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ATM AMT mechanical drives
I have built a tangeant drive for my 12.5 " Newt which uses the same
principle of the 1/4-20 threaded rod at 1 rpm to give close enough to the
sidereal rate (provided driving arm sector is correct length) to enable long
exposure photography. The geared drive motor I use is made by Hurst. It is a
synchronous motor outputting 1 rpm which can be driven by household AC or you
can hook it up to 12 volts DC through an inverter. I choose to use a Lumicon
Unitrak Drive corrector while hooked into 12vdc. This is helpful to match
your drive to the sidereal rate as most inverters are seldom exactly 60 Hz
ac. The Hurst motor puts out adequate power to forgive reasonably out of
balance situations.
The Hurst Motor can be found in most industrial supply houses, and Lumicon
ads are in Sky & Telescope.
Good Luck on your project!
Bill Fries, Everglades Astronomical Society
http://www.naples.net/clubs/eas