking-mount-for-long-exposure-astrophotography/

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  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago in reply to Former Member

    I've checked out the aforementioned "Barn-door-tracking-mount";this is not an equatorial mount,however? I repeat,as mentioned in previous posts,Equatorial Mounts work on two axes;90° of arc-relative to each axis;i.e. at right angles. Usually the y-axis is tilted from the neutral plane(0,0,0) to your actual latitudinal co-ordinate(0,0,z);I'm in the process of converting my old hand drafts into CAD sketches, so the younger generations can understand what I'm talking about?

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  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago in reply to Former Member

    So the second motor is to cancel out the fact that the earths rotation of offset from the orbital plane, so you need the second motor to track other planets.

    I am I correct?

    I look forward to seeing your blue prints. image

    Liam

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