Pictures would be great.
I think I am going to go with a sort of pulley mechanism, attached to a small winch that sits in the middle of all the cylinders. My telescope will be cylindrical. I will create a removable base that the motor/winch system is mounted too, so that it will be detachable for repairs.
My next question is....if I create the cylinders to be VERY low friction, would a servo motor contain enough power to turn the winch system in order to lift the cylinders? I know it would be alright to bring them back down, because gravity will play a large role in the job. The rest is just letting the winch out slowly enough so that the parts do not crash back into the base. I'm worried about those plastic gears that come in the small servos though...they are small and kind of fragile, and I've seen what happens to plastic gears... *SNAP* The teeth break off if too much strain is put on the gears, and sometimes they no longer mesh properly (which also causes teeth to snap off). So what do you think? Can a servo handle the power needed to bring the telescope out vertically? Or is something like a DC motor better for this job?
What do you all think?
(And thanks so much for the continued help, the links to the videos, and the pictures!)
I'm very grateful.