- Joined
- Feb 17, 2014
- Messages
- 97
There probably aren't a lot of astronomers, or astrophotographers here. But I thought I'd post this project any way, as there were some interesting machined parts that some may find interesting. I just recently sold my entire deep sky imaging set-up. For those wanting to see more take a look at my Astro pages here:
http://www.ericchesak.com/Galleries/Astro-Images
Well, after I sold it all, I wanted to keep some portable ability to be able to accurately track the motion of the stars, for long exposure photography. There are many similar devices on the market, but none really met my requirements of rigidity and accuracy. So I decided to design my own. This is the outcome.
It turns out to be very stable, tight and it tracks very accurately. I've been traveling so I haven't had time to perform any detailed tests, but a quick couple of test images indicates that the performance is precisely what I was looking for. I still plan to make a custom tripod for it. I've designed and built several of super stable tripods, so I'll just make a miniature version for this device. Here are a few 5 minute long test photos. The goal here is to move the mount at precisely the same rate as the Earth, following the motion of the stars. This is needed so that the stars are round pin points and not streaks or lines. I think it performed this duty pretty well:
For those interested in seeing more, take a look at the following gallery. I have many detailed photos of each part during and after machining:
http://www.ericchesak.com/Galleries/DIY/Star-Tracker-III
It was a lot of fun and seems to be a good performer. I'm looking forward to using it and moving on to my next machining project.
Eric
http://www.ericchesak.com/Galleries/Astro-Images
Well, after I sold it all, I wanted to keep some portable ability to be able to accurately track the motion of the stars, for long exposure photography. There are many similar devices on the market, but none really met my requirements of rigidity and accuracy. So I decided to design my own. This is the outcome.
It turns out to be very stable, tight and it tracks very accurately. I've been traveling so I haven't had time to perform any detailed tests, but a quick couple of test images indicates that the performance is precisely what I was looking for. I still plan to make a custom tripod for it. I've designed and built several of super stable tripods, so I'll just make a miniature version for this device. Here are a few 5 minute long test photos. The goal here is to move the mount at precisely the same rate as the Earth, following the motion of the stars. This is needed so that the stars are round pin points and not streaks or lines. I think it performed this duty pretty well:
For those interested in seeing more, take a look at the following gallery. I have many detailed photos of each part during and after machining:
http://www.ericchesak.com/Galleries/DIY/Star-Tracker-III
It was a lot of fun and seems to be a good performer. I'm looking forward to using it and moving on to my next machining project.
Eric