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Saturday and very wet. So I decided to tidy the observatory floor. Which had accumulated stuff, tools and junk from ongoing mods to the dome drive system.
Half way through I made the Declination drive cable as near to "through the mounting" as was possible with least effort. The AWR drive system uses large, multi-pin connecting plugs. So I needed holes large enough to allow the plugs to slip through easily. That meant drilling a couple of 35mm holes in the plywood of the plinth cladding at observatory level.
In the absence of a suitable clip being handy I hung the Dec cable from a zip tie as close as possible to the PA. Then passed the Dec cable down though the large [access] hand hole in the support fork covering plate. Then hid the bulk of the spare cable length inside the plinth. The mounting can now be swung through 180° around the Polar Axis without any undesirable tension being placed on the Declination drive cable. I'll take a picture in daylight if it ever stops raining.
"Proper" equatorial mountings have hollow PAs. To allow multiple cables to pass through with minimum radius or twist. I had no access to large diameter stainless steel tube. Not could I probably afford the huge bearings required to support them. I bought my 50mm bore, flanged, self-aligning bearings as a special offer. For less than you can pay for silly little, mass produced, skateboard bearings. Modern mountings have to cope with far more cables than those of the past. Where only a single synchronous motor drive to the PA was likely.
"Proper" equatorial mountings have hollow PAs. To allow multiple cables to pass through with minimum radius or twist. I had no access to large diameter stainless steel tube. Not could I probably afford the huge bearings required to support them. I bought my 50mm bore, flanged, self-aligning bearings as a special offer. For less than you can pay for silly little, mass produced, skateboard bearings. Modern mountings have to cope with far more cables than those of the past. Where only a single synchronous motor drive to the PA was likely.
I filed a slot in my AWR IH2 support stand. Which I had made of plywood to tilt up the drive control paddle at a more comfortable angle. Making it easy to use while still lying on the desk in front of the computer monitor. When lying either flat, or vertical, I found it extremely awkward to input the coordinates of the parking position via at least a dozen button presses. As is required every single time I switch on the AWR-ASCOM drive system. I'll count the total number of button presses one day. Only if I remember, when I am really bored with watching clouds.
The paddle cables can now exit smoothly down through holes drilled in the desk top without risk of damage. The IH2 paddle is safely trapped between the base of the monitor and the wireless computer keyboard. Without touching either. I don't want to short circuit the mechanical isolation of the pier. Upon which the 25" computer monitor is hung by a secure plate.
The bare, birch plywood desk top now needs painting or covering somehow. It is slowly staining with black mould. No use using the matt black, blackboard paint. Because it is not resistant to mould. The observatory walls, which I had carefully painted matt black, are steadily going white and cloudy with mould! Probably because the paint, intended for children's indoor use, lacks a suitably toxic fungicide.
After a whole day of steady rain it cleared in the early evening to reveal a low, crescent moon. I went back out to image it but was repeatedly thwarted by AWR-ASCOM error notices. The videos I managed to capture failed to provide anything worthwhile. It was easily the worst "seeing" or lack of it, I have ever witnessed. I'll try again in the morning to discover which of the assorted programs ASCOM disliked so much. I was running C-Du-C, SharpCap, HitechAstro focuser and PHD2 simultaneously.
The paddle cables can now exit smoothly down through holes drilled in the desk top without risk of damage. The IH2 paddle is safely trapped between the base of the monitor and the wireless computer keyboard. Without touching either. I don't want to short circuit the mechanical isolation of the pier. Upon which the 25" computer monitor is hung by a secure plate.
The bare, birch plywood desk top now needs painting or covering somehow. It is slowly staining with black mould. No use using the matt black, blackboard paint. Because it is not resistant to mould. The observatory walls, which I had carefully painted matt black, are steadily going white and cloudy with mould! Probably because the paint, intended for children's indoor use, lacks a suitably toxic fungicide.
After a whole day of steady rain it cleared in the early evening to reveal a low, crescent moon. I went back out to image it but was repeatedly thwarted by AWR-ASCOM error notices. The videos I managed to capture failed to provide anything worthwhile. It was easily the worst "seeing" or lack of it, I have ever witnessed. I'll try again in the morning to discover which of the assorted programs ASCOM disliked so much. I was running C-Du-C, SharpCap, HitechAstro focuser and PHD2 simultaneously.
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