using commonly available, cheap 3D printer controller board

[Glen Bankston]

Hello,
New to list...
It occurred to me that it would be easy for someone to get decent hardware for this project by purchasing a cheap 3D printer retro board!
Many are arduino compatible....
Just a thought.
I have upgraded my 3D printer, and have the old controller, display, and stepper drivers laying around (somewhere).
73
Glen K4KV
ps - obviously, I am new getting into astrophotography, and building my system. Have ZWO 1600 mono camera, 120mm mini camera, 10" Orion astrograph, ZWO EFW, but no mount as of yet...

[brownrb]

Hi Glen
The majority of stepper motors using in 3D printers are not suitable,
- non geared
- high current
In most cases, gearing (either a planetary gearbox or belt system) is required for good focusing.

For something just as cheap is the myFP2_AdafruitMotorShieldV2_312-1
which was undertaken with Jürgen Terpe,

I also have a 3d printer.

There is nothing stopping you from trying. You would need to make the necessary change in firmware as well as figuring out all the motor details of what pins are used etc. then modifying the firmware to match.

I can offer some advice on the mount though. I went through many evolutions and mounts. For years I struggled and struggled to get point tracking, good and consistent gotos etc. Mount after mount. yes I had even had some of those mounts hypertuned! But all the issues remained. I was very close to thinking the issue was me and I was not understanding how to do things properly. I even tried adaptive optics (an expensive path but gave some good tracking at times, but not every night, some nights not even AO could tame the gremlins, but it did handle the occassional train vibrations as the express train went past.

What I can tell you is that when I finally ended up with a good mount - EQ8 Pro, it changed everything. Guiding was for the most part not needed except for long subs, gotos were dead on. I could leave the mount etc in mothballs for 6 months, then take the covers off, power up, do a goto to frame the object, then start imaging, within 15 minutes taking images.

The most important item you will ever buy is the mount. That is what I believe. Once you have one, all those stupid troubles with tracking disappear, no need to fiddle and tweak settings night after night, discovering that good tracking happens one night and the very next night you are close to pulling out your hair because nothing seems to work anymore.

My only regret now is why I did not know this earlier.

regards
Robert

[Glen Bankston]

I must be mistaken. When you get one of these boards with TMC2209 or similar drivers, NO motors come with them. You can easily buy the appropriate motor.
I am actually using one of these boards with BIG steppers, to run my MPCNC machine. With 256 steps per step, very fine control is possible.
I agree with you on the mount. It is the most critical component. Unfortunately for me, my 10" astrograph is going to require something like the CGX mount, around $2500 :-(