[jamespierce (James)]

Flat Fields

Lots of remote observers run with sky flats but with a range of filters and PA angles it's not really practical for me to get enough in with the short time window available each day. I mounted a spike-a-flat panel to the dome wall in a position where I can slew the scope and make sure it's in a consistent position. I use the lighting circuit from the dome to turn it on and off remotely from the script.

Humidity Control

Initially I didn't worry about this too much, but through the colder months the combination of humidity and temperature means that the inside of the dome (telescope, computer hardware etc) can end up dripping wet by the end of an observing run. The guys at Damp Solutions were really helpful in setting me up with a suitable model which turns on automatically on power up, with enough capacity to handle the dome etc - it's combined with a small heater because standard home type dehumidifiers really don't work below about 7 or 8 degrees C.

When ACP shuts the observatory down and powers everything off it checks the internal humidity from the dome's sensor via ASCOM, if it's too high it turns on the dehumidifier via the power switch and then checks every 5min to see if it's dropped below a set point. Normally it takes about 45-60min to bring it down to 65% humidity and everything is bone dry. If it's really cold and wet it can take 2-3 hours.

Remote Camera

Another nice to have which I only added fairly recently is a remote camera. I went with a Nest Outdoor camera on the inside of the dome. It has IR LEDs which can be turned on and off through the web interface. It can be embedded into the ACP web interface easily. Being able to double check the position of the telescope, cables and the dome is quite useful if something strange is happening. Mostly it's simple peace of mind, plus it's still fun to watch the scope slew around after all these years.

Local Support

I'm very lucky that my folks live on the property and while I very rarely need hands on support these days, in the early days were were lots of things that needed checking or tweaking. Like the remote camera it's peace of mind to know there is always someone around should something really go wrong, like the dome won't close and there is rain on the way.

If I did it again I wouldn’t change a thing.