Muston Observatory - almost complete

[stevebb]

Almost there now with the Muston Observatory (MOBS), the whole assembly is now perfectly balanced and remaining jobs will be lining up all 3 scopes perfectly with each other both in pointing and orientation. Once that is achieved, the auto-plate solving provided by the StarAid "should" negate the need for a further "goto adjustment".

Remaining job will be the cable tidy and perhaps another go at trying to fully waterproof the Sky ShedPod at the hinges (a known and very frustrating problem).

At some stage I might be looking at a solution for sliding the dome top out of the way. Even though I purposely installed the pier "off centre", I still have zenith blockage on the Veil nebula which is frustrating.

With a bit of luck I shall finally be doing some "Live-Streaming" for STEM and other outreach events this winter.

The MOBS is now fully remoted back to the house and can be controlled directly either from inside the Observatory or back in the house where it is warm.

The new MESH network (Asus ZenWiFi XT8) has seen a massive speed increase from the previous Netgear Orbi MESH which not only provides a more stable connection but faster transfer of files - and the ability to live-stream video from either of the DSLR cameras.

It has taken a while to get to this point just a blummin shame that Covid has spoiled things (for everyone) or I would be conducting Outreach from home for the local area.

Steve

[Alan White]

Looks good,
what do you think of your Pod?

[stevebb]

Hi Alan,
In the main, I absolutely love it though I do have a problem with water getting in at the hinges as quite a few people in this group also experience. I do know Carole has made a cover to go over the top which negates this problem - Wayne (Mister SkyShed Pod) from across the pond sells them but they are over $400 + shipping/customs etc. In fact, I had a good email exchange with Wayne last night and he shared a video build link that he had put together and it shows the application of the foam around the hinges a lot more clearly.

Literally, one hour ago I have redone the foam (neoprene with sticky back 1" in width) and now awaiting an Amazon delivery with some fast setting silicone sealant to hopefully better seal this "trouble spot".

Wayne did actually say in the video that this foam will need replacing now and then - I did purchase the pod 2nd hand so I guess that is fair comment.

As it is, I do have two buckets catching the rain as it comes in - a half day of rain will catch about a cup full each side - well away from electrics and equipment but I could do with stopping it completely or I will have problems with mildew and humidity.

Question is, would I buy another if i was setting up from scratch again and the answer is more than likely. Zenith blockage is all that stands between the "more than likely" and the "absolutely" - even with an offset mount !

Steve