14" Roboscope

Tracking with a dob came up in the Telescope Equipment thread and I thought I'd show everyone how I converted my 14" truss to Goto using a Meade DS-80 mount, a 497 Autostar, and 2 focusser knobs. In the Equipment thread I said it cost about $200 for parts, but now that I think about it, it was probably closer to $300.

Here's a link to the project:

http://homepage.ct.metrocast.net/~hfs/Projects/Robo14/robo14.htm

Harry

Attached Image:

Oh, I forgot to mention, because of the large gear reduction the thing is slower than molassis in winter, but the Goto is SCARY accurate. The second time I had it out I went through 19 Messier objects in 12 minutes. 8O

Harry