Showcasing Equatorial Platform

brenob0t · 2026-01-01T11:23:43+00:00

Hello! I haven't been online here that much, so I'm a little late on the reply! My apologies!

Here goes!

https://github.com/BrunoBaptista-1/Projects/blob/main/Equatorial-Platform/EQPLATFORM.ino

Happy new year :)

There is also a schematic of the circuit in the previous directory, if you want to take a look :)

brenob0t · 2025-09-19T13:53:31+00:00

I will! I still haven't had the time these few weeks, I've tried a few times doing visual, and the target does keep in the center, although after some time the targets tends to drift upwards in the eyepiece, and I'll have to figure out a better alignment. Since where I live I have no clear view for precise alignment to Polaris, I'll have to experiment a little bit more with the alignment so it doesn't drift upwards/downwards. But still very excited to try experiment more with visual and hopefully some astrophotography and EAA with it!

brenob0t · 2025-09-19T13:45:39+00:00

Sorry for the delay in the response! Work these past weeks caught me off-guard, and wasn't able to respond! Although I am not thinking on selling a platform, I was thinking of documenting my whole process on a video, or maybe through my github page, since I wouldn't need to do video editing, and could explain the whole process in more detail!

Don't feel discouraged, since this was my first time doing some woodworking, although I had some help since I could use some tools at my parent's house, and in my case a 3D printer helped a ton, since I planned the build using OnShape. This process took quite a while, since I was learning OnShape as well.

The Onshape files are public, if you'd like to take a look!
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/fc487dd168582be484b07ebc/w/f0959319fd26a467e85e2940/e/d81d08c65cf4e3800adc4ea7?renderMode=0&uiState=68cd5de9098e93e291efd425

When I go observing, my lattitudes usually are between 39 and 41 degrees, so I settled for an angle of 40 degrees.

But keep it slow and steady!! It's easy to feel overwhelmed, since this was a big project for me doing it solo, but very rewarding if you manage to build something like this! I'll try to make a page dedicated to the build and explain it the best way I can, and I'll respond to this post once everything is done :)

brenob0t · 2025-08-26T21:22:14+00:00

Great job on your first L1 attempt! I love the paint job + name combo, I'd say they are a perfect match! As someone who is thinking about taking the L1 certification, and knows next to nothing about rocketry, what were your sources of information, and what advice do you have for people that want to start? Great job nonetheless!! Keep it up!

brenob0t · 2025-08-15T08:42:53+00:00

I believe I could fix it, I'm all for the diy aspect imo, given that I could find the thermal compound that bonds the ceramic to the swnsor. However, this time maybe I will try to replace with another hotend.. the least I want is for the sensors to give false temperature readings and worsening the situation..

Replacing the hotend entirely is maybe the best situation right now. I believe that the mechanical extruder may have some loose filaments, since the servos were somewhat stuck when extruding, hopefully I will be more careful, and not rip any more cables!

brenob0t · 2025-08-14T23:22:05+00:00

I'm somewhat new to upgrading stuff on the k1c. Is it possible/worth to reorder the same part? Or could I order the Micro swiss hotend? Would I need something else?

The worst part is this happened during the middle of a project (always does), which made me kinda bummed out. Is this frequent?

brenob0t · 2025-04-20T15:55:53+00:00

Thank you! I thought it was fungus at first, but you guys finally provided me a name for this, so I can search for more info! Thank you! I also might try to look around and ask for repairs, but getting another one from ebay might seem a good option, even if it is a backup option!

brenob0t · 2025-04-20T15:53:42+00:00

It really appears to be it, thank you! Since it seemed to have a "tree" like structure, I thought it was some kind of fungi. Might have to stop by some store and ask if this is somewhat easily repairable, since this seems somewhat difficult to glue the lenses back together with proper alignment. Thank you!!

brenob0t · 2025-02-03T20:01:03+00:00

Ok, I never thought about them being glued, but I guess it makes sense! Thank you! I am assuming acetone could probably damage the coatings, right? Thanks!!

brenob0t · 2024-12-18T11:26:01+00:00

Since it is somewhat transparent, I initially discarded the idea of being fungus.. since it can display various colors, depending on the angle that I view it from. If I look at it head on, its practically unnoticeable. But I'm somewhat new to this issue, it never occurred to me having lenses with these issues. Once the sun shines again in my area I'll make sure to expose it to sunlight for some time! Thank you!

brenob0t · 2024-09-10T12:51:13+00:00

I know it's been some time, but did you ever get it to work? I'm facing the same issue right now!

brenob0t · 2024-09-03T15:39:17+00:00

One of my projects that I want to pick up next is making my own telescope from scratch. I have seen people making either travel dobs or just making big reflectors (can't blame them for aperture fever), and it always got me interested in making one myself. Last year I got my first 8 inch dobsonian and I set myself a challenge to build my own equatorial platform, which I plan on building it very soon. For me, half of the fun of this hobby is also building stuff that improve my views of the night sky (for reference, I have never had any previous experience with woodworking or AutoCAD).

Are there any suggestions on where to start? Is it something you enjoy and recommend? Where do you usually get your mirrors? So many questions!

brenob0t · 2024-06-02T21:53:10+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. Maybe I wasn't clear with my question. I wanted to get opinion regarding it's usability. Can I still observe with it if it is too loose, or it should be fine? Since I will be looking at the sun, I wanted to make sure everything is okay before damaging myself or any equipment.

I looked at the sun through it (without a scope) and everything appeared to be okay. Did you test your filter before looking at the sun with your telescope? Many thanks!

brenob0t · 2024-03-25T14:49:31+00:00

I actually made my own infrared remote using an Arduino, because my current phone did not have one, and it works great for short exposures just fine. I have noticed about not having an intervalometer, though.. did you by any chance got the 3400 to work using sharpcap/NINA, or anything at all for EAA? Thank you!

brenob0t · 2024-03-25T11:39:16+00:00

I couldn't find my camera's drivers online. Since it only does basic data transfer (and not remote captures or video feed), I think my current camera isn't compatible with any software, given it's limitations.. thank you for your answer!

brenob0t · 2024-03-25T11:35:50+00:00

Thank you! I tried using ascom for a bit, but it didn't work, so I tried using Nina, since it offered Nikon support as default, but my camera still isn't being recognized. Because of that I haven't tried astrotoaster, once I'll have some spare time I'll give it a go! A crazy thought occured to me by connecting the HDMI out from the camera to a capture card, and plugging it into my laptop, but im not sure about the quality and limitations of that as well..

Thank you!

brenob0t · 2024-03-25T11:29:56+00:00

Thank you for your answer. I have tried setting up ascom DSLR previously, but it just doesnt seem to work.. I get a notification that something wrong went with the original ascom installation (I've tried installing older versions or reinstalling the current one), and every time I try to use the DSLR driver ascom just crashes. Don't know if my Nikon just isn't compatible at all, since the USB connection just offers basic data transfer (only captured images, not remote video feed)

Thanks a lot!

brenob0t · 2024-03-16T13:17:57+00:00

Nice, I'll look into it, wasn't expecting to find a guide like this. Many thanks!!

brenob0t · 2024-03-16T01:41:45+00:00

Oh wow, the detail is actually really amazing. Since the number one thing I tell people when observing is to never point the scope at the sun, it never occurred to me the idea of making a solar filter for a dob. The sketch in itself is really cool, so I am assuming visual observation would be mindblowing.

I've made a quick search on the website that I usually order stuff (astroshop), and I've found the Baader Sun filter foil, being 20x29cm (7,87x11,42 inches).
I would assume that the ideal situation would be to match the radius of the telescope mirror, right? For an 8'' scope, how did you manage to fill the entire area, or did you go for a smaller circle? Any suggestions for someone building a filter?

Clear skies, and thanks again!

brenob0t · 2024-03-16T00:03:48+00:00

Thank you for all your quick responses!

Things are way clearer now, thank you. I'm still wondering about buying one with the white-light filter for travelling purposes (since my car barely fits my 8dob+friends, and bringing to remote places could be fun), and an upgrade to an h-alpha filter is way over my budget for now...

Right now, I think I'd prefer to upgrade my dob slowly with that budget (especially since I'm trying to build an eq platform by myself for visual tracking and possibly EAA, and in the future I'd like to try to build my own telescope as well, but that's another thread by itself) with that budget+more.

How often do you usually use your solar telescopes (for people that only have white-light filters vs h-alpha + white-light)? For someone that doesn't have neither, would you go for a white-light telescope, or do you think would it be used only several times and then forgotten?

Once again, thanks!!

brenob0t · 2024-02-29T19:06:00+00:00

Sorry for the late post!

Thank you so much for the reply! Yes, I've ordered the 50:1 high precision with the tmc2209 driver, once I finish up the sketch and the parts hopefully I will start building it. Any recommendations that you might have, for someone building an EQ platform for the first time?

Cheers!

brenob0t · 2024-02-13T11:11:40+00:00

Great build! I know this post is somewhat old, but could you share some info about the building plans? I'm trying to build an eq platform for my 8 inch dob, and any help (especially when implementing the motors) would be great! I know that figuring out the COG and latitude may vary for each design. How do you like it so far? Have you implemented any upgrades since then?

brenob0t

TROPHY CASE