Rod and his 12" Explore Scientific Telescope . . .

A note from Rod via Cloudy Nights:

Adding DSCs to an ES truss dob can be a challenge, especially when it comes to the addition and

 placement of the altitude encoder. Even the removal of the azimuth bolt can be a bit dicey. I had contacted Explore Scientific in the past but they didn't have DSCs for their truss dobs and as far as I know, they still don't. A supplier in Australia has an encoder kit that involves the application of a magnetic strip by means of an adhesive for the altitude encoder but I was a bit apprehensive of this because if I somehow misapplied the strip per its specs, I wasn't sure how easy or difficult it might be to redo it or return it if there was a problem. I preferred to have the encoders installed locally in SoCal, if possible, so I contacted Dennis Steele at DobStuff and I transported the scope to him last week, via a 2.5 hour drive from my home. The 10,000 tic encoders are now installed and I'll pick up the scope in a few days. Additionally, Dennis added some plastic supports on the mirror cell as a few had fallen off so he replaced all of them. As you can see by his handiwork, the hardware and encoders are installed and ready for connection of the cables.  

It's been a pleasure working with Dennis as he is very responsive with communications and updates on his work. I enjoyed chatting with him while discussing scopes and ham radios. He really does nice work in a timely manner.

A lightweight rocker box makes for an interesting
encoder installation -- it works great.

Locating the altitude tangent arm to allow the telescope
to swing through horizontal to the zenith.