Declination Axis Problem – Alan Young Telescope
by Kevin Brown : last updated: September 19, 2008Welcome back!
Well.. I was too hasty.
In my previous post here, I said the restoration of the Alan Telescope was nearly finished.
We had a meeting on Monday night and there is a problem with the Declination axis motor drive.
It has worked OK up to now, but the 30 year old arrangement has now given up.
The telescope has a fine pitch worm screw, driven by a reversible DC electric motor. The worm acts on a small rack section, which we unbolt and move around a large (30 inch diameter) declination circle, made from metal.
The screw has started to slip and there is no obvious remedy, other than replacement.
So I have have been talking to telescope specialists, such as the excellent Beacon Hill telescopes, about how to fix it for the long term.
We may have to purchase and fit a large worm wheel and worm set, to provide a more accurate, reliable drive.
This will cost a fair bit of money.
Alternatively, we are considering a “tangent arm” threaded rod arrangement. this will be cheaper and easier to fit.
I shall let you know here, what happens next…
[...] has a problem with the slow-motion drive on the declination axis. The screw thread and rack section drive, no longer mesh properly. So the dec drive does not [...]