Re: [APML]: Old drive correctors and new CCD autoguiders

["Tom Krajci" <krajcit@det5wg57.barksdale.af.mil>]

> From:          "Joseph O'Neil" <joneil@multiboard.com>
 
> I hope this is not too much off topic, but does anybody have 
> plan/ideas/instructions on adapting an autoguider to an older drive corrector?

>       While I do have some electronically fluent friends, my own skills in this are 
> are meagre, so some idiot proof explainations would be appreciated.
> thaks
> joe

I don't have plans, schematics or a webpage, but here's my 
understanding of it so far:  If your older drive corrector hand 
paddle uses normally open switches to control E, W, N, S movements 
then there is no reason I can think of that can get in the way of 
adapting an autoguider to this system.  (You may have to open the 
casing of the hand paddle, do some soldering, add a connector jack 
for the autoguider, etc,)

The autoguider output for N, S, E, W corrections is a low power, 
digital signal.  Have it drive some type of mechanical or solid state 
relays.  Have these relays drive the normally open connections of 
your hand paddle.  I recommend using solid state relays - Chuck 
Vaughn has horror stories of mechanical ones sticking and failing.

A little experimenting and you can figure out which relay to connect 
to which hand paddle switch.  Hopefully your autoguider software is 
flexible enough to handle different orientations of the autoguider, 
can adapt to your mount/motor correction speeds etc.

Meade sells a "universal adapter" hunyacker that is supposed to mate 
different autoguiders to different hand paddles.  Me, I hope to build 
my own.

This is not very specific, but I hope this helps.

Tom Krajci

Capt Tom Krajci
B-52 Intelligence Officer
"Intelligence:  Ignored in peacetime, blamed in war!"
http://spur.barksdale.af.mil