curtisca17

Lithium power stations are becoming more common as the choice for powering our gear when we are away from home.  These consist of one or more regulated DC outputs, an AC inverter, multiple USB charging ports, an internal solar charge controller, etc.  Jackery is probably the most widely known brand and has a good reputation for good reason.  However, something like the Jackery 1000 which supplies 1000Wh of energy will set you back ~$800 to $950 depending on whether or not it is on sale.  I just finished 4 months of testing (at home and in the field) a new entry to the power station market which supplies the same total energy as the Jackery 1000 but will only set you back $499.99.  I think this one from may be a winner at only $0.50 per Wh and can even begin to compete on cost per Wh with stand alone LiFePO4 batteries.  If the company EBL is unfamiliar to you, it also was to me, but they have been around making batteries since the 90s.  You can find the full review either on the blog section of my web site or on YouTube here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZldEI-GMHU&t=1s

Best Regards,

Curtis

A few years back I over tightened my hyperstar on my C14 and had to remove the corrector plate to get it off.  But, I never personally completely disassembled an SCT.  Last Christmas I helped my friend Dave tear down his Celestron C11 when he decided to make some modifications to his scope.  He was mainly interested in reducing mirror flop and had read about a procedure to add some nylon screws to the outer baffle to take up some of the play between the outer and inner baffle tubes.  He also took the opportunity to add a BT weather station inside, some fans to direct air flow across the primary mirror, regrease the baffle tubes and flock the inside of the Al tube.  In the process Dave found a problem with the Celestron motorized focuser which likely leads to additional mirror flop, not shift, and fixed that.  I checked my C11 (did not need to tear down the scope to do this) and found the same flaw which I also fixed in a different way from Dave.  Others have reported this same flaw in the Celestron focuser hardware, but I have not seen anyone ascribing mirror flop to the problem before this.  Regardless, the fix seems to have helped reduce image drift substantially in Dave's scope. 

While helping him I videoed the entire process and have created the first of three videos that I thought I would share.  I broke this down into 3 videos because it would be too long as one big video and, there really are 3 different things going on here.  The first video shows the process in detail for completely disassembling the SCT and also how to put it back together after.  That one is already posted and you can find it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTJs4r5Oj58  
 
Hopefully this will help anyone who needs to take their SCT apart, even if only to remove the corrector plate and not do a full disassembly.  As soon as I get time, I will edit and post the video showing the problem we discovered with the Celestron focuser and the fixes we both used.  And later, I can put together and post the final video which shows the main reason for opening up the SCT.  I think you will find some of Dave's upgrades interesting.
 
Best Regards,
Curtis 

Having used a Beelink U57 for the past 2 years to do remote EEA I decided to do a write up on the latest options in mini-pcs for EAA.  I posted this in the Blog section of my website which you can find here https://www.californiaskys.com/blog/archives/08-2022   Judging from on-line posts, Beelink mini-pcs still remain very popular with MeLE Quieter showing up more recently with their low cost fanless mini-pcs.   Please take a look if you are interested in remote options and I would be interested in knowing what other folks are using and how well they work.

Regards,

Curtis

Over the last 4 months I have tested a 100Ah LiFePO4 battery from Ampere Time to power my equipment both at home and out in the field.   I chose this battery after looking at reviews and, in particular, having watched a few video tear downs which showed the quality of the build and components.  Also, this particular battery is one of the lowest cost (~$400)  LiFePO4 batteries on the market.  

So I put together a comprehensive video review to share my results for anyone looking for a LiFePO4 battery to power their astronomy equipment like me.  The review includes tests of the battery capacity, recharge rates both with an AC charger designed with Li batteries and with a pair of 100W solar panels.  I also kept track of how much power my setups consumed and how long I was able to run with this battery before needing to recharge.  Based upon the actual power consumed over multiple nights of astrophotography with my setups,  I am able to estimate how long this battery will last for many different setups which can help others estimate how long they should be able to run with this battery.

If you are thinking about transitioning to LiFePO4 I think you will find it helpful.  You can find the review here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIJPRiEm0VU&t=3s

Best Regards,

Curtis

Martin, yes that is a common problem.  My astronomy buddy is still using USB cables and last star party he barely was able to get his laptop inside his RV.   I have him thinking about going the WIFI route but he has had a lot of other things on his plate.  As I said, I am really happy with the WIFI setup both in the field and at home.  I should have done this sooner.

A couple of years ago I decided that I no longer wanted to be tethered to my scope with a long USB cable.  I wanted to be able to sit inside my RV warms and cozy, not bothering anyone with the light from my laptop screen.  So I got myself a mini-pc to do the heavy lifting at the mount, an inexpensive WiFi router so that I could long into the mini-pc from far away with my laptop using one of the many remote desktop tools.  And I have never looked back.  this past month I found myself with some time during the day at a star party so I put together a video explaining exactly how to do this for anyone else considering this option.  In the video I cover the equipment you will need and demonstrate exactly how to connect.  You can also use a tablet or smart phone instead of a laptop to connect to the mini-pc.  And you can use an Intel Nuc, Raspberry Pi, etc. instead of a mini-pc.  I can also use this setup at home with the router working in extender mode so that I can remote into the mini-pc using my home network from anywhere in my house.  

If you are interested to learn how this is done, you can find my video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quoWbvN5VWc&t=1218s

Hopefully this will be helpful to some of you.

Best Regards,

Curtis

I have added quite a few more installments to this blog series to help anyone just getting started or thinking of starting in EAA.  

Best Regards,

Curtis

3 hours ago, gilesco said:

So 1A to 1.5A, but the initial pulse to get the mount moving can be much higher than that. All these values are time-series averaged, and so while over a 0.1 second period the max is 1.5A (to push the needle upto 1.5A), for 0.05 seconds the pulse might have been 5A, then a half-life descent to 1.5A.

A lesson I have learnt, is that ensuring your power is good is paramount to smooth running, and if you add extra electric kit in the future you are future-proofing your set up. A good PSU with plenty of power capacity is a good way of avoiding future issues as you develop the kit you use, and not all that expensive to stay on the right side of  the curve.

I don't for a minute believe any of the typical mounts draw anything close to 5A even as a transient.  The 1.5A is the transient value.  And that is with a very large mount with a C11 and a bunch of accessories.

Really, mounts draw very little.  After all loads are balanced.  But I won't press the point any further.

Regards,

Curtis

I run my mounts with power through the PPBA.  Since they are SB mounts, MyT and MX, they require 48V so I run the output from the PPBA through a DC-DC voltage converter.  This has been working for me for nearly 2 years.  I don't see why running the mount through the PPBA would be an issue anyway.  Mounts consume ~0.5A when tracking and only upwards of 1A to 1.5A when doing a high speed slew.  So not much draw for 99% of the time and not even a lot during the fast slews.  Folks greatly overestimate the power draw on a mount.  I have measured this on many mounts and the highest draws have been for my larger mount, the MX, as would be expected.  Even then it is not much.

Regards,

Curtis

I have repeatedly drawn upwards of 70W through the PPBA without any problems and with the voltage well above 12.0V.  I have used a number of different power sources, 9A Pyramid, Jackery Explorer 1000, Bluetti AC50S to supply the power but never the Pegasus AC power adapter.  I wouldn't estimate your power draw to be any more than that, and much less if your camera is uncooled.  So there are 2 remaining options, either there is something wrong with your PSU or the PPBA itself.  Frankly, I haven't found the support at Pegasus to be very good for a different and subtle problem I encountered.  Let us know how this turns out.

Regards,

Curtis

It is always best to measure the power for your own setup.  I made a video showing how easy this is to do.  But, if you don't think you can make your own measurements, you can get some pretty good estimates of what you will likely as I also provide detailed data on the power requirements for most typical equipment.  If you are using some sort of Raspberry Pi (like an ASI Air) or a mini-pc, and do not have a cooled camera or need the dew heater you probably use 20 - 30watts.  With a cooled camera add another 10 to 20watts depending upon the depth of cooling.  Same with a dew heater for a scope.  That puts one in the range of 50 - 60 watts.  If you have to power a laptop you can easily add ~30watts.  In any event, I put this video together to help people with this exact question since I had the same and worked through the details myself.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLIdo7zsU78&t=1s

Regards,

Curtis

I have put together a series of blog articles on my web site as an introductory guide for anyone looking to get into EAA.  So far the topics covered include mounts, telescopes, cameras, key accessories and, most recently a survey of typical software used for EAA.  I will add more to the series as time goes by.  Please take a look if you are new to EAA or, if you are already a pro please take a look and give me your feedback so that I can make this even better.  You will find the series here, just scroll down for each edition:  https://www.californiaskys.com/blog/category/eaa-for-beginners

Best Regards,

Curtis

• New Members
•  14
• 10 posts
• Location: California, USA

Martin,

Thanks for your comment.   There are so many power supply options out there that it is hard to know which are worthwhile and which are not.   As I mention in the video, I have had success with the solar generators from Jackery and Maxoak, but solar generators have a lot of added features that not everyone needs and is willing to pay for.  In that case, there are some very good LiFePO4 batteries available but one just has to add their own connections just like we do with lead acid batteries.

Regards

Curtis

I spent a large part of last year improving my setup for use in the field.  This included replacing my power hungry laptop with a mini-pc, adding a power and USB distribution hub to make everything neat and computer controlled, learning how to make Anderson PowerPole connectors, and, certainly the most time consuming aspect, testing several different lithium based power sources and solar panels to replace my lead acid batteries and gasoline generator while in the field.  I put all of my learning together into a presentation that I gave last Sunday night on The Astro Imaging Channel.  This video presentation is available to view on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cCSPgtmd7U    I organized this around what I think are the 3 basic questions one needs to answer when designing a power setup for the field:

1.  How much power does one need

2  What are the latest in lithium based power options

3. What is a good way to connect everything

I hope others will find this helpful

Best Regards,

Curtis

Mike and Rob,

Thanks for your kind comments.

Night Vision is an interesting approach in its own right.  One that I have no experience in either.  Which is one of the reasons for not including it in the history.  I would say that it does fall under the category of Camera Assisted Viewing since Night Vision instruments are truly cameras as well.  They are just designed to be very sensitive in the IR which is the basis for the ability to see in low light situations.  Very early in my career I had the opportunity to work at GE in Syracuse NY on NV technology for the military.  Was an interesting and challenging opportunity but I chose a career in data storage systems in sunny San Diego, CA instead.

Best Regards,

Curtis

I got into EAA when I bought my first video camera from Mallincam in 2010 and have enjoyed it ever since.  I also have watched this pursuit change over the nearly 10 years now that I have been a part of it.  And I have tried to share what we do with others through a number of talks given to local astronomy clubs, outreach events, an article in the March issue of Sky & Telescope, postings  and through my website.  Around 2014 I began to be curious about the development of video astronomy for deep sky viewing in real time and started researching the topic.  Well, after more than 5 years I have finally assembled the information I have been able to collect into an article on my website which I would like to share.  I tried my best to be complete and verify information from multiple sources.  I will tell you that there is a fair amount of misinformation out there and I tried to make sure that I do not repeat it. 

I used every resource I could get my hands on to fill in as much of the details of the decades long journey that is analog video astronomy of the deep sky.  My summary is based on material I have found in a number of books including Steve Massey's two books on video astronomy, Antony Cooke's book "Visual Astronomy Under Dark Skies", Robert Reeves "Introduction to Webcam Astronomy", along with dozens of articles in Sky and Telescope, Astronomy Magazine, Sky News and more over the past 30 years.  It also includes a review of thousands of early posts on the Yahoo Groups: "Video Astronomy", "Quickcam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group",and "Mallincam,"  along with hundreds of posts on the CN EAA forum and the Stargazers Lounge forum to help me pin down details about each camera along with dates and features.  To dig still deeper I also exchanged emails with a number of individuals on the CN forum and others including Rock Mallin, Jack Heurkamp and Jim Ferreira who had first hand knowledge of the early days that I did not.  Multiple attempts to reach out to Steve Massey were unsuccessful, hence I could not pin down more details on the GSTAR camera series.  To cross check information I also reviewed hundreds of on line web sites and postings by individuals which included camera specifics and pictures. I also bought several vintage cameras to see for myself and to begin to build a collection which spans the history of this hobby and save that history from oblivion.  I am still looking for any and all such vintage cameras (Mintron, Watec, Supercircuits, Stellacam, Mallincam, GSTAR, Polaris, ITE, Orion etc.) to add to this collection, but it has reached the point that I cannot justify the expense and am hoping to find individuals who have some of these cameras just collecting dust and are willing to donate these to help preserve history.  Maybe one day I can get S&T do publish an article on this history.

I hope I have done justice to our little branch of the astronomy hobby.  It is necessarily long as it spans nearly 3 decades.  I would appreciate feedback where I am missing detailed information and anywhere that I may have not gotten things exactly right.  Here is the link:  https://www.californiaskys.com/blog

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all

Curtis