1511 replies to this topic

[DAVIDG]

I have heard that those motors are the same as used in 1/24th scale slot cars!

 

-drl

 I wish they were. The DC motor in these Meade servo systems  has the firmware and electronics designed for the spec on the motor. It needs to be a duel shaft unit so an US Digital encoder can be mounted and also allow a 1:50 gear box attached. The no load current and RPM must match what the firmware is designed  for so the Pulse Width Modulation can control it correctly for the correct tracking and slewing rates along with drawing the correct amount of current has to not burn up the Mosfets and armature in the motors.  So it is a lot more complex then just swapping  in another DC motor that is sort of a match.

 

                     - Dave 

[deSitter]

 I wish they were. The DC motor in these Meade servo systems  has the firmware and electronics designed for the spec on the motor. It needs to be a duel shaft unit so an US Digital encoder can be mounted and also allow a 1:50 gear box attached. The no load current and RPM must match what the firmware is designed  for so the Pulse Width Modulation can control it correctly for the correct tracking and slewing rates along with drawing the correct amount of current has to not burn up the Mosfets and armature in the motors.  So it is a lot more complex then just swapping  in another DC motor that is sort of a match.

 

                     - Dave 

They had to be off-the-shelf motors - I've also heard it said that the same type of motor is used in car windows. I think this information was in an LXD650/750 discussion (same electronics and motors as the LX200 classic).

 

-drl

[DAVIDG]

They had to be off-the-shelf motors - I've also heard it said that the same type of motor is used in car windows. I think this information was in an LXD650/750 discussion (same electronics and motors as the LX200 classic).

 

-drl

 No,  they are custom made by Igarashi to  Meade's spec and Igarashi signed an NDA with them so they will not release the spec's or sell you a motor. They are not the same as the LX200 classic motors.  Meade at one point would sell you the whole worm and motor assembly for  $365  but they are not in stock and may never be again since the GPS model has been replaced.  The same style motor by Igarashi and other can be purchased for under $10.  So even if Meade sold  just the motor for $50 they would make nice profit and people could get their scopes working again.  But again the firmware is design to drive this exact motor or one with the same spec's or it will not track correctly. It is the same have the old style clock drive that use a AC synch motor running at 1/10 rpm and 144 tooth gear and replacing it with a motor of the same style but running at 1/8 rpm.  In this case we have something more complex because of DC motor and encoder system setup as servo system with servo feed back loop. 

 

                       - Dave 

 

https://www.meade.co...-12-models.html

Edited by DAVIDG, 18 January 2022 - 01:42 PM.

[CHASLX200]

Main reason i won't touch any more LX200's.

[Terra Nova]

“And now for something completely different!”  

 

https://www.lanl.gov...pse-glasses.php

[ccwemyss]

I recently read that congress is trying to pass a law to force the military to award medals to all of the service people who were exposed to radiation during the above ground testing. It's been tried before, and the Pentagon has lobbied against it. Chances seem better this time. 

 

Chip W. 

[deSitter]

“And now for something completely different!”  

 

https://www.lanl.gov...pse-glasses.php

Cue Reese Fowler! Just think about it and he'll show up.

 

-drl

[Terra Nova]

Cue Reese Fowler! Just think about it and he'll show up.

 

-drl

Right on cue:

 

PS: I love that episode! Hell, I love the whole series (and have it in its entire on DVD). I also love Warren Oates in just about everything he was ever in!

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[Bob Myler]

“And now for something completely different!”  

 

https://www.lanl.gov...pse-glasses.php

I once met the man who filmed those early bomb tests.   He worked very close to the detonation sites.

With his cameras running, he'd jump into a shallow trench and pull a sheet of plywood over him.

When I was introduced to him in late 1984, he had already been diagnosed with Leukemia....

[Terra Nova]

I once met the man who filmed those early bomb tests.   He worked very close to the detonation sites.

With his cameras running, he'd jump into a shallow trench and pull a sheet of plywood over him.

When I was introduced to him in late 1984, he had already been diagnosed with Leukemia....

We need a [SAD] button for posts like this.

[steve t]

We need a [SAD] button for posts like this.

I agree, it seems awkward clicking the like button for this post.  

Edited by steve t, 02 February 2022 - 09:48 AM.

[Exnihilo]

"Like"  but also sad.  So true of so many posts.

[Kasmos]

 When you place your cursor on this emoji it's says sad 

Edited by Kasmos, 03 February 2022 - 05:10 AM.

[Terra Nova]

 When you place your cursor on this emoji it's says sad 

Yes but it would be nice to have options to the like button as on FB.

[Paul Sweeney]

I also worked with a guy who was involved in those tests. He was one of the soldiers who were in the trenches, with no protection, when the bomb went off. He survived WW2, Korea and Vietnam, to die of cancer at 65.

Many people don't know that the govt was also monitoring the effects of fallout on the local population. Govt doctors came by regularly to check the people. Nobody warned them to stay inside and not to touch the dark "snow" that came floating down. Unbelievable!

[Bomber Bob]

I also worked with a guy who was involved in those tests. He was one of the soldiers who were in the trenches, with no protection, when the bomb went off. He survived WW2, Korea and Vietnam, to die of cancer at 65.

Many people don't know that the govt was also monitoring the effects of fallout on the local population. Govt doctors came by regularly to check the people. Nobody warned them to stay inside and not to touch the dark "snow" that came floating down. Unbelievable!

I used to joke with my crew about carrying a Geiger Counter in our B-52's bomb bay...  could the joke have been on me??

[deSitter]

I used to joke with my crew about carrying a Geiger Counter in our B-52's bomb bay...  could the joke have been on me??

When Major Kong read off the list of items in the survival kit (Why, a feller could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all this stuff!), was that close to right?

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Right on cue:

 

PS: I love that episode! Hell, I love the whole series (and have it in its entire on DVD). I also love Warren Oates in just about everything he was ever in!

I am the original OLOS absolute fanatic!! Have been since I was a wee boy! "Don't Open 'Till Doomsday"! Argh! Freaked me out in a good way! "The Premonition" - "The Architects of Fear" - "The Invisible Enemy" - "Demon with the Glass Hand" - "The Man Who Was Never Born" - "It Came Out Of the Woodwork" - "The Zanti Misfits" - oh man, so many great great episodes! Only 39 of them. The entire series was the very first thing I bought on DVD.

 

Zanti Misfits trivia - Bruce Dern is curled up on his back like a dead roach

 

-drl

[Bomber Bob]

When Major Kong read off the list of items in the survival kit (Why, a feller could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all this stuff!), was that close to right?

 

-drl

No... not by my time in the BUFF (B-52, aka, Big Ugly Fat... Fella).  All the Fun Stuff (& the Gold) was gone.

[DAVIDG]

 I have been really enjoying observing with my  "Palomar Jr"  4.25 F/11 Newtonian. I have the name in  quotes because I don't believe it is true  Edmund Palomar Jr but was assembled from parts and the mirror was homemade. I bought it maybe 25 years ago from a club member.  Last year I refigured the primary which was a   sphere with a hole in the figure. The diagonal wasn't very flat and the holder  was a single stalk unit but the diagonal mirror was mounted to a block of wood cut at 45 degrees. The finder was a cheap plastic 5x25 which I replaced with an original Edmund 6x30.

   I replaced the diagonal with a small elliptical one that is actually optically flat to a true 1/10 wave. Next I made a new single vane spider that is easily adjustable so I can now get the optics perfectly collimated. The image is very pleasing. Jupiter and Saturn during the last few months have shown razor sharp images. I was out last night observing the Orion Nebula with  a 9mm eyepiece. The stars in the  Trapezium were tiny perfect Airy disks 

    The mount has a clock drive and I have adjusted it so the scope tracks well  and added a long cord so it can be easily plug into an outdoor outlet on my deck.

     The short coming of mount was  that it had no slow motion in DEC. So it was a bit of a pain to center objects up especially at high power. I was flipping through some old Sky and Telescope from the 60's and came across a short article were the author made a simple tangent arm for one of these scopes.  So I decided to build one from myself of my own design  I used some scrapes of 1/2" thick Plexiglass to make the two arms, a couple of bolts and some knobs I had left over from another project.  I had to use two spring to apply enough force to keep the two arms in contact to counter balance the weight of  the scope.  It works very well and makes using the scope even more pleasing. Now that  I got all the bugs out the last part is to take  it back apart and paint it to  match the mount.

   Here is  a picture of the new diagonal holder and the tangent arm assembly.

 

                        - Dave 

Edited by DAVIDG, 13 February 2022 - 09:59 AM.

[deSitter]

 I have been really enjoying observing with my  "Palomar Jr"  4.25 F/11 Newtonian. I have the name in  quotes because I don't believe it is true a Edmund Palomar Jr but was assembled from parts and the mirror was homemade. I bought maybe 25 years ago from a club member.  Last year I refigured the primary which was 

   I replaced the diagonal with a small elliptical one that is actually optically flat to a true 1/10 wave. Next I made a new single vane spider that is easily adjustable so I can now get the optics perfectly collimated. The image is very pleasing. Jupiter and Saturn during the last few months have shown razor sharp images. I was out last night observing the Orion Nebula with  a 9mm eyepiece. The stars in the  Trapezium were tiny perfect Airy disks.a sphere but had a hole in the figure. The diagonal wasn't very flat and the holder  was a single stalk unit but the diagonal mirror was mounted to a block of wood cut at 45 degrees. The finder was a cheap plastic 5x25 which I replaced with an original Edmund 6x30.  

    The mount has a clock drive and I have adjusted it so the scope tracks well  and added a long cord so it can be easily plug into an outdoor outlet on my deck.

     The short coming of mount was  that it had no slow motion in DEC. So it was a bit of a pain to center objects up especially at high power. I was flipping through some old Sky and Telescope from the 60's and came across a short article were the author made a simple tangent arm for one of these scopes.  So I decided to build one from myself of my own design  I used some scrapes of 1/2" thick Plexiglass to make the two arms, a couple of bolts and some knobs I had left over from an project.  I had to use two spring to apply enough force to keep the two arms in contact to counter balance the weight of  the scope.  It works very well and makes using the scope even more pleasing. Now that  I got all the bugs out the last part is to take  it back apart and paint it to  match the mount.

   Here is  a picture of the new diagonal holder and the tangent arm assembly.

 

                        - Dave 

palomar jr diagonal holder.jpg

palomar jr tangent arm.jpg

During covid isolation in the country, I restored one from utter beater to like new - alas the optics are not great. It deserves a better mirror. The secondary is an Antares known-good 1/10th wave. Other than that, this one is all original from no later than 1962, even the UPCO label on the mirror is there. Only the hardware was changed out.

 

-drl

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[Garyth64]

I made a slo-mo tangent arms for my homemade mounts years ago out of aluminum for both RA and Dec.

 

Here is the dec tangent arm on one of those mounts:

 

 

 

[Bomber Bob]

Thanks to a CNer, I acquired a copy of Tirion's Cambridge Star Atlas 2000.  30 years ago, I had the Field Edition.  Getting this colorful version brought back memories!  My first serious atlas was Becvar's Skalnate Pleso Atlas of the Heavens that I got through S&T (at a discount, IIRC).  Yes, I have planetarium programs on all my personal devices, but there's something about printed charts... kinda like observing with my own eye versus an electronic eye.

[mdowns]

You should try the Millenium Atlas set JW,if you get a chance.

[Bomber Bob]

You should try the Millenium Atlas set JW,if you get a chance.

Is that the one with 1500+ charts?