Re: ATM - Worm gear source?

[The Silent Observer <silent1@ix.netcom.com>]

Adam Perkins wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I've got the opportunity to purchase a small german equatorial head for
> about 50$.  I'm looking at it with the intention of disassembling it
> and using the two small worm asseblies for my 12" dob (per Mel's
> design).  Do these mounts have a worm for Declination, or what?  I
> obviously want two gear trains...  The ads for celestron's mount in S&T
> show not much room for a worm gear of any size.
> 
> Has anyone tried tearing one of these things apart?
> 

For that price, it's probably worth getting for its original purpose.

That said, many if not most of the smaller, less expensive German mounts
have a worm for dec slow motion, but only a sector gear instead of a
full wheel on that axis.  That's the way my Meade 4400 is done, and I've
seen at least one small Celestron with what appeared to be an identical
mount: if you go too far in either direction in dec, you'll come up
against a hard stop, and you then have to back the worm off many turns
and slip the clutch to realign the OTA.

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Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth
and don't expect them to be perfect.