Horizontal Heavens Observatory "...From  A Galaxy Far, Far Away"
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This page was last updated on 01/22/15.

RA Axis 2 1/4 in. Extension Block and DEC Rotation

After seeing Tom Hilton's mount with his 2in RA extension, I just had to do the same 8-) .  I have always been frustrated at being forced to make a meridian flip right at the meridian and then having to "wait" for the mount to re-sync after the flip.  This happens when I have to cut a 20min subframe short in order to do the flip and then have to wait for the target to make it "past" the meridian to start imaging again.  NOW I can image past the meridian for nearly 1 1/2 hours before being forced to do a flip, and that translates into greater flexibility as to WHEN to do the flip without having to deal with the meridian crossing directly.  Thanks for the idea Tom!  And a local thanks to Larry Dickinson for helping me make this thing and for the use of his equipment!

Eastern limit is 112 degrees (worse case scenario/angle ) and the Western limit is 123 degrees.  Of course at other imaging angles I could probably eek out a few more degrees on either side, however, in the dark I would rather not take the chance of running into the pier with my CCD camera.

 Below is how I went about tracing the outline of the RA axis hole locations and their measurements for drilling the holes in the extension plate.  I did measure everything with a micrometer, so if doing this, you should be good to go.  THAT said, double check to make sure.  You are doing this at your own risk of messing things up.  Good luck to those who want and choose to try this!

Click to enlarge images.