Cable management - help me with ideas - Please!!

[MarkInSpace]

I just had a bad night.
A 12 power cable snagged on something while the telescope was slewing, in turn it pulled very hard on my 4 way splitter which split!
12V + short circuit + too many amps then the splitter cable got super hot melted, I burnt my hand pulling the cables out.
Mount, camera, guider, focuser and powered USB are all OK, but I lost most of my power and USB cables - so now its time for a rethink.

I have 4 devices that require power:
HEQ5 mount, Cooled camera, focuser and powered USB

What do you all use? Any suggestions for an elegant and fairly foolproof setup?
Pictures especially welcome!!

[mswhin63]

Hi Mark,

My input, for my setup I feed all the cables into single loom starting from the furtherest away. I then place spiral wrap to contain the cabling s it meets other cables on the way down. The method mentioned below takes a path along with the protection of the spiral wrap to avoid snags.

When ever I reach a point were the scope rotates and the cable is temporaily attached where I picked a point that appears correct and test it by free rotating the mount to check the cable twist and path, at the same time selecting a better path as I go down.

My first iteration was to place 2 looms, one was from the camera (power and USB), which connects to the guide cam (USB only) then place it along side the next loom that was the Mount Power and EQMOD serial connection. The 2 looms then combine to a single loom that finally interfaces the computer.

The second iteration is now to completely separate the guide camera and add other cable looms that will be used for other items later down the track (focuser, dew heater ...). This iteration looked at any issue I found with the first iteration (only one where the loom was too tight, will use a large spiral wrap to allow freer movement of the cable). Also I am making multiple looms with temporary fixings so I pull each component off one at a time as I dismatle for travelling. As I live in a rental I can't permanently set up a mount so I decided to create separate looms for each item.

If I can set up a permanent pier I would retain exactly what I have into a single loom at the fixed part of my mount as this is the most reliable and easier to manage method.

I apologise that I do not have any close up photos as I set it up and pull it down to work on a better remote operation. When I put it back together I will take a photo. How long I am not sure.

Cheers

Malcolm

[DavidTrap]

I do much the same as Malcolm.

DT

[Astronut07]

Mark

If you’re in position to buy unit
Pegasus astro has Powerbox
I purchased this unit from cyclops optics
Has made cable management so simple

https://www.cyclopsoptics.com/computer-controller/pegasus-astro-pocket-powerbox-advance-ppba-free-international-shipping/
I only have one DC cable that comes up to Powerbox
All DC is supplied to camera, focuser, dew heaters, mini pc & also has usb3 hub

Attached is pic of rig

Unit is under the guidescope & in front of mini pc


Cheers
Ben

[Startrek]

From my experience looming or bundling cables from the scope / mount to tripod or ground affects your guiding performance, especially the thicker USB3 type cables
All the cables from the mount / scope I just Velcro tie or cable tie them off the centre of the dovetail bar and then support them at the spreader plate under the tripod or the tripod leg with a Velcro tie or cable tie but leave the multiple cables untied or unloomed with free supported cable loops to allow unrestricted movement of the scope and mount
I used to cable tie 2 bunches or looms with small cable ties every 100mm but it made the looms too stiff and caused my guiding to waiver in some cases quite severely.It’s amazing how cable tension , cable stiffness even the slightest can affect your guiding

Cheers

[Astro_Girl]

Hey Mark,

I have recently started using the ZWO Asiair Pro and am very impressed by it's functions and the cable management it provides.

The ZWO is a great asset as it has everything I need to get up and running in almost no time at all and keeps everything neat and tidy.

Cheers,
Cheryl.

[Saturn488]

As mentioned below the Pocket Power Box has helped immensly with cable management. Also the investment into an Intel NUC that is mounted on the tube as well.

I only have two cables coming from my telescope (Pocket Powerbox power cable and NUC cable).

[mswhin63]

This is very correct, although in my case I managed to avoid this by routing them so there is no flex throughout all travel. I only have 2 points of flex and each point is stabilised to prevent them from tugging leads connected to the equipment.

[mldee]

Just a not-so-short spiel on my present activities in setting up my obs GSO Newt to have no cables at all between the obs mount and the OTA, a GSO10" CF truss Newt with Losmandy Bar on top to mount the various bits.

A wifi-connected NUC and a Powerbox Advanced (A bit pricey but highly recommended) allow pretty well all functions to be controlled at the OTA. The only function that presently needs a cable from the OTA is the USB2 guide signal from the NUC, and I am planning on routing a short USB2 extension cable down the Ioptron cable management duct to connect to an Aliexpress USB/rs232 cable to the mount rs232 rj11 port to remove even that cable.

The USB2 ports on the CEM60 are pretty useless for me as they expect the PC to be external to the mount, so can't use them to send USB data from the OTA PC.

The DC input port on the mount works well in feeding the OTA Powerbox, which then does Dew, focus control and all DC feeds at the OTA. I'll probably post some pics once completed, but the bottom line is that the Ioptron cable management facilities are very handy.

As an ex-EQ6 Pro owner and present AzEq6 GT owner, I'm a little mystified why the Ioptron CEM's don't seem to get much coverage with IIS members. Might be the relatively sparse local representation, although my only tech support need was handled efficiently and well by the US Ioptron folks.