Charles Elliott Chapter of the Atlanta Astronomy Club

Byers Mount Project

A very large Byers German Equatorial mount was donated to the Atlanta Astronomy Club several years ago. Because of its size though, no one really knew quite what to do with it. The mount alone weighs well over 100 pounds and was designed for very large payloads in an observatory.

In the summer of 2004, the Charlie Elliott Chapter became interested in the mount as an excellent platform for astrophotography with large scopes. Larry Owens agreed to restore the mount and design a platform that would allow the mount to be housed in the chapter's utility trailer and rolled out for use on the CE observing field.

Here's a progress report on the project and some photos of work done thus far.

The Byers mount, resting on the floor at Villa Rica. This photo really doesn't do justice to the size of the mount. The polar axis is a 2" solid stainless steel shaft nearly 30" long. The mount is designed to be bolted to a massive wedge, permanently attached to an observatory pier.

A preliminary inspection of the mount revealed gears in excellent condition, but several missing screws, a bit of "gummy" grease and a pair of motors that would need replacing. Also, the mount had no hand controller or motor control circuitry.

Thanks to the generosity of Michael Covington, the missing motor control circuit is no longer a problem. The circuit is built and ready to be installed.

Replacement RA and DEC motors were obtained directly from Hurst. The motors were donated by Larry Owens with a bit of financial help from Steve Kennedy and Clevis Jones.

The portable wedge under construction. The wedge is constructed entirely from 2x12's and sits on a 40" base for stability. The individual parts of the wedge are assembled with 28, 4" lag bolts and washers from the sides and bottom of the assembly.

After completion of the main structure, it was completely disassembled and painted with 2 coats of an oil based paint to seal the wood and help prevent moisture based expansion. Heavy duty casters were then attached to the base, as well as 4, 1/2" stainless steel bolts that will secure the Byers mount to the base.

The wedge angle is fixed at 33 degrees for use in the Atlanta area. Two pieces of angle iron will be bolted to the N and S ends of the base. These will support tapped holes and "T" handle jacks that will be used to anchor the base during use and to fine tune the latitude angle of the wedge.

The ALCOR circuit will go inside the North end of the base, covered by a tinted plexi-glass control panel.

Still to do (as of 6/25/05): Cut angle iron and fabricate "T" handle jacks; Cut Plexi-glass control panel and install connectors; Build hand controller; Install and wire ALCOR circuit; Clean and paint Byers mount; Clean gears and clutches, re-grease gears and bearings; Obtain missing screws; Reassemble Byers mount; Obtain counter weights; Fabricate standard dovetail adapter; Fabricate Starfinder 16 adapter; Test and evaluate mount and electronics.

Last Updated Tuesday, April 17, 2007