Buy the PC Board and Chips
FAR Circuits sells a custom printed circuit board, programmed PIC16F84 microcontroller chip, MAX232 chip, and 4-MHz oscillator for 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 custom PC board can be found on my construction page.
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.
about 9 months ago
Will I need to purchase the upgraded IC for the fair circuits kit?
about 9 months ago
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.
about 3 months ago
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
about 3 months ago
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.
about 2 months ago
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