Re: Need polar mount with drive plans

Bob Madden (madden@netcom.com)
Sun, 2 Jul 1995 10:52:29 -0700 (PDT)

Joe, the BKW (Bill Kelly Way) was illustrated in S&T about three years back. He made a wooden fork mount and then drove it with a kitchen timer/rubber wheel lash-up. It gives about 45 minuyes to an hour of drive time. The polar shaft was 1-inch pipe riding on teflon pads (I've often thought they could be bearings). I met Bill and saw his telescope at Riverside. Bill and his wife were there this again year. Another thing unique about his telescope was that he used a sperical mirror and pulled it into parabolic shape at the observing site. This was done with a bolt attached in the center of the back of the mirror.

When you make the drive, asuming you do, make sure the ratio of the wheels, small rubber one from a child's toy to the wooden one on the polar axis will give you the correct siderial/solar/moon time rotation.

This is a slick design as the clock costs about $10 and a bell goes off when it is time to reset it. It is however only recomended on small fork mounted scopes.

Bob

):-{])) <---- madden@netcom.com madden@svpal.org Remember amateur astronomers: "keep looking for the next Universe"

On Sun, 2 Jul 1995, joe campbell wrote:

> Does anyone have plans for polar mounts that can be clock driven.
> If so, please email to me if possible. Thanks!
>
>