In the end it is a Celestron C8 telescope drive and forks containing custom electronics, a Meade heavy duty wedge from an LX-90, a hand-made tripod, holding a Televue 76mm APO telescope, using a Vixen style dovetail base, with a Baader film solar filter.
It is tempting to call it Frankenscope after the similarities with the classic monster.
To further add the the Mary Shelley plot similarities, much of this was revived from the junk pile. I very nearly decided to toss the drive and fork, they were that bad, peeling paint and rusty bolts. A great deal of work was necessary to re-animate these components.
The wedge came from a telescope that was killed in an unfortunate incident with an aquarium heater. The heater was used to de-humidify the OTA and prevent fungus on the optics. Note: Aquarium heaters are not made to operate out of water.
Several new aluminum parts were machined from scraps, some of which were scavenged when the observatory shop was being cleaned out and a lot of metal stock was tossed.
Many of the electronic components used to build the drive corrector were also scavenged parts from dead electronics, this includes the 1.8432MHz crystal that forms it’s beating heart. This heartbeat keeps the mount turning at exactly sidereal rate.
Yeah, you could call it Frankenscope.
But I will call it Hodgepodge.
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