In a message dated 3/21/01 2:47:15 AM Eastern Standard Time,

<<
Does any one now or have knowledge of were to obtain the exact duplicate of
the DC motor used in the Meade LX200 scopes?

Also along those lines does. does any one know of what type or make the
diodes or optical sensors used on the LX200's

I am doing a redesign of gearbox used on LX's, gearing, machining, and
mechanical design comes easy, not so with electronics.
>>

Jim,

For what it's worth, I also am redesigning the gearbox. So far, I haven't
found any place that sells the exact same motor, especially one that has the
longer shaft on it. I plan on buying some 'hobby' type of motors and see how
various ones do. I'm fairly sure that if one finds motors that run in the
1.5v - 3.0 v range, they can be made to work, so long as they also can go up
to 14,400 rpm. Naturally, if I fnd something, I'll let you know, and you do
the same.

As for the photodiodes and LEDs, although I'm not 100% sure, I'd bet a nickle
that those from Radio Shack or other electronics outlet would work fine, so
long as you make sure to use infra-red LEDs. The adjustment pots for setting
the output waveshapes gives a pretty wide range for adjustment. Also, the
circuit in which they're used is a pretty non-critical circuit.

There is another alternative, if you were to make the motor shaft longer so
that it would come out through the side of the case, if you are interested.

U.S. Digital (http://usdigital.com) sells small whole units, encoder disk,
mask, electronics that delivers the correct pulses, etc. If a person was to
be able to get the motor shaft into that small unit, everything would be
available from the unit, that can be either screwed or simply stuck against
the gear box housing. The only thing you'd have to do is to supply it with
+5 volts. They sell for about $39.00 as I recall. If I can manage the
mechanics of extending that motor shaft with a small coupling, that's the way
I think I'm going. Much easier and a whole lot less critical for
reassembling the gear box!

But first, I have to get my scope done and back out into the observatory!! <G>

Hope this helps some.

Bruce Johnston

Bruce Johnston Computing
<http://members.aol.com/bjohns7764>
Internet home for "SuperFix" and "MegaFix" image processing software.
Personal page: <http://members.aol.com/ccdastro>

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