DIY instructions to build your own Dobsonian Scope Drive.
Scopedog mk1 was developed by two amateur astronomers, Craig & Keith (me!). A few more were built for friends in the UK and they have been used for a few years now. Scopes range from a 10” to a 24”. Over the years improvements and enhancements have been made.
In 2022 we made the decision to make the design available to anyone who wanted it for their own use. During Covid lockdown the hardware and firmware had undergone a complete refresh. Using newer versions of the original electonics modules, the control box got both smaller and easier to build.
Key features:
- Proven on 10" - 42” dobs
- Drives any bipolar stepper motors up to 4A per winding.
- Microstep drive
- Typical slew speeds up to 6 deg/sec
- Microstep size less 0.5 arc seconds
- shortcircuit protection
- Works alongside the Nexus DSC (and the latest pro version)
- User settings programmable via wifi or ethernet.
- Motor current (0.5A is typical)
- Slew, move & centre speeds
- Drive geometry
- Built-in wifi, ethernet and USB
- Flexible set-up to suit most drive principles
- Altitude rockers on rollers
- Wire and capstan
- Toothed belt
- Includes an optional built-in digital finder - just plug a camera into ScopeDog and it plate-solves and adjusts scope pointing to less than an arc minute.
Integrated eFinder (plate-solving)
- Refine Goto’s. The ScopeDog drive typically gets me within 10 arc mins of the target. The errors are down to initial Nexus DSC alignment and the stability and orthogonality of my scope mount.
The eFinder can automatically finish the goto by sending the scope drive commands to close out any error. - Make initial two star alignments easier. Instead of aligning on Named Stars in the Nexus catalogue, I can just point my scope at a convenient part of the sky and the eFinder will determine the position very accurately and send the result to the Nexus DSC as a pseudo alignment ‘star’.
- 'Local Sync’ is easy. The eFinder quickly resolves true RA & Dec of where it is pointing and sends that to the Nexus DSC as a local sync point. Also makes building an MPoint model very easy.
- A new hand box has been made, combining ScopeDog & eFinder functions into one. The OLED text display can now be used for ScopeDog functions as well.
The design is being made available for personal use by amateur astronomers. It is offered without warranty, guarantees or liability.
The support is made available for a small donation. Email for details.
Use the drop down site navigation menus Equipment/ScopeDog/…. to find more information or click one of the following….