(^34) The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book raspberrypi.org/magpi
f you search for Mike
Hamende’s user name
‘8PumpkinDonuts’ online,
you’ll soon realise that he’s quite
the craftsman. From a suspended
lounger for his fiancée, to a
wristwatch built completely from
scratch, Mike is a true maker. So
it’s really no surprise that he’d
eventually build a Raspberry Pi
project that we could sink our teeth
into. Despite his lack of previous
Python knowledge, and ignoring
the fact he could easily purchase
what he’d decided to build, Mike
produced a tracking telescope
mount for his 8 ̋ Orion reflector.
“This is definitely the most
involved project I’ve ever
completed,” Mike tells us. “I’m
aware there are mounts I could
have bought to accomplish the
same thing, but, while astronomy
is a hobby of mine, building things
is what I’m really into.”
Mike used two Nema 17 stepper
motors, powered by a Raspberry
Pi 3, to angle the mount. For
the frame, he used 3×3 ̋ T-slot
aluminium, utilising his CNC
mill, CNC router, and CNC lathe
to cut further pieces of aluminium
for the mount.
Projects SHOWCASE
For Mike Hamende, making something is far more exciting and rewarding than
logging into an online store, as his Pi-powered tracking telescope mount proves
Mike has
no previous
experience of
coding Python
The tracking
mount is set to
find 800 preset
locations
The mount runs
on a battery,
making it
portable
It cost
$350–$400
to build
See a video
of the mount
working here:
magpi.cc/
2lGLgWf
Quick
Facts
TRACKING
TELESCOPE
MOUNT
I
MIKE HAMENDE
Mike Hamende hails from Manteno,
Illinois. With a passion for making,
his projects continuously gain him
online recognition.
imgur.com/a/iOkCI
The Raspberry
Pi sits beneath a
touchscreen, housed
in a 3D-printed case
The mount runs on a
12 V/12 Ah SLA battery
hooked to the back of
the frame
Mike 3D-printed several
parts of the mount
when he was unable to
find the correct pieces