Gina

Exposure 90s, gain 300, minimal cooling giving -1.5°C camera temperature. Beginning to see some noise at this gain so going to switch camera cooling to HIGH. Unfortunately the moon doesn't set until 01:45 tomorrow morning.

Exposure 90s, gain 200, minimal cooling giving -1°C camera temperature.

Stars are starting to show. Exposure 90s, gain 0, minimal cooling giving -0.5°C camera temperature. The moon is overloading the sensor and spreading.

A crescent moon at 28%. Maximum digital zoom

Here come the clouds!

After all the rain yesterday and overnight, the silica gel is still orange (dry). Sunshine and a few clouds now and not looking too bad for tonight, particularly later in the night.

I have so many gaps around my scope room and ROR that vents are quite unnecessary - it doesn't get too hot on a summer day in strong sunshine even with EPDM roofing. Even horizontal rain doesn't get in though.

I've printed a new outer casing top to take the 4" dome with a window/pod for the colour change silica gel but whether I use it will depend on whether the casing stays sealed and the silica gel stays orange. The colour change silica gel is a far easier way of showing that the inside is dry than the DHT22. I'll just see how things go.

That was it for last night and no better today - overcast, dull and misty. It did brighten up a bit earlier but decidedly murky now. A plus point is that the ASC is currently working fine linked by WiFi to client software indoors and was last night too. The silica gel is still orange (dry).

I occasionally chuck stuff out... Only trouble is I seem to buy more than I chuck out!!

Almost total cloud coverage now.

I think I still have a SkrtchUp Make install file.

I found SketchUp had all sorts of strange quirks!!

Coming on nicely

Clouds are rolling in, lit by the light pollution. ? Exposure 90s , gain 100, camera temperature -14°C.

I'm satisfied with the focus achieved with the remote focussing system. Ursa Major at full digital zoom.

90s exposure, gain 100, camera temperature -6°C.

Nice lot of stars now and I'm pushing the exposure. This is 90s and beginning to show elongation of stars well away from Polaris. Gain still at 0 and minimum camera cooling and +0.5°C.

Doesn't half take a long time to get dark now we're on summer time!!!

Since there are clear skies forecast for at least part of tonight I decided to put the current ASC casing back together with new silica gel and plenty of silicone sealant. There certainly isn't a leak on the dome now - it's well sealed!!

They seem to stand up well to that though haven't used warm room for a few years now other than for storage and power supplies and backup battery.

Currently have USB cable for the camera, 4 way ribbon cable for the focus motor and 4 core power cable for the dew heater and Peltier TEC though only the Peltier TEC needs much current (2A). If I put an Arduino Nano in the ASC housing for the DHT22 I shall need to get the data down to the RPi - power is already available for the dew heater (12-13.8v main observatory supply). Several possibilities occur to me for transmitting the data - USB, Tx/Rx serial or parallel output.

I can see one problem with connecting the DHT22 directly to the RPi. The DHT22 would be in the ASC on top of the mast and the RPi in the observatory with about 1.5m of cable. I've read that the DHT22 is critical with timing and I think the cable length could be a problem. I'm now thinking of having an Arduino Nano in the ASC to use the DHT22 and run a digital connection to the RPi. Whether this is USB or something else I haven't decided.

I don't know I'm afraid. You could try asking on the INDI forum.

I put the same foam rubber tiles in the warm room as the scope room, avoiding any trip hazard in the doorway between the two.