Recent content by HightonRidley

If you're feeling brave, @farlsborough, you could build a solar powered charger for 6 NiMH batteries. Maybe not so great at Christmas when the number of daylight hours drops so much but good for the rest of the year. Under fair sunshine it takes 10 hours to charge them - but at least the sun...

I like the way you're thinking, @niall Y. I don't have access to a milling machine :(

Thanks for those ideas, @Homeless Squirrel. What you're describing sounds like a linear actuator but with rotation thrown in. If it is, I did consider using one but the complication is in reversing the motor to bring everything back to the starting point and then re-reversing it to get it going...

Good points, @Spectric. The load is supported / lifted by a mechanism on which the bottom of the inner tube rests so the guide pin doesn't have much force on it. As the mechanism lifts the inner tube, the guide pin against the slot causes the rotation. The rise angle (is that the right term?) of...

Good thoughts there, @Lorenzl but the advantages of the slot approach outweigh other options. For example, the weight of the load (the solar panels) allows the inner tube to drop-and-twist the panels to their dawn start position as the motor completes one revolution. No need for anything more...

This is my absolute last resort (I've only got a Dremel) and it would consume a lot of the cutting discs. But the main issue is getting a smooth curve on the helical slot after the cutting. I'm not saying it's impossible but.... Thanks anyway, @Linus

I didn't know that such a thing existed. I've done some searching and it looks like a one-off would be prohibitively expensive. Thanks for the info, @deema - learning, learning, every day a school day 🤪

That's a great thought, thanks for suggesting it @Inspector :)

I've made 3 progressively larger prototypes for a solar tracker. The heart of the mechanism (my own idea / design) is a 'sleeve' tube with a helical slot. A guide pin fits through the slot into a tube that fits inside the sleeve. As a motor lifts the inner tube, it's forced by the guide pin to...

Thanks Kev 😃

Pure rank amateur doing various solar-based projects that, engineering-wise, take me way out of my comfort zone. Great for ideas, lousy with implementation, hehe!