Cable management

[StuartT]

I am rapidly beginning to realise that astrophotography is a kind of cable hell..

USB connections to camera and mount. Power connections to camera, mount, dew heaters... (and all needing different voltages, annoyingly)

On question about USB connections... (don't laugh) I currently have two loooooong USB cables running from my laptop to my setup (to the camera and mount). But can I just use one looooong cable and them have a junction at the far end?

Is there some wizard level guide somewhere about all this cable nonsense? How do you prevent stuff tangling up and wrapping as dear old Mother Earth rotates inexorably on her axis?

Thanks 

[barbulo]

You can experience loss of data with long USB cables. If you decide to use a USB hub, very convenient, you should look for a powered one. But in that case you’d add an extra cable for the power. IMO, Powered USB hubs make sense for 3 or more connections.
You’re right: AP is a cable madness. 

[powerlord]

USB hub?

And just tether enough slack onto the mount so camera can twirl round and not cause problems.

 

[powerlord]

You don't need a powered one for camera and mount. Both will be using minimal amps. USB powered cameras, eaf etc yes.

But as you say its just management.  Get some velcro straps. Tape it up where u want it to go.  Test it in daylight. Simples.

[M40]

You can always use something like spiral band (have a google to see what I mean). It basically wraps around the cables to stop them going everywhere. Alternatively, as powerlord said, usb hub, but personally I would use a powered device if you are looking 10M plus. If you need to buy a hub, stop and look for usb over ethernet. The range goes from about 10M with a powered hub to about 40-50M and get a cat6 cable from amazon or such like. I have a startech device and it works.

[Clarkey]

I only have 2 cables going to my scopes - one for data, one for power (12v). I have a USB3 active cable for data that connects to a 12v powered USB hub. The power cable goes to a home made 'power box' which is a bit like the Pegasus one. It has 4 12v outputs, 4 usb power outputs and 2 dew heater outputs and was made from a small electrical junction box. Probably costs about £60 all in.

The other scope has a powered hub with 4x data and 3x high output (charging) USB's which I use to power the dew heaters. Also a 4x 12v homemade power box. Both systems have been faultless (so far🤞)

Apologies for the onlooking child - he photo bombed....

[The Lazy Astronomer]

1 hour ago, StuartT said:

I am rapidly beginning to realise that astrophotography is a kind of cable hell..

USB connections to camera and mount. Power connections to camera, mount, dew heaters... (and all needing different voltages, annoyingly)

On question about USB connections... (don't laugh) I currently have two loooooong USB cables running from my laptop to my setup (to the camera and mount). But can I just use one looooong cable and them have a junction at the far end?

Is there some wizard level guide somewhere about all this cable nonsense? How do you prevent stuff tangling up and wrapping as dear old Mother Earth rotates inexorably on her axis?

Thanks 

I've just added an eaf and a dew heater to my setup, so am currently going through the same cable mess.

Fortunately my main imaging camera has its own usb hub which powers and controls the eaf and a filter wheel, but I've had to order a seperate usb hub as well. Hoping I'll be able to get away with a bus powered one, but I will find out when it arrives tomorrow.

I think the best way to deal with it is to try and strap as much of the cabling as possible onto the scope so there is the minimum possible loose cabling connecting to power/pc (and make sure there's plenty of slack!)

[nephilim]

This is a bit of a coincidence. Over the last 9 months I've been saving (and spending), slowly building up my AP rig & I now have all the shiny pieces I need. The photo below shows how nice, neat & tidy it all looks right now. Stay tuned over this evening as that's all about to be ruined as I try to add all the cables 😒

Luckily, I'm using the ASiair Pro to control everything so most of my cables, 12v, USB 3 & USB 2, will be going to & from that. The ASiair has 2x USB 3, 2x USB 2 & 4x 12v outputs/ inputs which (in theory) should power the mount, cooling component of my CMOS camera & dew heater. The reality is that all 3 will probably be too much of a power draw so I'll only be using it to power the camera fan & dew heater, the mount will have power from the same main source (The Celestron LiFePO4 power bank) but will be going into the power bank directly via a 12v cable rather than through the ASiair. 

Most of the cables which came with my gear are ridiculously long for no reason whatsoever although thankfully the ASiair & ZWO 533MC-Pro camera come with a selection of cables of differing lengths 

I'll post a couple of photos on this thread during the evening for everyone to have a laugh at & to probably show just how 'not' to do it. Here's the first couple of photos of how it looks atm, all nice and neat. 

[tomato]

This is my personal view but I don’t get too hung up (pun intended) on cable management. Provided they don’t get snagged when doing a meridian flip or slewing (and you can test this easily enough in the daylight) then I take the view the incoming photons don’t care if your cables are minimalist and tidy. 
Also I change my setup significantly on a regular basis, so if my cables were all of the precise length, I would need at least 3 sets.

But then I can appreciate that 3 tons of spaghetti hanging off your rig is not to everybody’s taste…

[Budgie1]

I've gone the route of the Pegasus Pocket Power Box Advance, which is velcroed to the mount. It powers the mount, ASI294MC camera and two dew heaters. It also has a built-in USB3 hub for everything to connect into  and only needs a power cable an active USB3 extension from the house to the mount.

To keep the cables "managed" on the mount and scope (I wouldn't say it's tidy ) I got some adhesive velcro cable ties, which means I can easily setup and break down each evening, leaving all the cables attached to the mount. 

[BCN_Sean]

I understand your level of frustration, I'm in that hole as well.  I use the spiral wrap to group cables with mine, with two for power and one for data coming off the mount, yet the biggest issue I've got is finding sufficiently short good quality cables to connect everything.  I keep trying to convince myself that it's a work in progress, it is really as it's going to get dew heaters in the tangle in the non-too-distant future; and then the circle will repeat as I don't think I'll be done there.

[JamesF]

4 hours ago, M40 said:

You can always use something like spiral band

There are some that genuinely are spirals, which work fine but can be a pain if you need to add or remove cables.  There's also a variety that is more like those plastic document binders with "fingers" that you can get, so whilst the cables are completely enclosed they can be pulled straight out.  That always seemed like a good idea to me, but I can never remember what they're called, if indeed they have a particular name.

James

[Budgie1]

9 hours ago, JamesF said:

There are some that genuinely are spirals, which work fine but can be a pain if you need to add or remove cables.  There's also a variety that is more like those plastic document binders with "fingers" that you can get, so whilst the cables are completely enclosed they can be pulled straight out.  That always seemed like a good idea to me, but I can never remember what they're called, if indeed they have a particular name.

James

I know the ones you mean, I use one for my main PC, and they seem to have various names.

Cable Management Sleeve, Cable Tidy Sleeve and Cable Tidy Tube, but they're all the same thing and came with a handy applicator. The only thing to watch is the diameter of the sleeve/tube with the number of cables they will be holding as they can be quite loose and cause more of a problem then they solve if they start sliding up & down the cables.

[StuartT]

22 hours ago, Clarkey said:

I only have 2 cables going to my scopes - one for data, one for power (12v). I have a USB3 active cable for data that connects to a 12v powered USB hub. The power cable goes to a home made 'power box' which is a bit like the Pegasus one. It has 4 12v outputs, 4 usb power outputs and 2 dew heater outputs and was made from a small electrical junction box. Probably costs about £60 all in.

The other scope has a powered hub with 4x data and 3x high output (charging) USB's which I use to power the dew heaters. Also a 4x 12v homemade power box. Both systems have been faultless (so far🤞)

Apologies for the onlooking child - he photo bombed....

 

 

 

19 hours ago, tomato said:

This is my personal view but I don’t get too hung up (pun intended) on cable management. Provided they don’t get snagged when doing a meridian flip or slewing (and you can test this easily enough in the daylight) then I take the view the incoming photons don’t care if your cables are minimalist and tidy. 
Also I change my setup significantly on a regular basis, so if my cables were all of the precise length, I would need at least 3 sets.

But then I can appreciate that 3 tons of spaghetti hanging off your rig is not to everybody’s taste…

 

Ha! Excellent. Dib dib dib!

You have TWO Esprit 150s? Stereoscopic imaging of stars...?

(sorry for my comments not being in line with the quotes, but the multi-quote function on SGL is a nightmare - can't move quotes about)

Edited July 6, 2021 by StuartT

[tomato]

There is a view that I’m barmy to have invested in a dual rig of that scale in the cloudy UK, but I took the view that when it is clear I have a fighting chance of completing a full colour image before the clouds roll back in.

[Clarkey]

20 minutes ago, tomato said:

There is a view that I’m barmy to have invested in a dual rig of that scale in the cloudy UK, but I took the view that when it is clear I have a fighting chance of completing a full colour image before the clouds roll back in.

I'd like permission to buy one Esprit 150, let alone 2🤣 I'll have to make do with mirrors for now.😃

[tomato]

Quote

 

Just to clarify, I don’t own both 150s,  my brother shares my enthusiasm for AP, he purchased one, I was fortunate to pick the second one up in the SGL classifieds.

[StuartT]

1 hour ago, tomato said:

There is a view that I’m barmy to have invested in a dual rig of that scale in the cloudy UK, but I took the view that when it is clear I have a fighting chance of completing a full colour image before the clouds roll back in.

Haha! Not barmy... jammy!

1 hour ago, Clarkey said:

I'd like permission to buy one Esprit 150, let alone 2🤣 I'll have to make do with mirrors for now.😃

haha!

24 minutes ago, tomato said:

Just to clarify, I don’t own both 150s,  my brother shares my enthusiasm for AP, he purchased one, I was fortunate to pick the second one up in the SGL classifieds.

At least, this is the story he told his wife...

 

EDIT: tomato and tomatobro - cute 😊

Edited July 6, 2021 by StuartT

[tomato]

14 minutes ago, StuartT said:

Haha! Not barmy... jammy!

haha!

At least, this is the story he told his wife...

 

EDIT: tomato and tomatobro - cute 😊

The other 3 scopes I have did need to be approved by the FD. Top tip: always emphasise the resale value.😊

[rickwayne]

The lush options are:

1. ASIAir Pro
2. Pegasus PowerBox
3. Mount with built-in cable management (i.e. iOptron CEM70)

The less-spendy options are:

1. On-scope computer (e.g. Raspberry Pi)
2. Powered USB hub mounted to scope
3. Spiral wrap, split flexible conduit, etc.
4. Mega-twist ties to gather and subdue the cables

Contrary data point to tomato, it is not necessary for a cable to snag in order to produce deleterious effects. I've got the guiding data to prove it, at least for my overloaded CEM-25P mount. When I let the USB and cooler-power cables hang off the camera on the end of the scope, my guiding was always frustrating.  When I used a foot-long, rubber-coated wire tie to bind the cables to the scope or dovetail in line with the DEC axis, and then (with a measured amount of slack) to the mount or tripod, things got measurably better.

One of the reasons I bought a CEM70 was to wave buh-bye to those rituals. Of course now I've added an autofocuser that uses a bespoke cable, not USB, so I still have dangly ganglia. Well, I'll run that cable up through the DEC axis any day now, the mount is built so you can do that.