Documenting my rotator build

Hi

I started tonight printing the first pieces of my rotator, so I wanted to share my project with you and hopefully receive some insight :slight_smile:

BOM status (spanglish alert):

First batch of printed pieces:

Second batch printing (3d printer webcam):

Aluminium profiles and motor supports:

(edit) Just got the PCB that G7KSE sent me! Thank you!

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Cool documentation @n0p ! Let us know if you are stuck somewhere.

Did you order your 2020 extrusions pre-cut? i I just cut mine yesterday and did an aweful job. I wish I would have forked out the extra at Misumi and had them cut for me.

Yes, I ordered them precut at motedis spain. It wasn’t cheap, about 100€ with the corners and nuts, but it was worth the money, the cuts are just perfect.

Here is a test build of the structure:

BTW. I am now waiting for the timing belts and a couple more of pieces to begin the assembly.

Also, I still don’t know what to use as an endstop to zero both axis, I did not found any documentation about that, any clues would be appreciated.

So this is the “Encoder Collision Bug” which is present in the Release V3.0.1. As the project is moving to mechanical endstops this only is important for people who intent to use the optical endstop.
It is fixed only in the repo at Resolve collision between homing ring and sensor. · satnogs/satnogs-rotator@5c22aa2 · GitHub

The instructable tells me to loosen the screws and tighten them to put tension on the pulley. This works on one side only, on the other side there is no chance of loosening and tightening the hidden corner screws:


Here is my recommendation for solving this problem and for a better stability of the pulley belt (which has its tension only between two set screws). Increase the length of the 4 long bars so you can attach hidden corners also on the outside and you get something of an “H” structure.

For me the Run-In of the Worm-Gear was urgently necessary. Before that it was almost impossible to move and it was a very tight fit. I assume the Run-In is not optional but mandatory at this point but it not documented anywhere. Furthermore the axis of the worm gear should have a sufficient length so you can attach a electric drill in the first place:

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@planetsofa, thank you for your tips!

Can you please share with me the spec for your dc motor and steeper motor? I search hi lo but couldnt find it… :slight_smile: