g__day
03-07-2015, 10:15 AM
Hi folks,
I am planning to add MaxDome II plus rotation to my 2.3metre Sirius Observatories set up in a few months. Its a dome plus mounting ring on a 2.5 * 2.6 metre astro lab set up.
I wonder if anyone who has done this before can offer suggestions (do's and don'ts). I have downloaded the install manual (dark picture of a guy in a dark shirt, in a not well lighted room, fitting a black track to the black inside of a dome - without a flash - not well thought out how to guide!)
Then there is the wiring to the Maxdome unit (not sure if the motor and electronics come in their own mounting box or if you have to buy a seperate box for the electronic controller. Then there is trying to understand how much room the motor unit takes up and given its attaching to either a mounting ring or the rectangular lab itself (not a round Sirius labs base) - where and how it can be positioned?
Then its run what cables to the unit - I presume a serial cable is required (and luckily I have a spare serial port with surge protector ready for it.
Then its work out what software to integrate the dome control to the scope's pointing position. Given I still use The Sky6 Professional Edition I was considering setting up the dome under MaximDL 4.x and connecting to the telescope via "A Sky 6 Controlled telescope" driver (which delays starting moving the dome until any goto issued by the Sky6 completes - but otherwise seems to work).
Then apart from sync'ing the scopes to the dome - I am sure there are other factors I haven't considered like adding an emergency sync button, or how to trouble shoot if the dome and scopes don't sync well etc...
So there is a fair bit to think through. I would really appreciate all insights folk can give me from their experiences!
Matthew
I am planning to add MaxDome II plus rotation to my 2.3metre Sirius Observatories set up in a few months. Its a dome plus mounting ring on a 2.5 * 2.6 metre astro lab set up.
I wonder if anyone who has done this before can offer suggestions (do's and don'ts). I have downloaded the install manual (dark picture of a guy in a dark shirt, in a not well lighted room, fitting a black track to the black inside of a dome - without a flash - not well thought out how to guide!)
Then there is the wiring to the Maxdome unit (not sure if the motor and electronics come in their own mounting box or if you have to buy a seperate box for the electronic controller. Then there is trying to understand how much room the motor unit takes up and given its attaching to either a mounting ring or the rectangular lab itself (not a round Sirius labs base) - where and how it can be positioned?
Then its run what cables to the unit - I presume a serial cable is required (and luckily I have a spare serial port with surge protector ready for it.
Then its work out what software to integrate the dome control to the scope's pointing position. Given I still use The Sky6 Professional Edition I was considering setting up the dome under MaximDL 4.x and connecting to the telescope via "A Sky 6 Controlled telescope" driver (which delays starting moving the dome until any goto issued by the Sky6 completes - but otherwise seems to work).
Then apart from sync'ing the scopes to the dome - I am sure there are other factors I haven't considered like adding an emergency sync button, or how to trouble shoot if the dome and scopes don't sync well etc...
So there is a fair bit to think through. I would really appreciate all insights folk can give me from their experiences!
Matthew