Observatory Data Wires

[uptmor]

Hello All..

I am in the process of planning the wiring needed to go from my workshop to my telescope pier. I would like to be able to control about everything from my workshop if possible via the laptop. The distance will be a little less than 100'.

I already plan on running a conduit specifically for power (20A line, #8) and a seperate conduit for data transfer.

Question... what data wires do you see that I need? I have a 12" LX200 Classic, an Orion ST90 w/ autoguider CCD, microfocuser, and a Canon 40D DSLR. I may want room for another camera control (SBIG?) in the future, but the conduit should allow for that later run.

Any recommendation would be appreciated.

Thank you, Ryan:headbang:

[arad85]

Will there be a PC by the pier? The cameras need USB and you won't be able to run that over 5m without powered repeaters.

[uptmor]

I was not planning on it, and would prefer not to have a PC by the pier. Could I do some sort of wire conversion to the usb and run a longer length wire?

[FraserClarke]

You could try some kind of USB extender, e.g.;

USB CAT5 Booster : USB over Network : Maplin

No idea how good it may be.

Or you could put a USB->ethernet terminal server in the dome, and run a network cable into the house/anywhere-in-the-world...

[uptmor]

It looks like this would be a good option for the usb issue:

Newegg.com - KEYSPAN US-4A USB Server - Hubs

Now how about the other items?

[NickH]

stick an SSD netbook in the observatory, and RDP in to that...works really well and then requires only a couple of wires coming out. £99 for the netbook - Job done... plus you have a backup PC for imaging etc, and one that can run a security webcam server system too!

[SteveL]

You could try some kind of USB extender, e.g.;

USB CAT5 Booster : USB over Network : Maplin

No idea how good it may be.

WARNING: That Maplins extender is not USB 2.0!!