Computers and telescopes. .

[ve1drg]

I use Skytools 3 pro and want to use it with my telescope outdoors but I am having great difficulty dealing with the wires and chairs and tables along with the telescope with its mount and tripod ouside at night. And in a field with night creatures walking around..

I guess I am saying I am finding it hard to get organized with all this stuff but I am sure others have found a way..

I guess if I had no cables on the ground to trip on, than that might help. But what about the dew. Always something.

maybe just entering coordinates into the hand controller of my AZEQ6 would get me the objects I want, without any tables or chairs etc..

What are others doing when you want to run your computer with your telescope and you are in a farmers field at night??

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[beamer3.6m]

Bluetooth???

[MarsG76]

Unfortunately cabled equipment is the best for a reliable connection/computer controlled telescope, at least in my experience. WIFI or Bluetooth can disconnect randomly.

As a workaround I loomed up the cables that run from the mount to my laptop, and I created looms of cables that I use to connect things Ike CCDs, DSLR, GPUSB, NexGuide connections, dew heaters etc... That are near or around the scope. To avoid cables from being snagged on the equipment during slewing or meridian flip, I used some conduit and ran all the cables in it, but I aligned the conduit is such a way using cable ties in strategic places that the conduit loom always tends to bend away from the mount no matter which way the telescope slews.

All of the USB cables go into a USB hub. The loom back to the laptop table carries the USB cable from the hub (control signals), another 5 meter USB cable used for nothing more then the DSLR or CCD (imaging signal) and power to the laptop table. Again a single length with no connections to avoid any shortout problems due to the wet grass with plenty of slack that its flat on the ground and loose cable is no chance of tripping or accidently pulling any connections out... If the cable gets caught on your shoe you'll feel the loom move with your foot long before tripping or pulling anything out.

I use a camping style 240V generator to power everything and I have a single 20 meter power lead running to a power board cable tied to the inside of the mount legs, all power junction is under the telescope insulated from dew and has a heat strap around it to stop any moisture. Being under on the inside of the tripod (power connection hanging down in the center) it's never susaptable to dew anyway.

With everything powered the generator just idles and 6 liters of petrol lasts over 30 hours... And I found it less hassle and more reliable than batteries.

I know a lot of people reading are thinking 240V and wet grass is asking for trouble, and yes precautions have to be taken, such as circuit breakers (built into he generator) and the generator earthed as well as keeping the 240V connections dry and insulated. I haven't been zapped yet in all the years of running everything off 240V, hopefully I won't be since I think I've taken the necessary precautions *touch wood*.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Another way is to use build a power pack, that contains a leisure battery, power outlets for mount, cameras, laptops etc...

search under DIY Astronomer & I'm sure you'll find a few hints\ideas....