Gina

In reply to the OP - Nothing!

What are the holes for in the wind vane part of the casing?

Me too.

Had enough showers, thank you!! 😄

I'm on my own so SGL is where I go - most of the time... Morning all.

I think I'm going to have to change my mind about putting the ASC on the south side of the roof due to lack of accessibility. (Ladder on soft mud!!) Think I shall have to go back to the aluminium pipe on the north side attached to the wall of the observatory. In other words, ASC on top of mast which can be lifted up from the ground without needing a ladder.

I use 470µF electrolytic and 100nF ceramic capacitors on the supply input to my control boards.

I would like to get my ASC up and working but needs a ladder and the ground is way too soft.

My sentiments entirely!!

Very clever - well done.

I've used Arduinos (of various sorts) a lot and never had that. Maybe the Arduino has developed a fault. Maybe someone else can help but I'm baffled!

Found some earlier photos of the groundwork for the mini observatory. I didn't do a very good job of positioning the fence post spikes and since they are about 2ft in the ground I doubt I could get them out. Of course, it would be easier to attach the outer casing to the pier but then any windage on the casing and dome would be transmitted to the imaging rig. Another possibility would be to buy some more fence spikes and be more careful with the positioning.

I bought one a few years ago - excellent IMO.

Here are views of the whole thing in "As Material" alias off-white. N, E, S, W.

Extended the mount cover downwards and transformed it into a rectangular shape to attach to flat panels Which can then be attached to fence posts. Viewed from north, south, west, east and underneath.

UM... What are clear skies???

PC ATX PSUs go up to 30A or more @ 12 v.

This photo shows my first go at a second pier and mini observatory, using an NEQ6 mount - a huge beast for this application taking up a lot of room. This goes back to 2014 and the SW pier mount has been there ever since. I tried all sorts of mini observatory designs from a roll-off-roof to a clamshell using marine ply and thin aluminium sheets. They were all too big for my liking and so I decided to go for a mini fork mount which meant making it myself. Mind you I have always liked the idea of making my own mount. I'd like to make a telescope from scratch but flinched at the idea of grinding mirrors and measuring the curvature.

This is what it will actually look like when built using white PETG filament. As least until it weathers a bit then I expect the PETG to go off-white.

Added 100mm skirt to mount cover. I shall want to add further parts to reach ground level maybe aluminium sheeting as I have some going spare. There are 4 fence post spikes in the ground round the pier from where I tried to make a wooden framework micro observatory and abandoned that project as not viable.

Yes, I often have to orientate things to get them to fit. This helps a little with the dome shutter.

Showing how the parts fit on the Giant printer bed printing area. It's close!

New shutter design.

Think I've fixed it. Might Increase the overlap on the south side when the shutter is closed though. Not much near the centre of motion.

Found my error... The outside of the vertical part of the base should go through the axis of the dome or to the right(south) otherwise the shutter won't open fully. Which is what I found when I added the shutter to the assembly. Arrow points towards polar axis. The aim was to make Polaris accessible for polar alignment. I can't see much below that to the north as the house is in the way though I might change the design to get a bit more view while I'm at it.