RA Drive

[droege@snapmail.us]

I keep having problems with the RA drive.  It is very strange but I
finally concluded that it does not have enough torque to drive the RA when
it is cold. I will shortly go to exercise it with and oil can in hand. 
Possibly something in binding.

I have spent the last 8 hours on the web reading about stepping motors. 
Sigh!  A lot has happened in the field since I degigned around the motors
I used.  It would appear that the current motors are about a factor of 100
better than the ones I used.  I have just ordered two samples.

If I can make these work, then I will be able to make high speed RA moves.
 Well, 64x sideral which is as much as I have allowed in the controller.

The motors I picked will also result in 4x the stepping resolution on the
RA drive.  About 8 steps per pixel vs 2 steps now.  We probably won't be
able to see any difference.

Looks like I can also find a better option for the Dec drive.  But first
things first.

Tom Droege