Sierra remote

[Datalord]

Ok, I took contact to E-EyE. Turns out they are full, have a new set of 8 ready in May, which are all booked, but they have their sixth group of sheds finishing in October out of which 2 piers were available. I took one.

So, here's to the prospect of setting up my remote obsy in spain in time for the winter season.

[Demonperformer]

Good on you. What setup are you planning on installing? 

[Datalord]

17 minutes ago, Demonperformer said:

Good on you. What setup are you planning on installing? 

CFF RC12 on a mesu200 with a moravian g3-16200. Plus a billion items to make it all work remote, which I have a long summer to source and test in my shed.

[swag72]

4 hours ago, Datalord said:

CFF RC12 on a mesu200 with a moravian g3-16200. Plus a billion items to make it all work remote, which I have a long summer to source and test in my shed.

Think very closely about a standard Mesu for remote....... you do need absolute encoders if the mount loses position...... which it probably will! Without absolute encoders you can't be in a position where the mount can bang into the pier and even a sync won't help you as the mount (and you) won't have a clue where you are...... if that makes sense 

[tomato]

Very good point Sara, real remote imaging (ie not just at the far end of your own back yard) is on a whole different level.

I’ll stick with darkest (and cloudy) Shropshire for now.

[pete_l]

On 4/4/2018 at 20:08, Whirlwind said:

[ Just shy of £13000 ]  You could probably hire a Spanish cottage for 6 months for less...

You can hire spanish cottages from about €200 / month (bills extra) if you stay away from the touristy bits.

[Datalord]

3 hours ago, swag72 said:

Think very closely about a standard Mesu for remote....... you do need absolute encoders if the mount loses position...... which it probably will! Without absolute encoders you can't be in a position where the mount can bang into the pier and even a sync won't help you as the mount (and you) won't have a clue where you are...... if that makes sense 

hmm, it does make sense. I guess I have been spoiled by the CGX, as it has the functionality of returning to central position regardless of what happened. I very rarely have to update the plate, unless something moves the mount itself, which should be solved with a pier. Interesting.

[MrsGnomus]

There is already a standard Mesu at E-EyE which I believe is working well - Steve has been in contact with the owner of that rig and would seriously consider a Mesu if we set up another remote rig ourselves. Our experience at home is that the standard Mesu can occasionally get lost - usually if we have been working down in the observatory and have knocked it - we have always managed to ‘cure’ the problem by doing a blind solve and then entering the co-ordinates into the Sitech sync tab. It would be nice to have absolute encoders but they are a lot more money for a little extra functionality.

[swag72]

8 hours ago, MrsGnomus said:

There is already a standard Mesu at E-EyE which I believe is working well - Steve has been in contact with the owner of that rig and would seriously consider a Mesu if we set up another remote rig ourselves. Our experience at home is that the standard Mesu can occasionally get lost - usually if we have been working down in the observatory and have knocked it - we have always managed to ‘cure’ the problem by doing a blind solve and then entering the co-ordinates into the Sitech sync tab. It would be nice to have absolute encoders but they are a lot more money for a little extra functionality.

I wouldn't consider a remote mount without absolute encoders..... sure a sync and solve can sort a nudge. But if there's been a considerable issue (always possible) and your scope is pointing at the wall or downwards and can't see any stars to do a sync.... you home it and all manner of damage could happen. That's my thoughts anyway. I wouldn't risk such an eventuality, however small the chance would be.

[MrsGnomus]

46 minutes ago, swag72 said:

I wouldn't consider a remote mount without absolute encoders..... sure a sync and solve can sort a nudge. But if there's been a considerable issue (always possible) and your scope is pointing at the wall or downwards and can't see any stars to do a sync.... you home it and all manner of damage could happen. That's my thoughts anyway. I wouldn't risk such an eventuality, however small the chance would be.

At home we leave the Mesu parked but powered up between sessions. This means that it doesn’t slip/move and that it knows where it is at the start of a session. We haven’t had a problem with it failing to solve and sync since we have started doing this. We aren’t completely blind as we have a cheap IP camera pointing at the mount (we have one at E-EyE as well). The one in our home observatory is switched on and off via the Dragonfly and is positioned so that we can tell if the mount is in its normal home position at the start of a session. It is scripted to come back on as part of the shutdown routine at the end of imaging so it has now become part of the routine to check this in the morning and again before we start a session.  We know that we are starting from the correct position each time. We don’t use ACP so we are still relatively ‘hands on’ in any event and we watch the first slew via the IP camera so we know the scope is pointing at the sky! The camera gets switched off after we know that SGP has solved and synced - usually half way through the first focus run.  

[ollypenrice]

48 minutes ago, MrsGnomus said:

At home we leave the Mesu parked but powered up between sessions. This means that it doesn’t slip/move and that it knows where it is at the start of a session. We haven’t had a problem with it failing to solve and sync since we have started doing this. We aren’t completely blind as we have a cheap IP camera pointing at the mount (we have one at E-EyE as well). The one in our home observatory is switched on and off via the Dragonfly and is positioned so that we can tell if the mount is in its normal home position at the start of a session. It is scripted to come back on as part of the shutdown routine at the end of imaging so it has now become part of the routine to check this in the morning and again before we start a session.  We know that we are starting from the correct position each time. We don’t use ACP so we are still relatively ‘hands on’ in any event and we watch the first slew via the IP camera so we know the scope is pointing at the sky! The camera gets switched off after we know that SGP has solved and synced - usually half way through the first focus run.  

Yes, this is what the two SiTech Mesu owners do here. Taken overall the Mesus have been the most reliable of the robotic mounts I host. While a collision is always possible the Mesu powers itself off when it detects an overload so no real harm will come to the gear. Anything vulnerable and likely to collide can just be protected by some kind of protective cage or 'crash bar' to ensure a failsafe.

Well done on the decision, Datalord! You'll find yourself unable to keep up with the processing... Now that's a nice problem to have.

Olly

[Demonperformer]

@ollypenrice I would be interested in your opinion (as someone who 'tends' for remote systems) of the eq6r mount running remote [in words that are applicable to a family-friendly forum, of course ]. It quotes an astroimaging weight of 20kg, so assuming the kit was going to be no more than 13-14kg. Clearly, if I were to go down this route, I would want kit that isn't going to fail, but at the same time a mesu mount would be a little beyond my (financial) means, and this strikes me as a "reasonable" compromise ... but then, I'm not in the position of tending such systems ...

Thanks.

[Datalord]

24 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Well done on the decision, Datalord! You'll find yourself unable to keep up with the processing... Now that's a nice problem to have.

Thank you. My last data in the UK was on February 9. I will welcome the change. I can even plan multiple nights on the same target.