Remote musings

[Datalord]

I figured I might want to share my progress towards making a remote setup. I ordered a pier in eEye in Spain, which should be ready by October. And I have a 12" RC coming for me in September. In the meantime, I can practice having a remote setup.

Now, first things first, a remoting computer. I bought an Asus VivoMini (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072KCNFT5/ref=psdc_949408031_t4_B00R47YNK0), 16 GB Ram, 256GB SSD and a 1TB HDD for it. Installed the software, placed it with the scope, hooked everything up and boy is it glorious. I use TeamViewer to control it, including Wake-on-LAN, so I can start it up from inside the house. When I focus, I bring out a laptop, log in and happy days. Btw, to have a solid connection from within the house, I bought these LAN through the power cables (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01BECPIMC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Works a treat.

My second thought was that I have to get a new mount. It seemed likethe CGX wouldn't be "professional" enough, but it has a very efficient homing functionality and since I installed the Celestron PlaneWaveInstruments app for it, I have just homed it, loaded the plate and have had spot on go-to since the first bootup. I power cycle completely between starts, so happy day there. If I would consider any other mount for this adventure, it would be the CGX-L, but I hope the CGX will cope.

What I haven't solved yet is focusing. I bought a focusing kit from pegasus, but mounting that on the RASA is not trivial. So I still have to focus by hand, but I have the Pegasus mounted on my WO, so I'll spend some night trying to get that hooked up during summer. I don't see that as a big issue. The bigger issue I have with the RASA is that without a bathinov mask, it is very, very difficult to attain focus and I'm not sure how I would remote control a mask top of the scope. Luckily the RC is a very different beast with a more forgiving speed, so I hope normal focusing can handle that.

Finally I'm pretty set on buying a 16200 based camera. Either Atik or Moravian, leaning slightly towards the G3-16200 with OAG and 7 filters. Another project to put in the pipe, but I suspect that will be simple to get working.

I'll update this thread as I progress.

[MarsG76]

Very very nice.. sounds like some tasty equipment.

 

[Jessun]

I agree, what a kit!

Good luck with the build! Got the Atik 16200 with EFW3. As you say, that's probably the easy bit to get running.

Looking forward to the updates!

/Jesper

[Datalord]

A wee bit of kit arrived and got tested. I bought the Pegasus Astro Ultimate Power Box and what a nifty little thing that is. Complete control over all the power consumption on the system from the computer.

It did have a disconnect from the computer yesterday, where I simply couldn't connect and control it while the rig was operating, but the good news is that the box continued to supply power at the settings I gave it. I suspect it has more to do with Windows getting confused at a USB disconnect more than anything else.

Also, the G3-16200 (with a fortune of filters!) is going to arrive from Ian King sometime next week. Got a good deal on a class 1 sensor, so that will be fun to see in action. I don't feel too bad about all the clouds I'm bringing, the astrodark is all but gone this time of year... :-)