Elevation motor counterbalance

After a suggestion from Eric, Brian came up with a counterbalance to the elevation motor. There is a spring now that is mounted to the bracket that holds the motor and the gear reducer, and is in turn connected to small friction wheel. The whole assembly is in the middle of getting painted, so try to ignore the gray primer.

The idea is to keep the two friction wheels aligned properly, and to prevent uneven wear on the wheels, something that we noticed on the BIMA wheel.

The hard part is to try to figure out how much compression should be on the spring. I ordered some heavy duty pressure indicating film to figure this out, and I intend to send it through the roller. Stay tuned for the results.

You can also see the rain guard that Brian rolled from Aluminum. It fits very well.