Pulsar 2.2m dome DIY option

[Gina]

Very good I have enough of a problem getting the scope pointed in the right direction let alone a dome as well Well done - lovely job

[nameunknown]

No such thing as rising damp. Myth.

Can't be a myth - I saw the guy in "2001", he was a Russian astronomer then, who had started as a slum landlord, later faked his death and then turned up in orbit. IMHO stone cottages might not suffer from rising damp, bit brick and plaster do.

I really like the idea of having a remote controlled Obsy you can use while travelling - or, having the same out in the country ("telescope assistants" mother lives deep in darkest Wales) to use from home. Me, I have RC from downstairs, so I can open up the attic obsy while sat in front of the fire downstairs.

Problem is - do you have a back-up plan in case of a power-cut and pending rain? (phone a friend perhaps) and what if some scally decides to jump in the open hatch and try to nick your scope? Presumably you have an option to lock it up remotely using battery back-up and (if needs be) release a quantity of laughing gas, play Blackadder tapes and dump a large number of carnivorous snails on the floor?

Rgds

P

[robin-m]

The option to remotely open the shutter doesn't exist yet but plans are underway, just lack of time hinders me. When complete there are two options I'm considering or a belt and bracers approach using both. Firstly the shutter will be powered by the same batteries as the rotation so will be unaffected by any power cut. I'm going to put a ups in the obsy so in the event of a power cut the dome computer has time to command the dome to close before shutdown. The second approach is to implement a heartbeat function between the arduino and obsy computer so that if the computer fails to respond within a specified time limit the shutter closes itself.

As far as rain goes I have the aurora cloud sensor which detects rain and the obsy will close itself at the first sign.

When closed the shutter will lock, probably via a solenoid however scallys jumping in through the open shutter is not something I have a plan for perhaps laser beams across the opening (using my best dr evil impression).

[mhard26339]

Mmmmm, this has got me thinking!!!