Re: [ATM] Time for a "new standard" ATM telescope project?

[Adam Krause <krausea34@yahoo.com>]

Priorities 2 & 3 (below) are what led me to construct
a scope that used Mel Bartels "scope.exe" software. 
It is a free program that controls stepper motors to
run homemade telescopes.  The stepper motor
electronics can either be homemade, partially made, or
ready to go out of the box.  Autotracking can be done
by having another program such as K3CCD Tools use a
webcam to send LX200 guiding commands to scope.exe.

There is no "standard" telescope design for this. 
I've seen so many different designs that use this
system: from Alt-Azimuth Dobsonian scopes with field
de-rotation to any kind of equatorial mount.

I went with this method for two reasons: I wanted to
build an astrophotography telescope on the cheap, and
it looked like a fun technical challenge.  Check out
this link for more info as well as further links to
example telescopes.

http://www.bbastrodesigns.com/BBAstroDesigns.html#Computer_Operated_Telescopes

-Adam Krause


--- Gil McFarlane <gilboastro@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The advent of digital imaging, however, has created
> a
> demand for a type of telescope system for which most
> amateurs must go to a manufacturer to obtain:
> 1.  Wide flat field optical system.  (Thus the many
> small APO scopes showing up - even one at my house -
> ACK!)
> 2.  Precision Equatorial mount.
> 3.  Auto-tracking.
> 
> Currently putting this together costs at least 2,000
> and easily soars to 5,000+.  (Otherwise known as
> "what
> I pay for my cars.")


       
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