Pulsar Observatory

[PAUL JAMES]

Hello everyone - new member here.

Bit of background. I have a Celestron Evolution 9.25"  SCT which I have not used much at all as I developed bad arthritis in my right thumb joint which took all my strength away on that side.  Lifting and setting up my scope on the supplied tripod quickly became an impossibility. On one memorable occasion I nearly dropped it! So I have recently had a Pulsar Observatory erected in order to permanently mount the scope so that I can actually use it! I must say that Steve and Gary of Pulsar have done an extraordinary job for me. Anyway I have really enjoyed myself waterproofing and setting up my observatory including learning new building skills. I had the observatory professionally wired up and certified by a most knowledgeable electrician.  Power is supplied by a 4mm armoured cable from it's own consumer unit and this runs in parallel with two Cat 6 data cables from my hoped for warm control room 15m away.  Both ends of the data  cables are terminated in Ethernet sockets. I have 8 double power sockets installed in the dome - 4 on the pier and 4 on the wall.

Although I am computer literate (at least on my Mac) my weak point is networking.  My electrician said that I could treat the data cables as extensions from the dome when I wanted to use the control room.  I have tested the connections to my Windows pc from the mount etc inside the dome - no problem. I am having difficulty in getting the remote connection to work on my single pc when I site it in the control room however. Showing my ignorance here - do I need two pcs - ie one in the dome and a remote one in the control room?  Any advice or information would be gratefully received. I m,usr admit I do not like Windows one little bit!

Apologies for my verbosity! 

[fifeskies]

I use win10 pro and "remote desktop" to run my dome.

There is a PC inside the dome connected up to all the various bits via USB.

From there a single Cat6 cable travels the 25m to the desk beside my cosy woodstove where I have my other PC set up.

Never had any problems logging onto the dome and watching the magic happen.

 

 

[tomato]

HI, if you are going to run the scopes in your dome from a warm room 15m away, you can do this with a powered USB hub and cable. If you want to use an Ethernet connection, I’m presuming you will need to connect the astro kit to a pc in the dome and then connect this to your PC in the warm room. However, a lot of folks now connect wirelessly through Remote Desktop or something similar or use a dedicated astro kit controller such as ASIair. 

[doublevodka]

If you're not a fan of windows then I'd definitely suggest looking into something like the ASIair Plus - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-asiair-plus-wireless-astrophotography-controller.htm - but maybe speak to FLO first to check compatibility.

There are other options out there, but as I understand it the ASIair is a bit of a swiss army knife when it comes to controlling compatible astro kit, no windows to deal with either  

https://astrobackyard.com/zwo-asiair-plus/

 

[Paul M]

If you have a Windows machine in the dome to run the equipment you can control that remotely via Ethernet using any device that will run VNC. 

This is how I operate remotely.  I a mini PC at the mount, controlled by either an old iPad while I'm out with the scope setting up or with my W11 PC from the lounge.

Both can be logged in at the same time even. I've even used an ancient laptop running Ubuntu to control it.

So only 1 dedicated PC required. I'm assuming VNC is available for Mac's?

[scotty38]

I've just installed a Pulsar dome too. I'd highly recommend a pc in the dome running NINA and a PC in your warm room running whichever remote client you fancy. I use windows RDP and have never had an issue.

I also installed ethernet too so the dome sits on my network too so no issues with tyhe remote connectivity. There is a wireless AP in there for the camera though.

Edited October 19, 2022 by scotty38

[PAUL JAMES]

Thank you everyone for your informative replies.  I will have a good think about the best way for me to proceed. Probably being naive but I thought that I could connect everything in the dome ie the Pulsar rotation drive, CGX mount, focuser, ZWO camera together into a powered USB hub then via the ethernet CAT 6 cable to the remote PC in the warm room ie just use the Cat 6 cable as a literal extension to my current single pc.

I think I like the sound of the ASlair Plus but need to find out it's exact functions and requirements before deciding. Don't fancy a 2nd Windows PC that's for sure.

Edited October 19, 2022 by PAUL JAMES