As you know I take some pleasure in repurposing things and trying to drag out every last drop of value than part with hard earned cash - must be my Aberdonian roots! Some time a go, I made a mount for my small WO ZS80IIED semi-Apo refractor, to sling between the forks on my fork mount [
https://www.astrobin.com/601h5t/?nc=user].
These revisions add belts to allow me to focus my refractor and camera lenses (revision B) using my existing JMI motofocus. This entailed some simple woodwork, 20mm dowel rod which fits my focus motor, 32mm plastic ring (from a waste pipe) to lock the motor, and toothed rings and belts (taken from my Pentax 70-210mm zoom lens). The motor plugs into the LX6 control panel, allowing me to micro focus using the hand paddle, in front of my screen - no more cricked necks!
The second revision was to add a folding arm for my iPhone, to make use of the excellent PolarScope Align Pro App, which allows me to use the ‘push to’ function to locate DSOs, with reasonable accuracy, without magnetic interference.
Finally I attached a small dowel handle to make it easier to move the mount in altitude without knocking everything out of alignment. Not quite a ‘Paramount ME’ or ‘belt and braces’ for that matter, but it works!
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