Astrophotography on a Budget: Assembly your DIY $399 Harmonic mount!

[@msacco]

Just rewatched the video again, but I think 1 very important thing you didn't include or showed is how you attached the DEC clamp, which existing products will fit? Is there a specific adapter needed? I couldn't find exact schematics in the aliexpress link.

[@sissitrudi2010]

Ti adoro quella stupenda musichetta sotto è fighissima!!!

[@mimmo159]

Hi, great project, I've been following it since the beginning. I'm very keen to make it for my mak127 telescope. thank you for your sharing and availability

[@SibawayhDroid]

very nice, thank you for shearing. I will make my own, I have a 3D printer, so the list part I will buy it sooner. Thank you again 🤙

[@johntoet779]

Awesome project! Looking forward to building this

[@Astro-philos]

Thanks!

[@brandonsummey2418]

Going to build one soon, thanks

[@karls238]

I'm pretty new to this world, and have only used 2 different mounts. I am thinking about making this and controlling it with an AsiAir. You mentioned it works great with AsiAir, but how? Is this literally turn on, align to polar north, connect to AsiAir, polar align, and you good to go? I ask because with other mounts I had to go into the handcontroller and set it up each time I used it. Is 100% of this done in AsiAir (or NINA for those using that)?......no need to do anything elses?!?!?!?!?.......can it really be that easy? Lol

[@sinisalazarek4568]

thanks so much for sharing this. I'm really considering building this to upgrade from my star adventurer tracker. In the first video you said that the accuracy is around 2-3 arc seconds. Would getting a higher reduction harmonic drive improve this. i.e. 1:160 instead of 1:100 ?

[@Astro-philos]

Yes! 1:160 would improve the accuracy by a lot

[@karlstruckhoff5931]

Thinking about building this. Will this work with ASIAIR? The Air is just a fantastic little device that makes astrophotography a breeze. Itd be wonderful if it does.

[@Astro-philos]

Yes! This mount is compatible with AsiAir

[@karlstruckhoff5931]

@Astro-philos what mount would you select in the menu for it to work?

[@Astro-philos]

@@karlstruckhoff5931 onstep mount lx200

[@karlstruckhoff5931]

@Astro-philos thank you sir

[@DoronTshuva770]

Wonderful! Since I seen your first video I’ve looked into onstep and learned a lot. You opened the door for me, Thank you. But in the video I seen you got a heat sink on the board only in the 2 spots for the motor, did you solder them? And in the shopping list there’s a green laser listed but never used, What is that?

[@Astro-philos]

You can see the green laser in the last 2 minutes of the video. The heatsinks are glued not soldered

[@rayyanimran1557]

Great mount! Just a question. I'm considering making a mount myself from Chinese harmonic drives. I see that the drives have a "keyed" input (they require a stepper motor with a "keyed shaft"). Can you tell me what motors you chose or how you overcame this issue?

[@Astro-philos]

You ordered directly the driver with 5mm holes, but you can make an adapter

[@rayyanimran1557]

@Astro-philos do you have link to the drive which has non keyed shaft?

[@MichaelLevAstro]

Looks like the body is made with aluminum? How much did it cost to make?

[@Astro-philos]

About 220€

[@sjpp71]

How sturdy is the body if 3d printed? What type of filament can be used? PTFE?

[@Astro-philos]

@@sjpp71 I used pla-cf and it's okay!

[@MichaelLevAstro]

​@@Astro-philos Have you taken some long exposure images with it yet?

[@michaellewis7768]

Is a technical drawing needed for PCBWAY to tap and thread the aluminum enclosure? Apologies for the newbie questions. :-)

[@Astro-philos]

Yes, I will publish the file tomorrow! Sorry

[@michaellewis7768]

@@Astro-philos - You are being so generous with your time and work. No need to be sorry! Thank you!

[@twinturbostang]

Will this support a 12 pound scope? Or does it need more powerful motors?

[@Astro-philos]

Yes 12 pounds it’s not a problem

[@jaredes5666]

What is the average error of RMS for guiding?

[@Astro-philos]

I only tested for 20min with bad polar alignment, and I had 0.8 rms

[@msacco]

Did the gears arrive with lubrication or you had to apply that yourself?

[@Astro-philos]

Depends from the shop :/

[@msacco]

@@Astro-philos Same shop as the link you shared. Also, if using a 3D printer for the body, do you need to use inserts? Since the threads are likely not as accurate as with aluminum which you seems to be using.