Re: Dec Drive, etc.

[Ron Wickersham <rjw@alembic.com>]

could the dec mechanism be preloaded by a light shock cord to remove the
slop?  of course theis definitely would require energizing the motor before
the brake is released, but that mod is scheduled anyway.  if the slop is
taken up by preload, then the encoder as Chris suggests (and Arne desires)
would be feasable.

-ron

On Tue, 19 Sep 2000 aah@nofs.navy.mil wrote:

> Chris asked about encoding the Dec axis.  Of course, I'm
> always in favor of encoding everything, and since a fair
> sum of money has been spent on the telescope and camera,
> it only seems reasonable to allocate some resources to
> the drive as well.  At the same time, Tom wanted something
> that did his project and didn't have so many bells and
> whistles that it could be used for a general purpose
> system.
>   However, the real problem is the slop, and that can't be
> removed no matter how much encoding you do.  You have to
> have repeatability in any mechanism.  The system works if
> you don't mind being a degree or so off, so perhaps we
> should just live with it.  I certainly don't have time
> to modify anything until November.
>   ARNE is taking data by itself tonight.  Fun to walk out
> at the appropriate time and watch it move.  Now on to other
> problems that can be solved in the week before I leave!
> Arne
> 
>