The Dutch phrase for sundial, zonnewijzer, might be actually translated into “Solar Pointer” in keeping with [illusionmanager] — and he took that literal translation actually, constructing a reverse sundial so he would all the time know the exact location of our native star, even when it’s occluded by clouds or the remainder of the planet.
The electronics aren’t massively difficult: an ESP32 dev board, an RTC board, and a few steppers. However the craftsmanship is, as common for [illusionmanager], impeccable. You may guess that one motor controls the altitude and the opposite the azimuth of the LED-filament pointer (a neat discover from AliExpress), however you’d be unsuitable.
That is extra like an equatorial mount, in that the shaft the arrow spins upon is bent at a 23.5 diploma angle. By means of that hole shaft a spring-steel wire connects the arrow to at least one stepper, to drive it via the day. The second stepper turns the shaft to maintain the axis pointed accurately as Earth orbits the solar.
Both method you will get an arrow that all the time factors on the solar, however that is lot extra elegant than an alt-az mount would have been, on the expense of a fiddlier construct. Given the existence of the orrery clock we featured from him beforehand, it’s protected to say that [illusionmanager] isn’t afraid of a fiddly construct. Doing it this manner additionally permits you to learn the ticks on the bottom simply as you’d an actual sundial, which takes this from dialogue piece to (semi) usable clock.
