Barn Door Tracker

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K3NA

K3NA

Midfield
Thought I would share my attempts at making a barn door tracker for astro photography. Sourced all the bits and pieces from the internet/ebay. Got some ½ inch ply from Nordstroms. Made the top and base yesterday. Waiting for all the other parts in the post. Trying find a 4rpm DC motor was a pain but found one I think maybe suitable from Amazon. Purchased a cheap controller board from ebay. Using 8xAA batteries in series to power it.
Will keep adding pics as I process…
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/k3na1/12082914495/
 


That lad needs more than a barn door. Couldn't hit the fucker if he was sitting on it. Never a prem player.
 
K3NA said:
That lad needs more than a barn door. Couldn't hit the fucker if he was sitting on it. Never a prem player.
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Tonight was entirely ruined for me by Borini going off and him coming on

Switched off. How many did we lose by?
 
Borini was blowing out his arse, he was fucked. I would have put someone else on instead of Dozy. Giacarini maybe ??
 
K3NA said:
Borini was blowing out his arse, he was fucked. I would have put someone else on instead of Dozy. Giacarini maybe ??
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Yeah, he probably still has some apologists but he's a total waste of space

We have quite a few good footballers just now, he sticks out like a f***ing sore thumb
 
I don't know what Poyet sees in him to be honest or maybe just a lack of other options….
 
smoker said:
Look forward to seeing the results of this.
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I'll hoy some pics up as I go along. Just waiting for the rest of the gear to arrive in the post. Only concern I have is with the motor. I have ordered a 12V DC motor and a controller board with potentiometer on to control the speed. From what I understand these can vary the output depending on temperature and state of the batteries. The motor must spin at a constant 4rpm otherwise the whole thing is useless. Looking at a 5v DC stepper motor as another option. These stay constant until the batteries die. The only downside is it needs a controller board and a little bit of programming to set the motor speed. Once programmed it's just plug and play.
 
Quite a few bits and bobs have arrived so will start a bit of construction today Bend the brass rod to the right diameter, drill the correct size holes in the wood. Am thinking of making a sort of jig out of the left over plywood and some small nails to help bend the rod. The gears arrived during the week. I had to file the centre hole a little to make the blind well nut fit securely. Didn't realise plastic was so bloody hard :confused:.
Changed my mind regarding the motor and driver board. After aaa bit of research I have now decided to go with a 5v stepper motor and an Arduino Uno controller board. Requires a bit of code writing but I have found plenty of examples on google that I should be able to alter to suit. This motor is more accurate at revolutions than my previous choice of a 12v DV motor. Once the code is uploaded to the controller board its just plug and play.

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[DOUBLEPOST=1390750354][/DOUBLEPOST]UPDATE…..
Been busy this afternoon. Got the brass rod bent to size then part assembled. Just waiting for the motor to arrive now.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/k3na1/12153557223/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/k3na1/12153973236/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/k3na1/12153301835/
 
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Had a few calls back end of last week, just have to wait and see really. Got a few calls to make tomorrow for companies trying to contact me on LinkedIn.
 
Looking good - certainly save you a lot of cash on an astrotrac if it works well:)[DOUBLEPOST=1390906428][/DOUBLEPOST]
smoker said:
For those less practical, you can assemble

EQ1 mount £35 second hand off ebay
Chinese single axis drive £30
Laser pointer or red dot finder (for polar alignment) £5 off ebay

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Have you done one of those yourself ?
 
phil said:
Looking good - certainly save you a lot of cash on an astrotrac if it works well:)[DOUBLEPOST=1390906428][/DOUBLEPOST]
Have you done one of those yourself ?
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Yep. Worked well for wide field shots (<20mm). Polar alignment was tricky as the EQ1 doesn't have a polar scope, hence why I would recommend buying a red dot finder or laser pointer and aligning it to that axis. Getting the Chinese single axis motor to track at sidereal rate needs some trial and error (rotary tracking speed knob).

http://www.nightskyimages.co.uk/eq1_polarscope.htm
 
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