Observatory 2.0 smaller but better

[Bubbles82]

So if any of you have read my reintroduction I’m planning a new roll away obsy with the warm room and controls in the garage, it was also taking up far to much of the garden. My previous obsy was plagued by control and connection problems caused by WiFi,usb repeater leads, usb hubs and driver related problems with the old eq direct module. After hiring a skip 2 weeks ago the garage  and garden is nice and clear ready to put a dedicated station for the pc wiring and power all hard wired in. The old obsy has gone all that remains is the pier and mount. So here goes with some over the top wiring and connections to ensure I don’t have the previous problems again. First I’m running Ethernet cable connections to the garage from the house and I’m going for a full blown 24 port hard wired gigabit router switch with a separate small size pc attached to the pier with wired Ethernet sockets and connections so all connections are direct and usb cables from cameras and the mount etc are direct into the pc ports not via usb hubs. Armoured Ethernet cable and armoured 240 and 12 volt cable buried for power and control to the equipment at the pier end.The pc in the garage will control the pc on the pier via team viewer or with Remote Desktop. I will update this as I go for those interested to stop others making the frustrating mistakes I have .

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Hi, Firstly just to say thank you for taking the time to help others 

Secondly although I am a long way off a dedicated observatory I would be very interested in following your construction and especially the wiring of it. Any pics and diagrams would be very welcome as far as I am concerned.

 

Cheers, Steve

[MarsG76]

Thats the way to go... ditch WiFi... and go full shielded cabling... I always said that using wireless with sensitive control situations like astrophotography is asking for trouble and frustration.

 

[Bubbles82]

4 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Hi, Firstly just to say thank you for taking the time to help others 

Secondly although I am a long way off a dedicated observatory I would be very interested in following your construction and especially the wiring of it. Any pics and diagrams would be very welcome as far as I am concerned.

 

Cheers, Steve

I will definitely post some pics with explanations on what and why I’m doing things the way I do as I go. I have learnt a lot from my last build and since then have already seen where I’ve gone wrong. I have Already have been surprised that the materials to get Ethernet to the garage then the 24 port switch router and 2 Ethernet  sockets each end (pier and garage), all armoured Ethernet cable and patch leads was only £100. Some things should be arriving this week ???

[Bubbles82]

5 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

Thats the way to go... ditch WiFi... and go full shielded cabling... I always said that using wireless with sensitive control situations like astrophotography is asking for trouble and frustration.

 

Definitely,signal and usb repeaters is a minefield most of my trouble was with the mount controls and dropped connections.

[MarsG76]

10 minutes ago, Bubbles82 said:

signal and usb repeaters is a minefield most of my trouble was with the mount controls and dropped connections

Yup, and always happening at the worst time possible...

[Bubbles82]

So today a few bits have started to arrive and I’ll share a few pics and details. 

Today I got the armoured Ethernet cable, patch leads,and rackmount Ethernet switch. The new pier pc has arrived as well and I am very happy with it see attached pic with dvd case for size comparison. Switched it on set up and from the specs will have without a doubt more than enough processing power to do what I need. I have enclosed a pic of the armoured cat6 ethernet cable to show the diameter with calipers for those who might be interested or if you have existing conduit that you might want to put this through.

Bigest bonus from today has been that the pier pc is a slightly higher spec than I though, this is mostly down to the fact that as there’s will be no monitor plugged into it I didn’t really concern myself with the connections display wise and it turns out this can run two maybe 3 monitors. This means I am going to scrap my basic pc I intended to use in the garage and buy another of these to use as the control pc in the garage warm room. Thats about it for today while my wallet recovers I’ll be doing some more measurements outside and planning to make sure I have worked everything out right. As promised I will update as things arrive and post as many useful pics as possible but I’m not going to rush this time so feel free to as questions or coment if you see me about to anything I’ve missed?

Armoured Ethernet cable,Ethernet switch and pier mounted pc ???

[Bubbles82]

Received the second small pc last Friday and over the weekend I’ve managed to get Remote Desktop working between the two new pc’s downloaded the software I’m going to need all ready to go. I have a week off next week so will start the cable runs to the pier from the garage and will post some progress pics for those interested.?

[Bubbles82]

Long long overdue update on this project, I have finally had the time and funds to buy everything I need to finish this. I’ve ordered another monitor so I can have a 2/3 screen setup at the control desk in the garage. I have some photos I will share  in the next few days not because I think I’ve done anything special but hopefully they might help others in there quest for an obsy at home with limited garden space?

[JamesF]

Blimey, that's a bit of a break between posts

Look forward to seeing the photos.

James

[Bubbles82]

He we are as I promised some progress pics of the control area and connections at the pier. The pier connections have all been made to cope with and damp/ dew like conditions they might come up against. If anyone would like to know how the external internet sockets were made I’m happy to write up an explanation. On the control side the top section will hold my 12 v bench supply, internet rack switch and the control pc. The bottom section will hold the 3 screens to keep an eye on everything. The whole thing is hard wired meaning the control pc and pier pc are connected to the network reliably. The big advantage of this for me is buy having a pc at the pier everything is plugged directly into the USB ports of the computer eliminating the previous usb hub and cable problems.