How to ensure my scope doesn't hit my tripod legs?

[swag72]

I posted before about my scope hitting my tripod legs and the mount still switched on as I was in bed. It was agreed that this was not good, and so I decided to go with the excellent idea of setting a timer so that the power can be switched off at a predetermined time to prevent the scope sitting on the tripod legs and possibly knackering the gearing.

So this is my idea. Looking in Stellarium, seeing when my target is getting near to the zenith, noting the time and switching off the power for that time. Will Stellarium and the zenith (which I presume is the middle where the lines all converge) be a pretty accurate measurement of this and when the scope may start hitting the legs?

[rfdesigner]

You could always go with the super simple method... place the scope on the other side of the mount so it's pulling away from the tripod, not moving towards it. You can then run it until day break, no problems. Just use a mains timer unit to stop the setup, timed to pull the plug at dawn (someone elses idea here, not mine, but certainly excellent)

It does mean you have to wait until later in the year to image things, but it also means you can maximise imaging time.

Oh and I've learned the hard way to keep the mount clutches fairly loose so in the event of collision, it's the clutch that gives, not the gears.

Derek

[Beyond_Vision]

You can image past the meridian then shut down the power.

[swag72]

How do you do that? Just have the scope on the opposite way on the mount saddle?

[swag72]

Timer set then to image upto the meridian - Really must read up on this as I just carry on and don't seem to have any adverse problems!!

[Beyond_Vision]

The HEQ5 can carry on tracking past the Meridian. If you are using EQMod you can set an option to either stop at the meridian or carry on tracking. You can also set mount limits to stop it hiting the mount.

[swag72]

Well success last night thanks to BeyondVision. Imaged up to Meridian, then power off. Scope upright and still a little way off the legs. So I probably could have gone for about 30 mins more.

When I get my obs done, I may look EQMOD, but having a pier will help this problem considerably anyway. So thanks for that.