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DennisF
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/03/06
Posts: 891
Loc: Northern IL
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Re: Good homemade alt az design to use poor place
08/03/08 12:26 AM
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Just a couple of more thoughts of the top of my head.
As you can see from the pics, plastic PVC pipe fitting seem to be the material of choice for the alt. bearing. Makes sense-smooth surface, relatively resistant to dings (at least compared to softwoods), cheap. However maybe hard to get in the places you describe. Some more information concerning readily available materials and methods of woodworking in the places you go to would be very helpful. I'm assuming no power tools but what about planes, sandpaper, drills, etc.? Without these, you're probably going to have to make the critical parts of the kits here (like the bearing surfaces) and bring them with/send them ahead). Local hardwoods would probably work for the bearings but you'd have to have a way to shape them.
The problem of a variable cradle to hold the OTA is an interesting one. I wouldn't trust bunge cords long-term since they stretch out over time. And failure here could ruin their equipment. Leather straps may work as that would provide some grip on the OTA, but you'd need an infinitely adjustable buckle similar to web strapping found on back packs. Not like a belt buckle. Another idea is a wooden cradle similar to the old Purtian stockades. But instead of using a hinge and a pin to secure it, I'd be inclined to use 2 threaded rods, one at each end. The cradle would need some type of material lining the edges in contact with the OTA that provides grip and "give" so that it conforms to the OTA. Sponge, sorbothane?
Wish I had time to work on it. An interesting exercise.
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10" XTi
C6 SE
ETX 125 (gone)
C80 (gone)
ED80SF (gone)
SV 102ED
SV80ED
PortaMount (gone)
SV M1
Original AYO EzTouch mount
LM Teegul
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