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Tech2000 DOB DRIVER 2
Adventures in Driving a Dobsonian Telescope by Bill Lennartz Introduction Updated: 9/29/2002  |
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The Dob Driver 2 comes in several flavors, which include a belt driven system and a direct drive (Tech2000 calls it "Rim Drive") for tracking in altitude. All kits have direct drive for the azimuth. There is also a high resolution option (higher ratio gearing) which provides more torque and smoother tracking at the cost of a slower slew speed. The geared stepper motors included in my kit are made by Hurst, and are rated 3 volt DC at 8 watts. The assembly name tag includes "150RED", which I believe indicates a gear reduction ratio of 150:1. Both the altitude and azimuth drive assemblies appear to be very well constructed. For my telescope, which has large altitude trunnions (about 24" diameter), I ordered the DDR2-RIM kit. This drive does not utilize a belt driven altitude wheel as supplied in the standard DDR2 kit. Instead, the altitude trunnion is driven directly from a knurled wheel mounted on the gearbox/motor assembly. According to Tech2000, the DDR2-RIM drive may be more accurate than the standard belt driven kit, but will probably involve additional rework of your existing scope. It is only recommended with 20" or larger trunnion diameters. Hence, for the DDR2-RIM kit, the azimuth drive unit and the altitude drive unit are very similar (both being direct drives).
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Presented
here are both installation tips and a product review
of the Dob Driver 2, as it follows the installation
of this product on my home built 18" Dobsonian
telescope. Before I acquired the DDR2, I found it difficult
to retrieve information on how well this device worked.
With little information, except from the manufacturer
