I was looking at the Nexdome 2.2m Rotation kit at $869. I believe that is just the motor and tracks.
Would that be a good choice? Also I have no idea what other software or hardware would be required. I use
Thx Jim! It was something I have wanted to do for a long time and was not looking forward to another winter hauling my equipment in and out in the cold. Although I’m not sure I’ll get everything up and running in time but with all the expert members help available on this forum i think I have a good chance of getting it done before the snow flies.
KathyNS wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 4:18 pm I did the automation myself. Total cost was under $200. I used an Arduino as the controller and a geared stepper motor to drive the rotation. The drive pinion and ring gear were from the automation kit that came with the Exploradome that I never liked.
Does your dome have the aluminum dome rings or the older plastic ones? It is not hard to drive the dome on aluminum rings with a stepper, but I wouldn't vouch for it being able to drive one on the plastic rings.
A stepper is much simpler and more accurate than a DC motor for this task. With a DC motor, you need some feedback mechanism to find out where the dome actually ended up after you shut off the motor. With the stepper, as long as it has enough torque for the job, the dome will be exactly where you told it to go, to an accuracy, in my case, of 9 arc-seconds.
If you go that route, I can help you with the Arduino code and an ASCOM driver for it.
If Exploradome is backed up for the drive gears, they will probably be backed up for the rings, too. And there is a really good chance that the rings would not fit your dome, since they are designed for the 8' Exploradome.cbweb wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 4:47 pm Hi KathyNS,
I've recently setup a Pulsar 2.2m obs. I would like to attempt the automation diy you've successfully implemented. Initially, I'd like to get the shutter moving at siderial. I've asked Exploradome re their drive pinion and ring gear from the automation kit that came with the Exploradome , but there's a wait time till January maybe longer plus I'm not US based. I can sort the Arduino and the geared stepper locally. However, you mention aluminum dome rings . Do you have a link for an example of the aluminum dome rings you mean that could be assembled with the drive pinion and ring gear you also refer to to?
Colm
You need to be a member in order to post a reply
Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute