fifeskies

I find my Equinox 80 (which is very similar to the current Skywatcher ED80DS pro) to be a very nice imaging scope. I use a Televue 0.8 reducer with it.

I had been considering a Zenithstar 81 when the Equinox came up for sale 2nd hand , mine is fitted with a rather nice Moonlite focuser which seems to be far superior to the stock focuser.

The ED80pro is much more affordable than the WO model even budgeting for a moonlite upgrade., but you will struggle to find either in stock anywhere at the moment.

There is a good buy/sell section on here.

(though you need to make a few more posts to gain access to be able to sell I think)

Most telescopes are unavailable due to Covid supply issues at the moment which does restrict options just now and probably for a good while to come.

You will be lucky to find a 6se or 8se anywhere in the UK for sale from a stockist.

I use refractors for my imaging and have done some planets mainly Saturn and Jupiter (Mars a bit too). but it is nor my main interest so I will leave others to advise you on the best choice.

(I try to image DSO most of the time).

I polar align with my guidescope and Sharpcap and it works fine. My main scope and guidescope are aligned together on a side by side mount. Nominally pointing at the same spot but I don't worry about exact alignment between them.

(My guidescope is an ST80 so I get plenty stars)

I do only have a ZWO290mm as my guide camera so the field of view is not large at 0.8 degrees by 0.45 degrees and Sharpcap advises a larger field to get enough stars.

I think I manage to get away with the smaller FOV because my large guider aperture brings out many fainter stars for the software to be able to platesolve properly.

I made some self engaging pins to lock my roof.

Hope its clear enough how they work

I only use the wingbolts when its stormy , usually the locking pin is all I need to drop in place to stop the track moving, which means the pins cannot disengage.

Has been storm tested over last winter and seems to be up to the job.

Glad to hear you are back up and running.

Just been reading your amazing thread about your self build scopes and mounts , seriously impressed.

You have some incredible instruments under your belt, custom instruments have such a great look to them.

Some photos may help

Bigger finders like the 60mm often are used piggyback style mounted on top of the tube rings

Do you have a DSLR camera you can connect.

The much bigger sensor is perfect for letting kids see the easier and more satisfying targets

Use APT to frame capture the image , even if you don't want to keep them.

Moon is perfect for this    just a quick 1/250th at ISO 800 to start with then adjust to suit your scope

Some favourite DSO like  M31 , Pleiades , Orion nebula (once its up a bit more later in winter).

Its particularly good if its a visible object like Pleiades they can have pointed out to them while the camera is taking the exposure, then they get to see it on the screen in much more detail.

Its a case of work out the setting for ISO and exposure time (start with iso800 and 90 sec then adjust from there)

Very rapid result and viewable on the laptop screen right away.

Planets are a tad more difficult but Jupiter and the 4 main moons are easy and the moons move round (well IO does at least) satsifyingly fast so kids can see the change day to day

here is a single 90 sec frame of M31 from a 80mm scope at ISO800 in my DSLR

(I find kids love to see a "proper" galaxy).

I too have ordered a copy

 this young man deserves all our support.

If you have an old PC case around you can mount the PSU inside it and use the case fan mountings positions before putting it all into an external box    🤔

yes anything I have in the cloud is

a) backed up locally

b) Not anything I need kept private

Only trouble with cloud storage  (and I do use some myself) is that astro files are so big it takes ages to upload or download significant amounts of it.

Bigger diameter fans run quieter   😜

If you have access to a 3d printer , thingiverse has templates for fan cooling this module

Probably not unless you install a local RCD 

It would prevent the tingle problems but compromise the protection unless you use a local RCD.

Your domestic installation actually ties together earth and neutral at source , but its probably best not to tie N and E at the PSU

All fine as long as you place it inside an insulated box. fan ventilated is best.

Yes that tingle is the exact problem with earths not at the same potential that can arise from these types of installation.

The wood floor is a good extra level of protection (as long as it is dry).

More a nuisance than a proper threat unless there is a major fault.

I try to run as much as possible from my 12v supply , lights etc all at the 12v end and avoid mains under my open roof.

I got myself a usb connected dock for hard drives I had collected from my old PCs

these are easily dropped into the dock and used as cheap and cheerful backup devices

But like Dave above , finding what your looking for can be an issue , so clear labelling of folders helps , in particular date references.

Cheap and cheerful external HDD as an archive is what I do.

Connect it once in a while to offload data I no longer work with but "may" just want to come back to.

Doesn't need to be a fast high performance (read expensive) drive , just data dump overnight.

I have an electrical engineering background, so apologies for becoming a bit technical.

And don't be too worried about what follows , your installation has clearly been working well without problems for some time.

Its just a "for info" comment.  (and not having seen your installation I am making a few assumptions).

You have turned your observatory into what is termed a "TT" installation by using the local earth rod if it is connected into the incoming supply.

This now makes your observatory earth point and your source earth point at your consumer unit at a very slight changed potentials.

While in all probability all should be fine with this I would still be tempted to install a local 2 pole RCD/interrupter at the observatory end.

The disconnect time can be affected by relying on the source protection at a far origin when you "TT" your installation.

A local protective device will ensure you get the fast disconnect at 30mA fault you need.

If just the pier is earthed and not the incoming supply you have an "exported TN-S" type supply and the source protection should probably be adequate,  a local RCD will not cause any problems, but may be superfluous. 

Exported TN-S does have cable resistance limits to function correctly , a long cable that is not of adequate thickness (cross section) will mean circuit protection can fail to operate as expected. In the UK exported TN-S is actively discouraged for this reason.

However with exported TN-S you need to ensure any mains equipment of type 1 , ie with an earth connection , does not come into contact with the "TT" earthed pier as this then reverts the electrical installation to a "TT" type.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/rcd-plugs/7508450/

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/rcds/0490157/

My own observatory has a TT installation with its own earth rod and I have used a local RCD in the observatory to ensure maximum safety.

Note: 

1 Most computer screens running on mains are type 2 (no earth) so dont cause problems when you mount to a pier

2 All the equipment run on 12 v from your supply will be isolated from the mains so should not cause any issues on the earthed pier. However the ground (-V) line on the supply is connected to earth via a capacitor to help avoid it floating too far away from local ground potential and supress ripple noise. So try to avoid the 12v supply touching the pier. 

You will be protected at source and all your power should be safe as long as your property meets Danish standards

Since the early 1990s earthed sockets have been required in all new electric installations in Denmark. Older sockets need not be earthed, but all sockets, including old installations, must be protected by earth-fault interrupters (HFI or HPFI in Danish) by 1 July 2008.

Earth fault interrupters are essentially the same as RCD in that they disconnect inbalance faults caused by a person touching a live wire.

Supply the PSU via an RCD to be sure you stay safe.

All my mains in my observatory is supplied via a 30mA 2 pole RCD in the small local consumer unit powering my sockets.

3 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

I believe it would be the same as a model I just happen to have about my person, i.e.:  which is auto sensing, look at the way the input is shown i.e. 100-240VAC, so no internal switch, but there is a fuse

 

 

 

Thats the 200w version.   OP has the next one down , the 150w version.

Looks like 200w has autosense but the 150w is manual set

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/183695/rs-150-12-ac-input-switch

Its possibly a small slide switch on the PCB

though there is a chance its a pin header you lift up and move across

will not survive 230 if set for 120 I suspect

see diagram for switch