Birman1

I have just seen this interesting thread and whilst grounding and arresters are sensible precautions, sensitive electronics like cameras and computers need good screening to survive close lightning strikes. Very powerful RF fields are generated by the strike together with high static fields I recall in the 70s a friend living in a small block of flats in London. The chip shop opposite was struck by lightning and burnt down. Most of the TVs in the flats died due to damage to their preamps whether they were plugged in or connected to antennas or not ! So think Faraday cages as well in bad storms B

Thank you both for replying and suggesting a UPS. I think that will solve my safety worries and allow an emergency put to bed without clashes. In my case it will be a 12v ups as I am going to run the system on 12v only to avoid worries with mains power safety It still concerns me that the HEQ5 has no absolute homing reference and probably needs one Thanks again B PS Very interested in the scripts. Reminds me of my days running automatic antenna testing sites with multi axis positioners and arrays of test instruments !

The HEQ5 does not have a fixed home position encoded so if the power fails briefly you have no idea where it is pointing making recovery in a remote location problematic. Adding an electronic reference would be the solution, with things such as optical or magnetic position or limit switches being possible solutions. Perhaps even a gyro. Before I start trying to design a solution I thought I would ask if anyone has already solved the problem or at least got some ideas Thanks in advance for any thoughts B

Perhaps try a generic gate controller. Amazon seem to have a fair range https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Gate-Fob/s?k=Electric+Gate+Fob Good luck

As suggested by Mallorcasaint keep mains away from the pier to avoid safety problems and the necessity for a mains rated exterior enclosure and proper earthing of all metal. Using 4mm cable will give a small dc voltage drop over 7m. You can use more flexible cable at the pier end if you mount a junction box on the pier. Look at https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk for cables and connectors. Good luck