Gina

I have a separate wire to supply the mount from that supplying the imaging rig. Both originate in the warm room PSU and backup battery. The earth wire which is the return or negative is very substantial and is the sort used in domestic earth bonding. It goes from a 4ft earth rod outside the observatory to a point on the mount then through the pipework into the warm room where it connects to the negative of PSU and battery.

I think I already have some covers for them - good point.

Here's a screenshot of the design for the camera bracket - first attempt.

Good thinking James ?

Firstly a bracket for the camera. Body is 70mm long and clamping brackets can be 15mm wide leaving the air vents clear. The dovetail bar has holes in a 50mm square I can use to attach the camera bracket with M6 screws coming up from underneath. I shall now start up my CAD software and see what I can design...

Preparing to design mounting bracket to attach camera and lens to EQ8. Camera body OD = 78mm, lens = 56mm though with this very short lens I think brackets on the camera will be sufficient so it will just need a bracket for the focus motor. I've decided not to use the arrangement I had before but to mount everything on an ADM dovetail (of which I have several). In fact the electronics box already has a mounting plate on the bottom with holes that match the ADM holes so it can be mounted behind the camera.

The RPi doesn't have a micro SD card in it but from the Blog it seems it wasn't working anyway so I guess a fresh start is called for. OTOH I might have an image backed up. This is a pretty good start. It needs brackets to attach the rig to the EQ8 and hold the electronics box, plus a lid for the box (or a new box) and pinion for the focus motor. Design and production of 3D printed parts is no problem.

Here are some photos of what I've found :- Camera, EFW, lens and focussing gear. A broken bracket with mini stepper motor that matches the Blog, but the motor pinion is missing. And finally an electronics box to match the Blog Here is a post from the Blog :-

Found the Blog for the last time I used this rig on the EQ8 :- Widefield Single Imaging Rig

Had a look for parts for the widefield imaging rig but not had much success. I may need to start again with designing 3D printed parts and also sort out the RPi setup. I've started reading my threads and blogs about it. I think I would like to get my all sky camera working again too but it needs a new astro camera - either a ZWO ASI 120MC or ASI 385MC. The former is around £150 but doesn't cover all the sky. The latter is more than twice the price at around £350 but does fully cover the sky right down to the horizon. At least I have all the expensive kit for normal imaging and I think I should sort that out first.

Just been out and checked the observatory roof - opens and closes fine. I might look into automating it again later if I get into imaging again as I'm hoping. I owe it to Per's memory actually as he obtained a special drive motor for me.

It's several years since I used a DSLR for astro imaging and never tried with the RPi. I think the main issue is whether anyone has written an INDI driver for a DSLR. I would imagine it's possible. You could try Google (other search engines are available) or the INDI forum.

I use an A4988 stepper driver which is controlled from GPIO lines on the RPI. My blog Setting up a Raspberry Pi for Astro Imaging and Control - Ubuntu Mate may be helpful.

The title says it really... It's been a long time since I did any imaging and thought I might have had all I could take but I seem to have got my interest back a bit. ATM I have nothing set up - not even my all sky camera after the camera was destroyed in a storm a few months back. I am now getting my astro kit out and seeing what I have and what I might set up. My observatory is equipped with an EQ8 mount which is working and should still be polar aligned (I hope). I think the roof still opens fine but I'll check it again today while we have some fine (though cold) weather. My last lot of imaging was widefield narrowband and I think that's what I shall go for first as the setup should be easier. I have a ZWO ASI 1200MM-Cool camera with Mini EFW with all the filters and a SMC Takumar 28mm f3.5 lens. The lens has a gear quadrant attached to the focussing ring. Now to see if I can find the RPi electronics box that goes with it and any other bits and pieces. I shall also read through my threads and see what I had set up before as I can't remember now.

If you're using an RPi you don't need an Arduino.

I have a string of LEDs around the top of my walls in my scope room. Warm room has two ordinary wall lamps one each end individually switched and on dimmers.

Very few thunderstorms here too, across the county boundary.

I first used them for dew heater control.

I used those dimmer switches.

Very true. Maybe see what I can find tonight - my main imaging rigs are indoors including all cameras.

Probably time I started using my observatory again with clear night skies. Need to sort out an imaging rig. Of course, by the time I've done that the cloud and rain will be back...

I didn't bother lining the scope room in my observatory - only the warm room.

Hi Radek - great to see you here - welcome to SGL ? Your work on INDI drivers has been extremely helpful

I don't think I understand quantum mechanics - I know I don't!! ?

Hmm... I don't think I'll bother then, even though I like trying things that are different. The starting price is more than I would want to spend on a 3D printer anyway.