Update: I finally finished cleaning up my design files and released all of them (part design, solidworks drawings, BoMs, PCB boards and so on) here: github.com/alanzjl/AlkaidMount About the cost: I got mine HarmonicDrive CSF-17 pair for ~400 usd used from eBay. Aluminum sheets were cheap - about $60 in total. Screws ~40. I used the university machine shop so it’s free. Electronics about 100 in total (but I got enough components to make me about 10 boards:). Motor & planetary gearboxes ~100. So the total cost was about $700, very nice deal compared to a commercial RainBow HD mount that’s $3k+. I had a beginner EQ mount (HEQ-5 pro) which I got for $1.6k (during Covid) and I 100% prefer my own mount.

@gpaunescu

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for info; please let me know the motor model, if you can.

@dinmavric5504

Жыл бұрын

That is amazing. I've long thought how a custom made mount would be much cheaper than buying one, you confirm that idea.

@PaoloBanci

Жыл бұрын

Can I order one? :-D

@greatpix

Жыл бұрын

Did you keep track of how many man hours you put into building it?

@syberand

Жыл бұрын

Hows the tracking, and very impressive

Mounts have gotten so ridiculously expensive, it makes sense that people with equipment like yours would start making their own.

@Robin-Visser

Жыл бұрын

Correct. But after using one of those expensive mounts for about 3 years, your resell value is probably higher than a diy one. The increased pricings lately will also give a higher return when you sell it. Also think about the brake safety and other features that might help you to prevent costly damage to your scope

@brandonhicks7549

Жыл бұрын

@robin That’s a funny argument. It’s like the inverse of the “just think of all the taxes you’ll save” by taking a job with less pay. Of course it won’t be worth as much-it didn’t cost as much and doesn’t come with a pedegree. Such is the nature of diy.

@Robin-Visser

Жыл бұрын

@@brandonhicks7549 i bet investing in a known brand will cost you less compared to building something yourself. Prices of branded items will probably outperform inflation. Chances are that you will sell your branded astro gear after some years of use and receive more than you paid for. Like real estate. Sometimes going cheap costs more than a good but more expensive purchase.

@nadaadeclarar1979

Жыл бұрын

I completely agree, in the country where I live there are no manufacturers so you have to import, the government charges a 60% fee on top of the value of the imported product and also on the cost of shipping, making it almost impossible to buy an EQ5 for example. I recently became interested in producing a handmade one and I'm researching the subject, I've seen that it's possible to produce one buying local material and importing some parts like stepper motors, pulleys, bearings as well as electronic components making it much more advantageous to manufacture it myself.

@RaisinEnjoyer

7 ай бұрын

@@Robin-Visserastrophotographer try not to have buyers remorse challenge: impossible

I'm utterly blown away by your project, and your generosity in releasing the files/design. Thanks for your kind service to the community. I hope your new mount performs well for you for years to come :)

the amount of "know-how" in this video is incredible

This is incredible work mate, I'm so impressed!!

This is one of those videos you watch and think "This channel is going to blow up, I guarantee it". Very impressive work!

@0Logan05

5 ай бұрын

..I was far too distracted with the God Awful sound track.. Sad really as it rendered it moot..

Wow! Thank you for sharing! Every bit of the video was awesome, the editing, music, your machinist/engineering skills and photography! Thank you!

Excellent work and congratulations on building such a fabulous mount. Thanks for sharing and I watched it with a smile on my face and in awe of your talent.

@whereswa11y

Жыл бұрын

As did I.

Love the craftsmanship, everything seems to fit very well together. I'm very impressed with the final image.

WOW! I love the craftmanship going in to this build! This is what drives the amateur astronomy segment forward! Keep videos like these coming! /Daniel

Fantastic job! A year ago I was about to design a harmonic drive mount myself but life got in the way and the project has been on the back burner. This video just renewed my interest. Thank you!

@derekderek2570

Жыл бұрын

I mean.... you really think you could do this?

@lawabidingcitizen5153

6 ай бұрын

@@derekderek2570 If anything it will be worth it for the learning experience, no need to demotivate anyone...

This is super cool, I had an idea to try and do something similar a while ago but never actually tried to execute it. You definitely did a much better job of it than I could have anyway lol. It's great to see something like this work out. awesome work

This is so gratifying to watch and listen to. Thanks for sharing this video with us.

Congratulations! Absolutely outstanding - look and feel of a pro unit!

Very Impressive, you have great engineering skills and a nice workshop and equipment!

Mesmerising video. Excellent work. So nice to see. Thanks for sharing!

Great video buddy, I was thinking for a long time whether to buy one for $$$ or can i make a reliable, precise one, finally I came through this video, and its so kind of you that, you have made plans, methods available to public and thus encouraging such enthusiasts to build one for themselves! Appreciate it!

I think this is magnificent, beautiful and inspiring. Subscribed. thanks for posting! :D

I couldn't even imaging undertaking this, extremely impressive.

Super inspiring man. Great engineering.

Pretty amazing, well done! ...and extra kudos for GPL!

Absolutely awesome result!

WOW! Amazing! Sweet project. I would have never thought to make one. Great job!

What a beautiful bit of kit. Kudos.

I followed the video perfectly and it only took an hour to make. thanks for posting

Good work fella. What an outstanding piece of engineering! 🙂

This is a super cool build and a smooth video. Bravo!

Great work! I love the DIY!

Absolutely incredible work! I envy the talent of people such as yourself.

Wow! Awesome job mate! I also had HEQ-5 pro once and it sure had plenty of issues. An astronomic thanks for releasing it all to the public. Sub )

As a Tool Maker and weekend astronomer, this looks like it's right up my alley. Thanks for the video.

Excellent work, not listened to Magnetic Fields for years so enjoyed that too.

Just got into astronomy, been looking at many diy mounts and this by far is the best ive seen. Unfortunately even with all the information provided im far too dumb to design it let alone building and assembly. Its beautiful though absolutely amazing work!

That is fantasic work JZ. My father has a lathe and milling machine but whether we could make this or not I am unsure, I would absolutely love to though it looks amazing. Thank you for sharing your work and clear skies to you

Really nice build and great video!

Impressive project and great result!

As an engineer, programmer and network security professional... I was like WTFFFF? What is up with this set of skills?!? And then I saw MIT and it all made sense LOL. Awesome work man!

Outstanding work!

Absolutely incredible work .. wow I'm speachless

Guy has skills on several fields. Amazing. Loved it.

Simply incredible. I have always wanted to go this route and DIY a mount to be alongside my CEM40, but unfortunately I have limited access to proper machining tools. If you do choose to release plans, it would be incredibly helpful as there are not many resources on doing something like this. The closest project I can think of is the OpenAstroTech designs, and those have a relatively small load capacity compared to your design due to them being mostly 3D printed. I look forward to seeing your other projects!

You have just blown my mind. Thank you for sharing. 🙏👏👏👏

i cannot tell you how envious of your abilities i am.

Great music selection.

I *deeply* appreciate this build, made almost entirely out of plate stock. A thing of beauty.

@scottwilliams895

Жыл бұрын

The 3d printed covers are a nice touch. From the thumbnail, I didn't notice they weren't also aluminum! If I might ask, what filament is that? (I saw the brief note that it was provided/sponsored)

Excellent work! You have earned my subscription!

awesome work

Very impressive 👍🏼. Well done!

I built an equatorial mount at school as a metalwork project. It wasn't as good as this. But I was only 14 with ambitions advanced beyond abilities. And the project began a few months before Jim, Frank and Bill enjoyed the best Christmas ever cooped up in a small tent sized can beaming grainy low resolution pictures back to us excited kids. My mount was based on the German type and had no drive. I just liked the idea of being able to view without constantly moving two axes. It bore the same relation to a professionally manufactured mount as the live TV of Neil and Buzz doing their thing does to 4K video.

Amazing work! YOU are the BOSS

very nice design, amazing mechanical lab, never saw a underwater cnc before

Simply Brutal. Congratulations.

Incredibly well done man😮!!

As a senior robotics engineer and designer, however a very new amateur astronomer, I wondered how long it would take for harmonic drives to really enter the mainstream. I bought a Losmandy G11 and immediately afterward saw the Ipotron. I almost returned the G11 knowing the capabilities this tech has. This will be the new norm in the near future. Sharing your knowledge freely, for the benefit of others is a very noble thing. Well done.

Superb skills.. amazing job

Thank you for sharing project drawing Alan! İ subscribed

Good job, very impressive !

Wow, awesome job!

👏👏👏 Great work!

Nice work! That's one sexy mount!

First - absolutely amazing work! Second - love the Jean-Michel Jarre music!

Far from "too boxy" I find the design and execution beautiful. Well done.

This is brilliant

Damn thats Amazing !!!!!!! Probs to you, wish i could buy one

You really have golden hands!!!

Awesome video!

some serious skills outhere

It's about time we start seeing some open source hardware :) You sir are a saint.

That is incredible!!!

Wow, amazing stuff man. Can I ask did you consider using direct drive motors or are there more technical challenges associated with those? I want to be able to build my own mount one day instead of paying thousands of $$ too, thanks for inspiration.

👍Nice job and professional technique

Nice job!

Good work.

If I could, I would. My brothers are into machining, I may challenge them to make a mount someday. It's not me though, I enjoy helping bringing people into the hobby before they craft things like this. Well done!

My shit! I can't believe what you did ! You are very much creative guy. Continue to study!

I feel I would love to buy this in Kit form and build it myself. great job.

OMG MAN GREAT WORK!!

Amazing!

Nice one! Thanks for sharing, 🎉

Astro DIY on another level!

Exactly the mount I need…. …just need the machines and the material and the skills and the time and the plan…. Meeeh. Great work anyway! :)

Absolutely awesome! Subbed.

I love it !. You should make the electronic enclosure waterproof and include desiccant.

@glauberprado8752

Жыл бұрын

most eletronics involved are pretty cheap so if it breaks just replace it

Wow.. what a superb built.. It would be wonderful if you could share the design and details of the PCB and parts ! I would certainly want to build it !

Superbe, bravo.

That is Very cool !!

OnStep is amazing!

Excellent

Very nice!

Wow excellent

I liked the montage. Suitable for a small astrograph. But to make all the parts, a vice, a hacksaw for metal, a file and an electric drill are enough. The polar axis tilt assembly axis can be replaced with a simple bolt.

Very nice

Very very impressive

Cool project, have a pair of harmonic drives on order myself, this has just spurred on. Are you using an ESP32 as the controller? Was looking to breakout the stepper control lines beyond SPI and possibly run a closed loop system to have one more level of error checking in the motion control. Subscribed, this is just immense engineering at this level and access of tooling.

Totally badass

lovely design. I wish I had the actuators to make an EQ mount for my whole dobsonian, but it's quite big and heavy and would probably sag at odd angles. An EQ platform is typical for dobsonian users, but they don't track for very long.

Really impressive by your creation ! Love the DIY touch and it look very nice ! Do you have any idea of the precision ? or you don't mind like you have a camera which guide the all sytem ?

Nice

One day, I hope to be a quarter as good at building things! Currently a 3d printer person with aspirations of building a CNC (printnc). Inspiring work!!!

Really wonderful. I want to know how you will design and build an eq platform for dobsonian telescopes. Sure it will be amazing and state of the art constructed.