Buy the PC Board and Chips

Serial DSC Board

FAR Circuits sells a custom printed circuit board, programmed PIC16F84 microcontroller chip, MAX232 chip, and 4-MHz oscillator for the serial version of my digital setting circles project.

Go to the FAR Circuits web page for ordering information and an order form. For the project description on the order form, use “Dave Ek Digital Setting Circles”. (If you look on his web page for a product listing for this board, it’s under the Miscellaneous category.)

Instructions for building the project using the PC board can be found on my construction page.

USB DSC Board

FAR Circuits sells a kit with a PC board and all board-mounted parts and connectors for the USB version of my digital setting circles project. The kit does not include the TTL-232R-5V USB-serial cable–that cable needs to be purchased separately and is available from Mouser and Digikey.

Go to the FAR Circuits web page for ordering information and an order form. For the project description on the order form, use “Dave Ek Setting Circle USB Interface”.

 

Please note: FAR Circuits does not provide technical support for this project. They only sell the PC board and components. Contact me directly by leaving a comment below with any questions you have regarding construction of the project. Contact FAR Circuits only with questions about ordering the board and chip, or questions about the status of an existing order.

  • #1 written by Todd
    about 2 years ago
    Reply Quote

    Will I need to purchase the upgraded IC for the fair circuits kit?

    • #2 written by Dave
      about 2 years ago
      Reply Quote

      Todd,

      No–that’s only for people who bought an earlier kit who want to upgrade. You’ll get the latest version of the IC with the kit.

  • #3 written by Tom
    about 1 year ago
    Reply Quote

    I’ve got an old Byers CAM-TRAK 2 equatorial mount with encoders on the RA and DEC axes, stepper motor RA drive. It’s not a goto mount. Can I use your circuit with Cartes du Ciel and slew the scope manually? What feedback do I get on CdC?

    Thanks,
    tom

    • #4 written by Dave
      about 1 year ago
      Reply Quote

      Yes, you should be able to do that. CDC probably will give you feedback by moving a cursor or pointer across its display as you manually slew the scope.

  • #5 written by Tom
    about 1 year ago
    Reply Quote

    Works great with CdC, Dave! I built the Far Circuits kit and it worked fine from the getgo. This morning I did a fake 2 star alignment on the bench and I got a moving cursor against the sky display as I turned the encoders by hand.

    tom

  • #6 written by larry
    about 1 year ago
    Reply Quote

    Hi Dave I run acroos your project for digital setting circle .I have a 10” zhumell and would like to build this project about how much all in all will it cost me to build this entire project .????

    • #7 written by Dave
      about 1 year ago
      Reply Quote

      Larry, the board and components will run you about $30 or so. Add another $10-$20 for cables, an enclosure, connectors, etc. The encoders can be expensive if you have to buy them commercially ($60 apiece or more). You can save some money if you can find some surplus encoders someplace.

      These are just estimates–I haven’t priced any of this out in a while, but it’s in the ballpark.

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