ATM Azimuth bearings for coputerised dobs

[Adam Perkins <scopeguru@yahoo.com>]

Hi all,

The designing continues for my 12.5" f/6 motorized dob.  I'm looking at
different ideas for the central Az pivot, and am leaning towards a
simple design.

The ground board will have a small sheet of UHMW or similar plastic
fixed to it at the center.  The bottom of the rocker box will have a
short length of 1" or 2" pipe stcking out of it.  Boring the ground
board and its layer of bushing material will (hopefully) provide a
simple, smooth, low friction bearing which still allows power and
communication cables to pass through.  I'll also have the standard
rollers at the periphery of the ground board.  Does anyone see problems
with my idea?  I feel like a Timken bearing would be overkill here, and
might get dirty very quickly.

I'm assuming that those of you who have added hollow Az shafts did NOT
add encoders to their scopes...  I'd love to know if anyone managed it.


Clear Skies

Adam Perkins
Covingtom. Louisiana
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