How do you tidy your cable's............

[tingting44]

might seem a stupid question but id love to see how other people tidy their cables when you are guiding, ive not done mine yet, might do it tomorrow......do you take the wires off each time you pack away? leave slack in them? im just not that sure how to approach it and id just like to see how other people have there's setup im thinking either cable ties? or maybe some velcro? i dont know lol

[Tinker1947]

Cable ties will rip your skin to pieces should you slide your hand along the cables, Velcro will work, i used self amalgamating tape just added more tape as i added cables, although a bit of pre planning will help........

[wxsatuser]

Mine all hang loose. ......permanent setup in obsy.

[lennylovit]

Velcro cable ties £2 for 10 in Asda

Lenny

[tingting44]

Thanks for the replies,

and thanks for for the pic tinker, wow that is a lot of cables, do you take them all off when u level the mount for a new session? Also what about when you slew about mine got into quite a tangle last night skewing about, think it would be worse if they were all tied down? 

Ill have a be a look for then Velcro cable ties in asda thanks Lenny 

[wxsatuser]

I originally cable tied mine but that was asking for trouble, they snag on just about anything.

Tried loose and that seems ok as they can slide across things and not get caught.

The laptop is not far from the pier so have plenty of slack cable, non seem to hang up.

[Tinker1947]

Thanks for the replies,

and thanks for for the pic tinker, wow that is a lot of cables, do you take them all off when u level the mount for a new session? Also what about when you slew about mine got into quite a tangle last night skewing about, think it would be worse if they were all tied down? 

Ill have a be a look for then Velcro cable ties in asda thanks Lenny 

The cable were attached each time i put the scope out didn't take much time, the mount had indents in the patio so it went pretty close to the required PA, my scope never went round and round would get so far then reverse on the next slew so the cables were always loose, all this is in the past i have a small obby now so its just open the roof and i'm ready...

[glowingturnip]

i have a little bulldog clip on one of the mounting screws, and I clip the cable from the guidecam in that before running it loose to the laptop - that way the cable can't pull at the guidecam

[sidelight]

I use braided cable sheathing, make up a loom, some insulating tape at both ends (so I can redo it if needed) and velcro cable ties to hold it in place on the scope.  
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Braided-Sleeving-Cable-Harness-Sheathing-Expanding-Sleeve-in-Black-Many-sizes-/290814495525?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&var=&hash=item43b5e50b25
 
I'm in the middle of sorting my stuff out so can only post a picture of it on the ground.
 
 

Cheers

Ross

[tingting44]

thanks guys, its just nice seeing other people's setup's as everyone has a different method

i do like the bull dog clup idea also Stuart

[tingting44]

going to grab these tomorrow, thanks

http://direct.asda.com/george/george-home/velcro-cable-ties/001133005,default,pd.html

[ollypenrice]

You can be ultra organized and use nice cable wrap of various sorts. It looks great and avoids tangles, but it can become stiff and affect guiding. Then there's the issue of what happens when a cable fails. You spend forever undoing/redoing the sheath to change it and, for me, I've enough to do without that. My compromise (with rather more cables than most) looks like this. It's the compromise that suits me personally, but everyone's different. Power and USB cables are bunched together separately and bound by easily split rings of masking tape for quick cable change. Near the scope they are suspended in forgiving elastic (can we say knicker elastic on here??  ) All the cables are labelled at both ends. The two rigs are entirely separate and feed onto two computers on which all the USB ports are labelled to avoid com port nonsense. So far so good!

Olly

[tingting44]

You can be ultra organized and use nice cable wrap of various sorts. It looks great and avoids tangles, but it can become stiff and affect guiding. Then there's the issue of what happens when a cable fails. You spend forever undoing/redoing the sheath to change it and, for me, I've enough to do without that. My compromise (with rather more cables than most) looks like this. It's the compromise that suits me personally, but everyon's different. Power and USB cables are bunched together separately and bound by easily split rings of masking tape for quick cable change. All the cables alre labelled at both ends. The two rigs are entirely separate and feed onto two computers on which all the USB ports are labelled to avoid com port nonsense.

Olly

Thanks for your input olly, i really wouldnt know what to do with all them cables lol i find it hard with my measly few cables lol, and OMG what a setup you have, one of the most stunning setup's i think i have seen!

[Zakalwe]

I have all the various controller boxes (2 x focuser controllers, dew heater controller) and the USB hub mounted on the mount. That means that there are only a few power lines and a single USB cable going to the mount. From the controllers and hub all the cables are sheated in a zip-up braided sleeve. The slevve if held to the mount by a P-clip, so there's no weight or pulling on the USB plugs. I can swap a cable out of the braid in a couple of minutes. The loom is tied to the scope with a velcro tie.

It means I can swap between the SCT, refractor and solarscope in a couple of minutes. Nothing can catch or drag and all cables are supported to prevent any damage to the ports.

It looks messy, but in reality it works very well.

[ollypenrice]

Thanks for your input olly, i really wouldnt know what to do with all them cables lol i find it hard with my measly few cables lol, and OMG what a setup you have, one of the most stunning setup's i think i have seen!

It isn't all mine, it's a joint venture with Tom O'Donoghue.

Olly

[DaveS]

My rig is very simple, so I just have a single USB cable running to a USB hub mounted on the main 'scope. From there short cables run to the mount, 550D and QHY5 II. My joystick pad plugs into another port on the laptop.

[smudgeball]

Hi

I get a little OCD on this at times.

I never liked having to connect the serial to EQ-DIR on my neq6 as I was sure at some point I would bend a pin.

So I made myself a multipin connection for comms and power.

It has a 9 pin right-angled serial connector to a 5 pin male-female quick release connector.

I also have a complete wiring loom covered in cable wrap for my camera / dew heater arrangement.

This second part is all attached to a bracket that has a vixen clamp at the end, so I just mount my two scopes, mount the bracket and then all the cables lie close to where they connect.

So I effectively end up with two "large" cables, but most importantly, they don't snag as the mount moves.

I've more "fiddling" to do with the arrangement, but happy so far.

Regards

Neil

[tingting44]

Hi

I get a little OCD on this at times.

I never liked having to connect the serial to EQ-DIR on my neq6 as I was sure at some point I would bend a pin.

So I made myself a multipin connection for comms and power.

It has a 9 pin right-angled serial connector to a 5 pin male-female quick release connector.

I also have a complete wiring loom covered in cable wrap for my camera / dew heater arrangement.

This second part is all attached to a bracket that has a vixen clamp at the end, so I just mount my two scopes, mount the bracket and then all the cables lie close to where they connect.

So I effectively end up with two "large" cables, but most importantly, they don't snag as the mount moves.

I've more "fiddling" to do with the arrangement, but happy so far.

Regards

Neil

awsome diy jobs going on here! i like it