DaveL59

thing with powerline is they work best if you aren't crossing the consumer unit, i.e., both on the same piece of ring/wire. They used to recommend bridging methods if crossing between rings esp in larger houses but not sure if the later MIMO types need that any more. For what is effectively a long-line with potential for loss in both voltage and signal and perhaps potential drop on the earth wire too, might be a struggle to get it to stay in sync or attain stable speed if it does make the link.

Should add too - any electrical noise will knock the signal down to v poor levels and that can be something as simple as an LED lightbulb, cheaper ones tend to be quite noisy and you see drops or speed drop of 50% or more. Motors too (washer etc) if they induce any noise can be a problem as will heavy current draw on the cable.

in this post I talked about the Tal-M

I got the nitrile bearing cap for the mirror end and used a modified pipe cap for the open end on that scope. Keeps the dust out and also closes any light leaks at the mirror end

wow, very nice that one! This 1 has the plastic end cap intact, worst case if it breaks I'll source a nitrile bearing cap of suitable size like I did for the M. it's metal internally and a snug fit to the tube.

Nice mod, how far did you raise the mirror if I might ask?

For the M I obtained some 3d printer springs and raised that one 25mm ish, probably could have done with being a touch more but those parts may well work ok on the tal-1 once I revert the M back to original screws/springs.

ahh ok, that's kinda limiting if it needs contaminants. Perhaps roof run-off from the roofing felt or down the guttering would be more effective to trigger, tho that'd also mean v light drizzle/rain may take a bit longer before it fires. A plastic tray may not hold much contaminant, at least initially, texturing the surface might help it build some quicker tho 🙂

just collected a 1995 tal-1 this evening, luckily it has the 15, 25 and 3x barlow. Sadly no original wood box but otherwise in pretty good shape. Assembled now but no chance to test it as true to form it's all cloud outside in every direction.

@Astroblagger, did you ever do the mirror shift? If not and you still have the scope then I'll update once I've had a chance to look at this one properly but that'll be sometime over the next month or so, probably.

My plan for this Tal-1 is to shift the mirror so it can use regular EP's and use the originals on the baby Tal-M I have, which will complete that scope other than the 32mm extension tube. Seems an easier solution than trying to figure how to adapt the built-in finder to work with newer EP's. I need to drop the mirror back to original location on the M and then test and once I'm happy it can get stripped down and repainted (or powder coated) etc and be stored in its wood box 🙂

I've so gotta stop collecting vintage optical gear!!! 5 scopes and 35+ airs of binos is getting a lot too much lol. Tho I'm quite pleased with the TAL collection, being a TAL-M, TAL-1 and TAL100RS with a range of EP's now at 42 (mk2), 25(mk1,2,3), 15(mk1,2), 9, 6.3mm and 2+3x barlows. Really hope I can resist if a Tal-2 comes up locally 😮

have you figured yet how many sensor bars need water bridging them in order to trigger? Could be why it doesn't detect light rain so well and not having any sensitivity adjust makes it a lot harder to tweak for your requirement.

I know it's not ideal but are you able to see how the water is laying on the sensor once its wet? Is some sort of coating affecting it from bridging the bars perhaps? Or is it maybe figuring short so stop triggering...

Hard to figure much without a cct diagram or adjust much without access inside - is it potted or just in an openable IP66 box?

10 minutes ago, Gina said:

Distilled water will not trigger the rain detector - this is a known fact.  The water needs to contain salts to be conductive.

We will get rain eventually that is a fact.

so true, tis summertime in the UK after all 😉

Was kinda thinking a small amount of distilled in the watering can... should pick up a little contamination that might get detected, but the weather here will usually co-operate every few days lol

11 hours ago, Gina said:

A watering can would contain polluted water but what I really need is real rain.  Anyway, there are very dark clouds gathering so a shower may be imminent.

could you not try with a small amount of distilled water, just as a test if rain doesn't co-operate?

yep since I got the SynScan mount the other day and now sorted power for it, has only been cloudy nights here. Always the way. Fingers crossed the rain sensor works, could be it'll need more than one pair in the grid to have a droplet on it to cause it to trigger. I seem to recall a rain sensor circuit in one of the electronics mags many moons ago that used vero and that pretty much needed 2 or 3 tracks bridged by raindrops to cause a trigger event.

the barlow should work, does on my Tal-M.

Alternatively moving the mirror cell up the tube using longer screws and springs would allow the standard EP to come to focus, if you do a search there's a few topics on that here and elsewhere. I tried this on the Tal-M and it worked fine, downside for me is the finder is built into the focuser body so that now won't come to focus with modern EP's, not figured a solution for both so far, but at least on the Tal-1 the finder is seperate I believe so won't be affected.

hope it stays clear for you  I was thinking I could carry the 130 newt out but... mind is now on how to sort the tripod and it won't be long before the oak obscures it anyways

oh no!  

Had my own little setback with the new TAL, saw Jupiter and made out 3 moons ok which was nice tho couldn't push the mag too far, so settled with the 10mm vixen NPL and had nice views. Then I noticed one of the stabiliser rings on the main leg had split so decided to play safe and pack it away for now till I sort a repair or replacement, didn't fancy it toppling on its first real use

mine are being left alone on the side of the shed, no way I feel like fiddling about with them in this sun. Seems a spider has taken a liking to the smaller one tho, keeps wandering across the dome and I can see signs of a web on the bracket underneath

fingers crossed that works for you Gina 🙂

How you planning to seal the dome to the casing? I used a large flat seal rather than silicone it on mine so I can open it up for tilt/focus tweaks, plus any maintenance would also need it removable being its a cctv housing and that's the only way in.

thinking about it... wonder if water-cooling would work, if you are able to put the cooler part in  permanent shade...?

That way you could seal the in/out hoses with grommets and not have to be pulling moist air thru the unit for cooling.

3 hours ago, Gina said:

Maybe there's something to be said for starting again on the casing as I might have some different ideas.  As I recall, I wasn't doing very well in the past with sealing it.

that's kinda why I went with existing outdoor cctv housings, tho they're not really meant to be set with the dome pointed skywards. The larger housing does work ok but I may order another dome with a wider flange that hangs over beyond the casing. Not convinced that the nitrile gasket I got will cope well in the long run with the existing that is just under the diameter of the main body. So far its ok but one I plan to address down the road as the pressure of the dome bolted down causes it to dish upward, a nice little rain catcher, hmmm not what I planned for.

Cooling tho is a different problem, as the dome is essentially a sealed unit or there'd be risk of condensation otherwise. Of course the camera generates heat plus the heat from the sun just adds to the problem. I did consider finding a way to have the lens side sealed to the dome side and then set up some sort of venting and fan assist with baffling to direct outside air over the heatsink fins to cool the camera module, hopefully that'd reduce the condensation issue inside the dome affecting the image but figured I'd test as-is and see how it fairs. So far mine seems to be coping ok but I did paint the casing white to reduce a little the heat soak from the sun.

49 minutes ago, Rusted said:

At the risk of starting an endless argument:

Modern piping is often plastic. Rural homes are almost certainly fed by miles of plastic hose.
Connecting the indoor metal pipes, if any, as an earth, will be lethal and based on a lack of basic electrical knowledge.

Discussions on forums, which have US members, suggests that the rules for earthing are as varied as the soils on which the building stands.
I claim absolutely zero knowledge and nobody should ever follow anything suggested on a forum.
Your "expert" advisor might be a trolling, psychopathic, serial killer!

ALWAYS seek EXPERT advice from a local, fully qualified electrician with experience of your local conditions.

Your having moved on from your own installation leaves those who follow on in a very precarious position.
Which through their own ignorance, of what they only think they should trust, might easily kill them.
This doesn't even begin to deal with the matter of lightning and adding extra earthing rods to an existing electrical system.

I don't disagree re getting expert advice, that's generally a good way to go if planning some new works and esp so if you've no relevant expertise yourself.

In terms of my past installations, they were all done to building code at that time and in some aspects to industrial above domestic at that, so I've no worries on that front. They all passed inspection by the relevant authority on hand-off or you wouldn't be able to connect to the main supply into the building 🙂 I have however seen several dodgy installs that have been inherited when buying another property too, like main power and lighting cross-connected, regular ring wiring run to outbuildings in garden hose just inches under the edge of flower beds etc, scary the way some have done installs and a new unsuspecting owner is put at risk...

hehe yeah has gone that way here for the most part where apart from "repairs" you're supposed to get someone who is part-P certified to do the work or have them check and certify your work afterwards. Back way back when, I've rewired houses from the meter, laying in new rings and main RCD/MCB distribution board etc. Ran the earthing down into the basement where I installed said spike as it was just a few turns of bare wire around a metal supply pipe (water or gas) in the old setup. Even installed galv trunking to protect the cabling that ran from the distribution board in the garage that was all earth bonded between sections etc. So a couple years after I left the ex had builders in doing other works and to see how they left it all was shocking, just trailed wires around, opened the trunking and didn't bother to re-cap it etc., what a mess. No wonder I'm usually reluctant to get a "professional" in to do works where I know I can do it at least as well myself 😉

ouch 2.5 T&E sure wouldn't cut it for earth  I'd say, is that direct from the fuse board or a spur off the ring? 

An earth spike (4ft) is relatively easy to do so long as the ground isn't littered with rocks under the surface. A 4lb hammer should drive it in ok, maybe easier if the ground is wet. Then fit the clamp on the end and 10mm earth wire back to the consumer unit to bond that to earth and the obsy should be fine.

I would suggest for the ethernet cable that you fit surge suppressors, I used these on the hard link out to my shed which is a lot closer but does have CCTV gear linked back to the house and now the sky cameras.

https://www.ui.com/accessories/ethernet-surge-protector/

very nice Pete 🙂

Here its been all rain and clouds so not had much decent viewing at all, nor any chance to do much of anything now I'm back in a day job. Doing a road trip at the weekend tho to collect a TAL100R(s?) so I guess that means it'll be occluded skies for quite a while 😄

3 hours ago, Bukko said:

Is there an earth leakage circuit breaker installed? If so, then this should take care of the earthing issue for you. If not, then if you have run armoured cable, the armouring could be used as the earth. Glanding off the armoured cable with a metal gland in your electrical box will do the earthing there too. Have a chat with your electrician and hopefully you have a low cost solution available.

an ELCB won't take care of earthing at all, only has the ability to detect a leak to "earth" from L or N. Problem can be if the earth floats as a result of resistance along the length of the wire which can lead to erronious/late triggering. Far better to drive an earth spike in and bond to that, they aren't expensive and so long as you protect the install with a suitable cover it'll be fine. I'd still install the RCB/ELCB too, safety first and all that. I've come across a few instances where earth has floated and got a buzz off equipment casings and in one case when my hands were under a running tap, not good!

well done to your daughter James, mine used to swim when she was young too 🙂

As for the metal boxes, yep for sure I'd earth them, better safe than sorry esp in an environment where external moisture could well lower the contact resistance when you touch the case. Ideally you should probably have a proper bonded earth too, you could probably drive a copper earth spike under the shed and run  to that as grounding via the power feed cable to the remote buildings isn't really a proper solution unless its a suitable gauge cable you're using.

could save yourself a few quid perhaps James and see if this is worth going and collecting...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/garden-observatory/264362617626?hash=item3d8d3d6b1a:g:L7IAAOSw0Z9dA~qR

I'd suggest you use dielectric grease on the LV connections, should help keep any moisture out and maintain a good connection over time. I use Servisol silicone grease on the CCTV LAN+power connections whether inside or out and applied to the connections inside the dome unit that is now skycam-2 before it was finally assembled and sealed up. 

No harm a light smear on any threaded components that might corrode over time too...

1 hour ago, MarsG76 said:

Very cool.. the sky cam is definitely a great tool in our hobby. Is is still a "el-cheapo"?

 

 

thanks 🙂

Well I still consider it cheap, esp considering there's 2 out there and pretty low spend to achieve. Decided this dry morning to tweak the aim and move the smaller one out of view before I head off to family commitments, forecast is v wet this evening so won't be a better opportunity with returning to work Monday. I think results for a while might be tainted with the sky not being as dark as when I started the project so plan to run with the F1.8 2.1mm lens in the 5MP for a while before I test the 2.5mm F1.2 and if I figure how maybe try a few stacks to see how the current setup performs as a reference point.