Meet Maia

Mounting Features:
· Dual concrete horseshoe yoke support pillars
· Reinforced wooden horseshoe yoke mount
· Reinforced wooden newtonian square tube
· Turntable ballbearing axle at base for RA
· Stainless steel roller bearings at yoke
· Turntable ballbearing axle for Dec
· At zenith Maia stands twelve feet tall

Tracking Features:
· 20 inch Byers worm set on RA axis (1890:1)
· 12 inch Byers worm set on Dec axis (1134:1)
· RA & Dec stepper motors by MicroKinetics
· PC controller board by MicroKinetics
· Java control software written by the owner
· Atomic clock sync with microstep calibration
· Periodic worm corrector software
· 0.6% tracking error across six hours

Optical Features:
· 24 inch, f/5.5 primary mirror (fl=131.65")
· 3-3/4 x 2-5/8 inch elliptical diagonal
· 1.3% light blockage by diagonal and spider!
· Remote controlled Crayford 2" motorized focuser
· Remote controlled motorized ocular wheel
· Remote controlled motorized filter wheel
· 6x sighting scope

Imaging Features:
· Six megapixel color CCD camera
· LE-Adapter digital camera mount
· IEEE-1394 (Firewire) & USB transmission

CAD designs for Maia began in August 2000.

Construction began in October 2000 with preping the site, building the forms for the pillars and pouring the concrete pillars.

Next, with the pillars fully cured, a 16 foot square slab was poured around the pillars.

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The first images emerged from Maia on April 1, 2001. But this was no Fool's Day, the images were spectacular.

	CAD designs for Maia began in August 2000.
	Construction began in October 2000 with preping the site, building the forms for the pillars and pouring the concrete pillars. Next, with the pillars fully cured, a 16 foot square slab was poured around the pillars.
	. . .
	The first images emerged from Maia on April 1, 2001. But this was no Fool's Day, the images were spectacular.