petejw

Wow, lot of info to take in here. The scope is in a permanent location, I wast planning on hooking the scope itself to the power supply, I have a separate regulated 12 Volt 8A supply for this. one of my objectives is to have just two cables going to the scope itself, power and USB. The mount itself is less of an issue as its cable is less likely to tangle. The only problem with using the PSU from a desktop is that i would need to run a wire for each voltage to the scope. Obviously I could clip these but it would seem more sensible to have a "power distributor" attached to the scope itself. It would obviously have to be lightweight too which is where the buck converters would come in. As mentioned in my original post I already have a regulated 24V 10A power supply I think I will get a few buck converters and have a play round. I think I will be aiming for a number of buck converter boards with appropriate zenner and fuse protection that can be installed as needed,, just need to keep an eye on the overall power consumption to make sure it doesnt exceed my 24v 10A power supply I think initially I will be aiming for 12v for a Focusser Stepper control 7.4v for a DSLR Camera 5V Power for USB Hub I am also in the process of modding a manual filter wheel and will probably need another 5 or 12 v for this too and a dew heater and a guide camera i could go on forever If I can get a suitable project enclosure it should be a fairly modular system, and if a buck converter doesnt suit a particular piece of equipment, I can use a regulator or something else for that module One thing I think I will have to look at is the supply to the scope, looks like I am pushing it a bit with just using the 12v, I think It might be worth bumping it up 13.7V Many thanks to everyone for their contribution. Next Stop ebay...

Thanks everyone for the feedback, really helpful, looks like a few buck converters are required and some fuses Also, I would like to enclose the buck converters in a tidy box with different output sockets for different voltages and to also enclose an arduino focusser circuit. Has anyone come across any long thin project boxes that could be fitted to the mount.

Hi I want to build a multi voltage power supply to run scope, cameras, usb hub etc each device having different power requirements I have done some searching round the internet and come up with the following circuit, can anyone provide any advice as to whether it is an OK design or have I got it completely round my neck (Wont be the first time) I have a 24Volt 10A regulated power supply and was looking to use this as the input. I am sure I am not the only person to want to do this, are there designs out there, I dont want to reinvent the wheel Any advice greatly appreciated

Annoying thing is the telescope dialog has slew and sync buttons,would be nice if they worked for my setup. Hopefully something will turn up for stellarium to connect to a remote scope through ascom. Perhaps a service that runs on the remote computer, ascomscope ? Erm...

I'm having similar problems as Vega, Cannot Sync from Stellarium. I'm running Stellariumscope remotely on the pc connected to the scope (EQMOD) and running Stellarium locally. Used to have the same three options (using the three different ports) as described by Vega but now have only Slew and Sync. problem is Sync doesnt work. I am assuming that the new Ascom option doesnt support remote scope operation or am I missing something. Anyone out there had any success with a similar set up?

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I went for the brix 2807 with 8gb memory 240 GB SSD and running Windows 7. I installed all of the software but found that stellarium maxed out the cpu. However, I discovered that I could run stellarium on my laptop in the house and use it to control the scope remotely. Happily it is all running smoothly and very happy with the solution. Anyone know when it's going to stop raining?

Thanks both, really useful information. Did you go for HDD or SSD and what size ? My plan is 240GB SSD which, I think, should be more than enough.

Im looking to buy a mini pc for running astrophotography on my scope. I want to run stellarium, apt, ascom and connecting an heq5 scope and canon dslr camera. The pc will be controlled by remote desktop over wired ethernet and any images will be transferred to my main laptop for processing. Quite a few people seem to be using a gigabyte brix 2807 and I would be interested in hearing from anyone who uses one of these or something similar and has a similar setup to what I am planning. Is the 2807 sufficiently powerful to run my planned setup will I need something more powerful

Thanks for info everyone, I had planned for future expansion by building a 300 mm diameter pier but hadn't given any thought of different pier adapter if I upgraded the scope. I can also see the advantage of being able to easily tweak the height of the pier if needed. I don't plan to do visuals directly from the scope either. The plan is to run by remote from the house. Anthony, How far is your run from the workshop to the scope are you using usb or ethernet - my scope is going to be about 40 meters from the house which is too far for usb, I am ok for power but haven't decided whether to run a long ethernet cable or a wireless solution. Probably going to have a small laptop or PC at the scope end

Hi Anthony Interesting pictures, what height is your kit say from the bottom of the pier to the bottom of the mount? I'm looking at about 1 meter for mine and was going to attach power, usb etc to the front of the pier. I wasn't planning on anything between the top of the pier and the bottom of the mount, just the brake discs. I am trying to understand why people use the threaded bolts. Is it just to gain the extra height? I am worried that if go with my planned design I will be missing something. Cheers Pete

Just building my pier adapter for my HEQ5 Mount. Ive see a lot of discussions about avoiding the "rat cage" and the need to keep any bolts between the top of the pier and the mount as short as possible. I've also seen discussions about whether it is necessary to ensure that the top of the pier is level. I've attached a picture of my current pier head build which used a couple of brake discs. The top disc is bolted to the mount using a 10mm bolt and the bottom plate is bolted to pier. the two discs are then bolted together. Is this design workable? I think I must be missing something as I cannot see any need for a rat cage in the first place if it is not necessary to level the top of the pier or the mount is not being removed from the pier regularly.

Thanks for the link. Still in the pondering stage so this info will come in useful. I am thinking of remote operation and have recently come accross some sheds that not only slide the roof but part of the walls too and think that may be a good option for me.

Thanks everyone, given me something to think about. I didn't realise that the roll off roof was such a big difference in cost but there are obviously advantages. Going to have to get the tape out again and see exactly what I can come up with. I may be able to get away with sliding the roof off over some raised borders next to my planned site.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I don't have a huge amount of room, I have a good southern view and will just about be able to polar align over an 7ft hedge to the north I was thinking of something about 4 foot Square and about 5 foot high and about 4 ft from the hedge. I don't plan to do any viewing at the equipment so I don't think I will need a warm room. Observing/imaging will just be remotely from the house but David makes a good point about future upgrades. Protection from winds is another good point. Doesnt the height of the wall on the roll off roof method restrict viewing or is this below the good visibility level anyway?

I am about to set up a permanent site for my equipment. Skywatcher 200pds on HEQ5 on a concrete pier. It going to be for astrophotography and it will be controlled from the comfort of my front room. I am unsure of the best option for the shed. What are the pros and cons of roll off roof vs roll off shed. Can anyone offer any advice or their thoughts on the best route. Thanks