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Imagine a telescope mount that is capable to track an object continuously, anywhere on the sky, regardless its orbit and in such a manner that a fixed orientation of the field of view is maintained. Or imagine a telescope mount that you easily can move manually to track an object, regardless its proximity to the zenith or pole. This website is dedicated to the construction of such telescope mounts.

Telescope mounts come in various designs. Most often you will find either an alt-az mount or some kind of equatorial mount carrieing the telescope. Both categories are based on two axes. And of course, the ubiquitous two axes telescope mounts have enabled great discoveries and contributed to the pleasure of many amateur astronomers too. Based on the budget and its main purpose a choice for a mount must be made. Choosing a mount type is choosing the one that has the least disadvantages and accepting the negative properties come along with that specific mount.

In case there were no limits, which properties can I wish for to make up an ideal telescope mount?

- truly all-sky. No blind spots at the zenith, polar region or elsewhere.
- can track any object above the horizon without meridian flips.
- can track circumpolar objects endlessly without interruptions (unless cabling is limiting).
- avoidance of field rotation.
- avoidance of imaged rotating diffraction spikes.
- free choice of field of view / polarization orientation / placement of diffraction spikes.
- latitude and alignment adaptions are done in software, no mechanical intervention needed.
- intrinsically balanced, no need for large counter masses.
- cabling and guidance systems can stay short.
- center of gravity is above the foot, minimal mechanical tensions in pier or foundation.
- can be housed in a small protective building.
- suited for optical telescopes and radio telescope dishes.
- unlocking amateurs posessing larger telescopes like Newtonians to do science.

I cannot think of anything more. At the moment, they can be built, but a telescope mount like this is not for sale yet. For as far as I know, only the Russian army is using a set of 10 telescope mounts like these in their OKNO project. So we have to build them ourselves. Be creative! Learn from the experience of Tracy Wilson, the work of Steve Joiner, Theo Adolfs, Denis Moret. I 'll try to compile the things I know, or your experiences into this website, hoping that it may be helpful to build this ideal telescope mount. If you have knowledge were to retrieve precize encoders, how to build friction drives, how make 3-D designs, please share!