Motorizing a hardin optical 8"

Is there any way to "easily" motorize a hardin optical 8" reflector
scope? Right now it's on a particle board mount, and with a 4mm
eyepiece, it's hard to see anything for more than a few seconds. Is
there a kit or something? Or is this a Big Project?

thanks
michelle

Is there any way to "easily" motorize a hardin optical 8" reflector
scope? Right now it's on a particle board mount, and with a 4mm
eyepiece, it's hard to see anything for more than a few seconds. Is
there a kit or something? Or is this a Big Project?

It is possible to motorize a DOB, it will cost more than the scope itself.

That 4mm is 300x. With a 40 degree FOV eyepiece like an ortho, it takes about
30 seconds for the image to cross the field of view. Not a long time...

However, I think with a bit of experience, it becomes quite natural and 300X is
reasonably easily done.

If the scope is overly jerky, it is possible that something is amiss with the
bearings, a first step would be to make sure everything is clean and smooth.
At some point an upgrade to Ebony star on the base board along with teflon to
mate and on the altitude bearings would make things smoother but in my
experience the stock bearing work quite well.

It takes a bit of time to become accustomed to nudging a dob and some people
don't like it. But give yourself some time first, that advantages of ease of
setup and the more intuitive pointing of the scope are assets when first
beginning.

jon

Is there any way to "easily" motorize a hardin optical 8" reflector
scope? Right now it's on a particle board mount, and with a 4mm
eyepiece, it's hard to see anything for more than a few seconds. Is
there a kit or something? Or is this a Big Project?

It is possible to motorize a DOB, it will cost more than the scope itself.

That 4mm is 300x. With a 40 degree FOV eyepiece like an ortho, it takes about
30 seconds for the image to cross the field of view. Not a long time...

However, I think with a bit of experience, it becomes quite natural and 300X is
reasonably easily done.

If the scope is overly jerky, it is possible that something is amiss with the
bearings, a first step would be to make sure everything is clean and smooth.
At some point an upgrade to Ebony star on the base board along with teflon to
mate and on the altitude bearings would make things smoother but in my
experience the stock bearing work quite well.

It takes a bit of time to become accustomed to nudging a dob and some people
don't like it. But give yourself some time first, that advantages of ease of
setup and the more intuitive pointing of the scope are assets when first
beginning.

jon

Jon Isaacs wrote:
Is there any way to "easily" motorize a hardin optical 8" reflector
scope? Right now it's on a particle board mount, and with a 4mm
eyepiece, it's hard to see anything for more than a few seconds. Is
there a kit or something? Or is this a Big Project?

It is possible to motorize a DOB, it will cost more than the scope itself.

That 4mm is 300x. With a 40 degree FOV eyepiece like an ortho, it takes about
30 seconds for the image to cross the field of view. Not a long time...

However, I think with a bit of experience, it becomes quite natural and 300X is
reasonably easily done.

I think another point can be made as well : 300x is certainly a usable
magnification in absolute terms. However, in an 8" dob I'd put some
effort maybe into seeing what can be discerned at a lower ("slower")
power that will allow for more relaxed observing. I tend to use the
lowest magnification that will show me what I want to see. Personally, I
tend to see detail better at reasonably lower powers, despite the fact
that it's smaller. Of course, there are practical limits both ways.

--

-- Len Philpot --
-- http://philpot.org/ --
-- (alternate email) --

Jon Isaacs wrote:
Is there any way to "easily" motorize a hardin optical 8" reflector
scope? Right now it's on a particle board mount, and with a 4mm
eyepiece, it's hard to see anything for more than a few seconds. Is
there a kit or something? Or is this a Big Project?

It is possible to motorize a DOB, it will cost more than the scope itself.

That 4mm is 300x. With a 40 degree FOV eyepiece like an ortho, it takes about
30 seconds for the image to cross the field of view. Not a long time...

However, I think with a bit of experience, it becomes quite natural and 300X is
reasonably easily done.

I think another point can be made as well : 300x is certainly a usable
magnification in absolute terms. However, in an 8" dob I'd put some
effort maybe into seeing what can be discerned at a lower ("slower")
power that will allow for more relaxed observing. I tend to use the
lowest magnification that will show me what I want to see. Personally, I
tend to see detail better at reasonably lower powers, despite the fact
that it's smaller. Of course, there are practical limits both ways.

--

-- Len Philpot --
-- http://philpot.org/ --
-- (alternate email) --