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a remote unmanned pico observatory

Gonzo

By Gonzo
in DIY Observatories

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Gonzo
Gonzo

A video is worth a gazillion words..... please be patient, the video is 2m46s long, there is a delay after the lid opens up and the telescope deploys. (the thumbnail picture was taken with my GF1 an

Gonzo
Gonzo

Some further progress. After battling with a silly issue with my Raspberry B+ (yeah, don't upgrade to the latest firmware... it breaks stuff...) I am now able to move forward with the automation. Here

Gonzo
Gonzo

I've managed to reach focus this evening. This is HD 231061 (the bright one) unguided, 300 sec exposure. http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/756460#annotated

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Gina

Gina

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Wonderful project :)  One point of note though - I see you have a DHT22 on the outside of the box.  Have you checked that this still works after getting wet?   I've read that they don't like to get wet.  I'm was going to put mine in a miniature Stevenson Screen.

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Wonderful project :)  One point of note though - I see you have a DHT22 on the outside of the box.  Have you checked that this still works after getting wet?   I've read that they don't like to get wet.  I'm was going to put mine in a miniature Stevenson Screen.

Thanks, no I wasn't aware of it, I'll think about something to protect it.

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lambermo

lambermo

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I have a DHT22 outside for a few months now. It's under a ledge so not to get wet on every shower but it does get totally soaked during a storm. So far it has recovered fine from that. See the green line (outside humidity, scale on right axis) recovering from a wet period :

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Well this is it....

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ready to be shipped out to its final destination.

I'm excited and scared at the same time, everything worked at home, hopefully the journey and the assembly will not cause me too much trouble.

In t he worse case scenario, I can leave it dormant until my next visit :)

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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My first task on arrival is to rebuild the lid, as it's apparently leaking (mind you, only two leaks in one year).

I knew this would potentially happen, see this post

It was corrected in the following post.

But now that the telescope will be in the box with all the electronic (all sealed), any leaks in the box from heavy rain is not going to be a good thing....

I'm proud to say that the entire observatory runs on 100% Linux (I have 0 Windows machine at home).

If this remote observatory passes all my "live" tests, I have a master plan for it... (more to come in the next few months about this). But I think you can guess what's that about ;)

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Well I arrived in Germany, left home at 3 am and arrived 13:40 (local time).

I have taken the old lid apart, build a new lid and applied a protective lacker thingy. I would show you some pictures, but I can't upload them to my website as it's locked down to home only.

My new lid is way way way better than the old one.

The issue with the water leak was obvious when I saw it today, major flaw in my lid design (which could affect the box sides....). I will post some pictures about everything in about a week time when I'm back home.

I have a busy week ahead, it's a mammoth task this setup. Lots await me, so much for holidays.... lol 

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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I'll try to attach a picture to this post for the time being... let's see if that works.

Tomorrow I will apply a new coat of protective thingy (can't remember what it is to be honest)

Once it's all dry, I will cover the lid with a heavy duty black plastic cover (100% waterproof), snug fit.

You can see in the bottom left corner of this picture the old lid, going to be recycled.

The plywood used for the new lid is 'exterior plywood'.

There is a 2cm overhang for the lid.

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Day two in Germany.

I've made some great progress today again.

Installed:

the solar powered fan, to my surprised it's pretty damn good for £28 off FleeBay.

the all-sky-camera. I have left the 12v to 5 v converter at home... doh, I'll see if I can get one off FleeBay and get it delivered here.

the rain sensor.

the box for the 5 port network switch.

Going to the DIY store tomorrow to get a few things.

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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I have today finished the lid for good. Also removed the silicon I used to fill up the gaps on the side panels and replace it with something different.

Depending how it goes in a year time, I might/will replace the side panels with a one piece plywood.

Couldn't help myself by putting the scope/mount/pier in the box. So far, nothing is touching (it's a tight fit).

I could have finished the box today, but I forgot to buy a side vent at the DIY shop this morning... Will buy and install one tomorrow.

The wooden floor is very slippery, the pier is sliding on it. I will do a rough polar alignment and then nail the pier to the floor.

This should stop it from moving.

I'm quite surprised how far out the scope sticks out to be honest, a lot more than I thought it would. It is good :)

Tomorrow I'm off to get some network cables and a powerline kit. The wifi is too weak on that side of the house. I get 5Mbs download while near the router I get close to 50Mbs.

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Package looks good :)

Never mind the download bandwidth, what's the upload bandwidth ?

-- Hans

In the room where the wifi box is (complete opposite of the telescope box, and lots of thick walls...) I get 48Mbs DOWN and 9Mbs UP (5Ghz wifi).

At the telescope, as I said, complete opposite of the house, I get 12Mbs DOWN and 8Mbs UP (2.4Ghz Wifi).

I will be doing more testing tomorrow with the powerline box, wired and wifi tests.

It is a big decision, run a 25M long network cable or use wifi.... decisions decisions....

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