MORNING STAR OBSERVATORY
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Celestron Ultima 8 Mods

This is a mod I did many years ago. I doubt any of the parts I purchased at the time are still available and I have no idea now where you could find them today.

My Celestron Ultima 8 is well built and has good optics, but the drive was an early version with a 110VAC 60Hz AC motor. Later Ultimas had a DC quartz drive with PEC and slewing capability, still not GOTO, but a big improvement over the AC drive. Tangent instruments manufactured the electronics for Celestron and back at the time (around 2008) still had parts available, so I ordered a set.

Picture
The original circuit board, motor and hand controller. The motor is a 110VAC 60Hz clock motor. The circuit board is basically a DC to 110VAC inverter that can be varied slightly above and below 60Hz in frequency to speed up or slow down the RA motor. It was run by two 2-volt lead-acid batteries (shown in the corner inset) which mounted internally, or from an external 12-volt supply.

This was a step up from my old orange tube C-8 that had the same motor but was wired to plug directly into 120VAC power line with no inverter or speed control at all. You had to buy an external inverter to vary the RA speed.

Picture
This is the new drive electronics I received from Tangent along with a new DC drive motor (seen below) and the circuit board for the matching hand controller.

The new controller has four quartz-controlled rates (Sidereal, Lunar, Solar and King) plus the ability to slew the scope at up to 800x sidereal rate. And it can record and playback periodic error corrections. There are also jacks for the Declination motor and a focuser.

Picture
I filled most of the original holes in the top plate so I could redrill it for the new control board. I just capped the four holes on the right side in case I might need to add something in the future.

Picture
The new drive motor and worm gear. The drive runs from a single internal 9-volt battery or from 6 to 12VDC input to the front panel jack.

Before my new electronics upgrade, I had modified the base by adding the 4-pin amphenol connector (seen in the upper left of the scope base in the photo above) to run the old AC motor wires out on two pins to an external quartz-controlled drive inverter. The internal PCB's inverter output wires (which original went to the motor) were then connected to the other two pins of the amphenol connector. Using a cable I could connect the motor to my external quartz-controlled inverter or I could go back to the internal inverter by simply installing a jumper plug onto the amphenol connector to jump the motor wires back to the internal inverter's output. With the Tangent electronics upgrade this connector is no longer needed or used and is just there to "plug up" the hole in the base.

Picture
The completed drive base. I relabeled everything with water slide decals that I made on my inkjet printer.

Picture
Tangent had the pre-assembled circuit board for the hand controller but no complete units already mounted in cases, so I modified a radio Shack project box as a case for the board and all that it needs now are some labels (keep forgetting to make them).

Last Updated 2/23/2020
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  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Astrophotography
  • The Observatory
    • The New Observatory
    • - About the ExploraDome
    • - About the Lancaster Dome
    • - Building the Lancaster Dome
  • Equipment
    • CCD Cameras >
      • Orion Starshoot Pro
      • QSI 683WS
      • ZWO ASI-178MM
    • Eyepieces
    • Filters
    • Mounts >
      • Orion HDX-110 (EQ-8) >
        • New HDX-110 Setup
        • Orion HDX110 EQ-8
    • Observatory Computers
    • Telescopes >
      • Astro-Tech AT6RC
      • Celestron C-11 XLT
      • Zhumell 152mm Refractor
  • Projects
    • Arduino Focuser
    • C11 XLT Mods
    • Orion SSPRO Camera >
      • Disassembled Views
      • Noise Reduction Mod
      • Temp Controller Mod
    • Ultima 8 Mods
    • Zhumell Refractor Mods
  • Non-Astronomy
    • Amateur Radio >
      • Boat Anchor Radios >
        • BC-348N Receiver
        • Collins 51J4 HF Receiver
        • R-392 HF Receiver
      • DIY >
        • Station Boom Microphone
      • Ameco >
        • Ameco AC-1
        • Ameco OCM
        • Ameco PT-2
        • Ameco R5A
      • Heathkit >
        • Heathkit SB-102 Station
      • Knight-Kit >
        • Knight Kit Span Master II
      • Yaesu FT-817 >
        • Yaesu FT-817ND
        • LDG Z-817 Autotuner
        • Windcamp LiPo Battery
    • Antique Radios >
      • Building A Radio Workbench
      • Radio Dial Neon Clock
      • Radios >
        • 1938 Zenith 6-S-254
        • Echophone EC-1
        • Eltz Radione 2
        • Panasonic RF-5000A
        • Silvertone Model 4465
    • Geiger Counters >
      • AN/PDR-27G Radiac Set
      • Lionel CD V-700 Geiger Counter
      • RCA WF-12A Geiger Counter
    • Test Equipment >
      • DIY Test Equipment >
        • DIY Curve Tracer
        • DIY Signature Tracer
      • Military Test Equipment >
        • BC-221-AF Frequency Meter
        • LM-21 Frequency Meter
        • TS-323/UR Frequency Meter
        • TS-465 C/U Sweep Generator
        • TS-505D/U VTVM
        • TV-3C/U Tube Tester
      • Tube Testers >
        • Alternating Current Sink
        • Drug Store Tester
        • EMC Model 200 Tube Tester
        • Hickok Model 6000A Tube Tester
        • Hickok OZ-1 (550X)
        • Precise Model 111 Tube Tester
        • Precision Model 10-12
        • Supreme Model 385
        • TV-3C/U Tube Tester
      • VTVMs and Multimeters >
        • B&K Model 290 Hi-Low FET Multimeter
        • Hickok 225K VTVM
        • McMurdo Silver VOMAX 900
        • Micronta 22-220 FET Multimeter
        • Simpson 360-2 Digital FET DMM
        • TS-505D/U VTVM
      • Hickok >
        • Hickok 19X RF Generator
        • Hickok 225K VTVM
        • Hickok 288X RF Generator
        • Hickok OZ-1 (550X)
        • Hickok 6000A Tube Tester
      • Simpson >
        • Simpson 360 DMM
        • Simpson 360-2 DMM
        • Simpson 480 Genescope
      • Supreme Instruments >
        • Supreme 385 Automatic
        • Supreme 560 Vedolyzer
        • Supreme 560A Vedolyzer
        • Supreme Model 561 AF/RF Generator
        • Supreme's Model 562 Audolyzer
        • Supreme Model 562 Audolyzer circa 1941
        • Supreme Model 562 Audolyzer circa 1946
        • Supreme Model 563 Audio Generator
        • Supreme Model 576 RF Generator
      • Other Test Equipment >
        • Heathkit IT-28 Capacitor Tester
        • Rider 162 Chanalyst
        • Tektronix 326 O'scope
        • VU-Data Model 941B Oscilloscope
    • ---------------
    • Fossils
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Star Trek >
      • Star Trek Rock Mood Lamp
      • Star Trek Communicator