Possibly not know to the general OAFs community, Mark helped
rebuild/refurbish the 18" starmaster that Mike Wirths donated to the
Ottawa RASC. It could not have been done without Mark's excelent
workshop.
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On Mon, Nov 28, 2022 at 2:19 PM <oafs@...> wrote:
Hi. I am Mark Lord, and am quite active on the CloudyNights site. I use a Celestron 8" Evo, and have used Covid isolation time to design/build several interesting (open source hardware and software) electronic accessories for Celestron mounts.
But alas.. everything I build always works perfectly on my own Evo mount, but not always on other types. So I am hunting for more Celestron Go-To mounts to try stuff on, especially older ones but also the latest stuff. This is very low risk to the mount -- the hardware is designed to be as electrically safe as possible.
So if you have a Celestron, and want to partake in testing and perhaps even build or acquire a gizmo for yourself, please get in touch. These gizmos include Celestron-compatible WiFi and Bluetooth adapters (much less expensive than the brand-name, and better performing too), GPS (aka. "SkySync") clones, joystick style slew/focus controllers, and a bunch of other nifty devices.
More info on some of the various gizmos is on my server, at
But there is lots happening beyond what is currently there! I have started on a project to clone Celestron's fancy (expensive) Dew Heater Controller for $50 or less, which will be compatible with their software and hand-controller menus.
Cheers
