TONGKW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/16/07
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“Porta” EQ Mount
#5513646 - 11/10/12 08:19 PM Attachment (54 downloads)
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My friend and I both want a very portable equatorial mount with single axis motor drive for observing and imaging the star field whilst travelling. We havethe idea to make use of the parts from Porta AltAz mounts to assemble our eq. mount. So we bought two Porta AltAz mount heads (a Porta and a Mini Porta), with which we have managed to make two eq. mounts out of them.
Half of a Porta mount is used for the RA axis and is fixed onto an aluminum back plate together with the RA motor. The RA motor drive is a single axis motor drive complete with hand controller purchased separately and fitted with brass gears chosen to suit the 120 teeth of the Porta.
The Dec axis is made up from half a Mini Porta mount and is hand driven.
The mounting plate at the bottom is angled for the latitude of my location and with a 3/8” screw hole for use with a sturdy photo tripod.
A very short tripod is constructed from 3 monopods with a custom made top plate. The closed length of this tripod is only 14 inches.
K W TONG
C8+CG5 GT, TSA102+HEQ5 PRO, MK67+Voyager, NexStar 6SE, C5+Mizar K, WO ZS80FD+Kenko NES, Megrez 72FD+Kenko KDS, Mini Borg 50, PST
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TONGKW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/16/07
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: TONGKW]
#5513647 - 11/10/12 08:20 PM Attachment (36 downloads)
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The “Porta” EQ mount can handle OTA such as a C5 SCT or a 80 mm refractor, or have a dslr put on it for wide field astrophotography.
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core
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/23/08
Loc: Mostly in Norman, OK
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: TONGKW]
#5513951 - 11/11/12 03:03 AM
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KW, as always your ingenious ATM'ing for compact and unusual mounts are fantastic - thanks for sharing!
It looks like there is provision for azimuth adjustment on the custom top plate?
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TONGKW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/16/07
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: core]
#5515502 - 11/12/12 04:46 AM Attachment (26 downloads)
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Peter. Thanks for the compliment.
This Porta EQ mount takes up very little space when dismantled and thus is ideal for use during traveling.
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TONGKW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/16/07
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: TONGKW]
#5515504 - 11/12/12 04:47 AM Attachment (27 downloads)
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With the Dec part removed, it serves as a photoduider.
It is similar to the CD-1 photoguider.
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zjc26138
Loved By All
Reged: 02/24/05
Loc: Mingo Junction, Ohio
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: TONGKW]
#5516394 - 11/12/12 05:42 PM
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KW.
That's sweet looking. Great job!
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themos
member
Reged: 04/01/08
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: zjc26138]
#5519251 - 11/14/12 09:36 AM
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Brilliant! Check out this thread for instructions on how to make your Equatorial mount auto-guided.
http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/66882-arduinoastrocontrol-homebrew-autoguid...
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Phil Wheeler
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/31/05
Loc: 3 miles WNW of Celestron
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: TONGKW]
#5520124 - 11/14/12 08:48 PM
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Quote:
The mounting plate at the bottom is angled for the latitude of my location and with a 3/8” screw hole for use with a sturdy photo tripod.
Very nice, and neat to see a white C5 like mine so mounted 
Question: You say it's for travel but from the above it seems to be for a specific latitude, that of your home location. Is there a way to remove that constraint -- assuming it's there.
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TONGKW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/16/07
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: Phil Wheeler]
#5520520 - 11/15/12 03:23 AM Attachment (10 downloads)
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The base of this Porta EQ mount is made for a specific latitude, but small adjustment in latitude can be effected by lengthening or shortening the front tripod leg. The idea is to save some weight.
When the need arises such as to get a better polar alignmen when I do astrophotography, I have made a dedicated tripod top plate with provision for latitude adjustment as well as for horizontal adjustment.
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TONGKW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/16/07
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Re: “Porta” EQ Mount
[Re: TONGKW]
#5520522 - 11/15/12 03:25 AM Attachment (14 downloads)
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Quite good polar alignment can be achieved by a removable polarscope bolted to the back of this Porta EQ mount.
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