Sidereal Tracking on a 1980's C8

Apparently there are no more of those Accutrack controllers to be had.

I had donated my C8 to a private school several years ago. The school closed down and I got it back. It had some problems. That oval power receptacle in the base must have broke because some one kluged a power cord onto it. I managed to get a receptacle on it to work and can now hook it up to an AC outlet and it runs.

The "Accutrack" controller appears to be be non functional. The fuse is not blown. I don't have much in the way of diagnostic equipment to see what's wrong with it.

Does anyone know of a way to get the C8 to run on a sidereal (or lunar, or whatever) clock without one of those controllers?

Thanks

Ken H
Marion, IA

The difference between solar and sideral rate is very small. I doubt you would notice it unless doing long-exposure photography. You can probably just connect to household AC power or a standard inverter output (12v DC to 120v AC converter widely available) without any noticable issues.

Accutrack controllers sometimes show up on Astromart. JMI MotoTrack units will do the same job. Don Rothman sells a lot of old parts -- google "astro parts outlet" -- maybe he can help.

Ken Hansen said:

Apparently there are no more of those Accutrack controllers to be had.

I had donated my C8 to a private school several years ago. The school closed down and I got it back. It had some problems. That oval power receptacle in the base must have broke because some one kluged a power cord onto it. I managed to get a receptacle on it to work and can now hook it up to an AC outlet and it runs.

The "Accutrack" controller appears to be be non functional. The fuse is not blown. I don't have much in the way of diagnostic equipment to see what's wrong with it.

Does anyone know of a way to get the C8 to run on a sidereal (or lunar, or whatever) clock without one of those controllers?

Thanks

Ken H
Marion, IA

It will track at sidereal rate when you plug it in. As for the drive controller...see if you can find an electronically knowledgeable person--like a local ham--to look at it. It is a simple device.