From: "Mel Bartels" 
To: "ATM Archives" 
Reply-To: "Mel Bartels" 


>>>
Has anyone ever made digital setting circles with a readout in RA/DEC or even ALT/AZ?
<<<

Try

David Lane, author of The Earth Centered Universe (ECU), has designed an
inexpensive serial interface for quadrature encoders. Called the
MicroGuider 5 (MG5), complete details can be found at
http://www.nova-astro.com/. Cost for the interface (ready to use), not
including the encoders, is about $75US (see the parts webpage for the
encoders). Bob Segrest has designed a very small PCB, you can contact him
at bobslan{at}erols.com.

Patrick Dufour offers a very compact commercial encoder interface box. See
his WebPages at http://www.microtec.net/pdufour/index.htm, or reach him at
Ouranos, 189, rue Du Foin, Saint-Augustin de DesMaures (Quebec), Canada G3A
2S6, Tel. 418-878-9426.

Dave Ek's box is a small very fast reading unit for nominal cost, details
at http://home.earthlink.net/~digicircles

Finally, you can use the encoders from a mouse.  Make sure that
acceleration and multiplication settings are turned off via the mouse
driver.  Use the timer method of halfstepping instead of the delay method
that temporarily turns off interrupts.  For more on mouse encoders and
telescopes, see http://hscience.tripod.com/Atm.html



Mel Bartels

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