I carefully looked over the entire mechanism to decide which parts to keep.

The main circuit board worked and using serial could be commanded to go to a position or even store positions, but it lost out due to not supporting the speeds I wanted to control. I specifically wanted to be able to go from 1 revolution per day (About 0.0007 RPM), up to about 15 RPM.

Even if the board couldn’t be used whole, it still contained bipolar stepper motor drivers. It used matched pairs of L297′s and L298′s. I quickly decided against using these due to the simplicity and size of the EasyDriver.

Out came the 48VAC to 24VAC toroidal transformer and I was left with this:
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I carefully looked over the entire mechanism to decide which parts to keep. The main circuit board worked and using serial could be commanded to go to a position or even store positions, but it lost out due to not supporting the speeds I wanted to control. I specifically wanted to be able to ...

I recently acquired a second hand Pan Tilt mechanism from a CCTV camera system.

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I recently acquired a second hand Pan Tilt mechanism from a CCTV camera system. Of special importance was that the unit used Stepper Motors to drive the two axis' and it uses a 12 way slip ring for electrical connectivity. These stepper motors are each 200 pulses per revolution and are geared 10:1 to ...

The Geminids Meteor Shower for 2010 will peak on the 13th & 14th December this year.

Expectations are high, with a peak ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) of up to 120. The moon will set in the west around midnight giving nice dark views of the Northern sky.
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The Geminids Meteor Shower for 2010 will peak on the 13th & 14th December this year. Expectations are high, with a peak ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) of up to 120. The moon will set in the west around midnight giving nice dark views of the Northern sky. The Geminids radiate from their namesake, the constellation ...