Power in your observatories

[Fordos Moon]

Forgive me if a stupid question, but in your observatories do you run on mains power with an adaptor connected to the mount or use a power tank?

I am about embarking on a build soon to house my HEQ5 mount and ED80/200P.

Am very glad that this section on home built observatories exists!

[Oily]

Run on mains with a regulated power supply to the mount.

[red dwalf]

i too run off the mains, save the battery for when your in the field.

just bought a regulated power supply to plug the mount power into and a few other accesories,  

here`s a link to my build and shows you what i`ve done for the power supply which is about as easy as you can get.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/165469-robs-obsy-build/

i`ve not added the regulated power supply yet as i`ve only just got it, bargain of fleabay, but you can also buy a 5amp power supply just for running the mount for about £25 which plugs into the mains.

[keithatrochdale]

Here is a link to a cheap, powerful PSU conversion;

http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php/page,139.html

[Tinker1947]

I run mains from a extension lead in a close-by workshop, the workshop end has a RCD and the Obby end a External Adapter, 2.5mm rubber cable in between..Maplin 13.8v 7Amp PSU's (2) supply the Mount ect..

[Breakintheclouds]

I run an extension lead out from the kitchen to the observatory, and take it back in when I'm finished. My main regret about my observatory setup is not running out a proper, permanent mains supply to it. It's not a massive deal, but it also means I don't have the option to leave a webcam running or anything like that

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[Gina]

Mains power to a garage consumer unit with power and lighting breakers and RCD.  Mount power from a regulated 13.5v bench unit and other equipment off a modified ex-PC PSU (12v & 5v).

[Wyvern]

Not a stupid question in any way.  Like other posters, I too have mains to observatory with RCD breaker incase of "trouble". The 10" Meade then uses a regulated power supply from the mains, with the leads inside a hose pipe mounted from the side of the observatory, taking the 9v power to RA drive under the observatory to the telescope pier. By having the leads underneath, I felt I was removing any chance of trip hazard or damaging leads by walking on them. A suitably placed length of string in the "transfer pipe" allows me to pull through any further wiring that may need to be taken to the pier assembly..... always think ahead!!!

Regards,

Les

[Gina]

I have much the same but using 40mm household plastic waste pipe.

[Russe]

Do you guys leave your scopes in your obsy's??

Isn't that a scary thought??

[Tinker1947]

Do you guys leave your scopes in your obsy's??

Isn't that a scary thought??

That's the idea of a Obby permanent set-up, if i were still in London then no, out in the sticks its a different matter....

[Russe]

True...

Here in Cardiff I would leave it in the garden for an imaging run but not for months on end. Too scary...

[ollypenrice]

Mains for me, though robotic installations must have battery backup since you could have a power outage because it had started raining and left you with no way of closing the roof!

As for security, we take it seriously here and don't mess about;

lly

[red dwalf]

argh,

looks like he`d lick you to death.

one of the good points of having an obsy it that everything is set up, polar aligned, focused, if imaging, all you need to do is start the computer and your off and running, takes me about 5 minutes now.

also check you house insurance just to make sure things are covered in the garden or outside buildings. just in case.

[ollypenrice]

argh,

looks like he`d lick you to death.

one of the good points of having an obsy it that everything is set up, polar aligned, focused, if imaging, all you need to do is start the computer and your off and running, takes me about 5 minutes now.

also check you house insurance just to make sure things are covered in the garden or outside buildings. just in case.

She'd lick you to death, but yes!!!

I might be wrong but I wouldn't bank on insurance covering you. Look at it from their point of view...

Olly

[SnakeyJ]

Second vote for a ups and a regulated power supply. I use a 1KVa BACKUPS - wont last long under load, but keeps things running through brief interruptions, filters out spikes/surges and gives a nice clean 50hz.

[red dwalf]

i inquired with my home insurance, told them that i take items away also to starpartys, not 100% certain the understood what i was up to but i was assured the equipment was covered, same as equipment in garage and sheds also fencing and so on,

but now you`ve but a seed of doubt in my mind i think i`ll ring them again just to make sure as the stock of astro gear has some what increased over the last 12 to 18 months.

[Macavity]

I generally run the whole observatory from a 12V 90Ah, deep cycle battery. I have an IP-rated caravan type mains socket in the wall of the observatory and run a mains lead to this from an external (RCD protected) socket on the external house wall. I only use mains in the observatory during daylight and for recharging the above battery (occasional DIY, [100W!] incandescent bulb lighting etc.) But, for now, I find the possibility of having an "electrically quiet" environment, removed from the mains, quite handy for VIDEO Astronomy.

In the fullness of time I may dig a trench for duct, armoured cable etc. But still envisage having TWO "pipes". I am working on robotic control, so want to keep the (multiplicity of!) Coax / Cat6 / Multicore control cables physically separate from the mains supply. 

[r3i]

Buried, armoured cable between house and observatory.  At the house end the cable goes into a fused spur at the back of the garage, then from the spur I have a flex with a normal 13A plug on it that plugs into a socket on the house ring main, so it works like a glorified extension cable.

Within the observatory it is terminated into a 2-way garage consumer unit with a built in RCD trip.  The CU has 2 MCBs installed: a 6A for the lighting and a 16A for the sockets.

All the 12V stuffed is powered via a dual output bench PSU: one output solely to power the mount and the other for everything else.

LAN access achieved via PowerLine adapters.

[Steve 1962]

Mine has a mains supply fitted with a 30mA RCD - an underground armoured cable from my garage feeds into a two way "garage" consumer - one way for lights and the other for power. The 12v stuff is fedd from a 13.8v  Maplins stabilised power supply.

I also laid an outdoor CAT5 LAN cable and an alarm multicore in the same trench as the power cable.

[ollypenrice]

I dream of underground cables. A boulder and clay landscape has other ideas.

Olly

[Tinker1947]

I dream of underground cables. A boulder and clay landscape has other ideas.

Olly

Dynamite and a TCB will sort it.......

[Wyvern]

Although here in "sticksville", I admit to keeping the scope OTA in the far more secure garage, with just the wedge and equatorial mounts in the observatory. This makes fairly certain that the OTA is covered by our household insurance.(  under Itemised "expensive" thingys). I've noted that premiums seem to suddenly increase on a, dare I say - astronomical - scale, once the insurance companies hear the words "astronomical" or "observatory" in any premium related discussion. As far as they're concerned, the "observatory" is an exterior storage facility.

For security detail, we use much the same system as Ollypenrice, with any offender still being licked to death on being found. Please note, calls for mercy will be ignored by the dog!!!

[malc-c]

Run on mains with a regulated power supply to the mount.

 snap

[SnakeyJ]

I dream of underground cables. A boulder and clay landscape has other ideas.

Olly

When I brought my French farm house, the mains electric for the lighting was bare wire strung beam to beam around the ceilings and fixed with little ceramic insulators - rather like electric fence, but 220V AC!   Most of the bulbs were red, leading to much speculation about the maison previously being a house of ill repute - but on reflection, perhaps the previous owners were astronomers?   I can recall how how all the lights dimmed as you turned the kettle on.  The mains supply to the house came from two 8mm tails that appeared to be crocodile clipped on to the overhead power lines - though these had to be uprated to give an 80A supply after I rewired and installed the electric shower.

I believe standards may have improved over the last 30 years, but you could always try a few low pylons