Keeping those cables tidy

[AstroJunk]

I picked up a couple of dew heaters from ProAstroz. These came with a built in controller which is very handy but required a bit of snipping and re-soldering to work with my current configuration. I think it's turned out well and using the ASI Air pro, the overall solution is pretty neat from a cabling perspective. I could reduce it by powering the mount from the ASI Air, but I think I might keep things independent.

The last piece of the puzzle is an EAF...

I have yet to take the rig outside :lol:

[AdamJL]

Good stuff. I've been thinking about getting custom cables made to tidy up my rig. There's definitely something to be said for a clean setup!

[AstroJunk]

It's going to be my travel scope and I plan to keep the OTA set up and boxed as is. I figure that the tidier it is, the less that can get mangled during transport!

[JimsShed]

I turned all my existing cables into curly cables. So much tidier and easier to live with. Nothing flops around any more and the cables move with the slewing and focuser.
I used the method shown by this guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_51q2zR35TE&t=1s

[AstroJunk]

Oooh, that turned out very well - awesome job :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RyanJones]

Totally agree Jonathan, there’s nothing like tidy cables.

All the power cables I made to suit and I bought the USBs.

Cheers

Ryan

[SB]

Hi All,
Thanks for this thread.
Anyone know where I can order short USB cables?

Thanks

Chris

[AdamJL]

Hi Chris

https://www.l-com.com/
^ they're a US site but can do shorter cables.
https://www.lindy.com.au/cables-adapters/usb/
^ Aussie site and they do 0.5m cables of various connections

Or if you're feeling game, you can make them yourself ;)

[muletopia]

Cable Chick, Brisbane, sells USB cables down to 25 CM.
I have found them quick and efficient to deal with.


Chris

[AstroJunk]

And a fine job you did too! Sweet :thumbsup:

[AstroJunk]

I've seen the parts for USB2 on ebay, but not USB3 which seems a little more complex!

[xelasnave]

I dont believe neat cables exist in reality it is all trick photography;)

I try ..how I try...and at some point I hold the unreasonable hope that I can offer such trick photography showing neatness.

Something I have always found handy is having blue tack on hand...you can work out points that can become less temporary and do fine adjustment without loosing precious imaging time...
Alex

[gb44]

Thanks Jim for the youtube tip /how to for the method, maybe there is hope for my setup. Maybe a before and after pic?

GlennB

[Saturn488]

The spiral cable cord you can buy is your best friend, makes the setup look a lot neater.

[AdamJL]

This looks great, by the way. I love your setup!

[JimsShed]

The before is whatever the cables look like out of the box. The after is as per my earlier picture.
I initially practiced on some spare cables then realised I could make all of my cables curly so with a piece of 8mm dowel, one of those cheap paint stripper heat guns, and a packet of zip ties I just kept on going.
In the end I curled those flat USB cables that come with ZWO devices, my dew heater cables, the power cables that came with my Pegasus powerbox, etc.
The great thing is I haven't had to shorten any of my cables at all. The very important trick is to do the final reverse wind step in the guy's video. This makes the curl much more permanent and stable.

Jim

PS: For the initial winding, I use a zip tie to anchor one end of the cable to the dowel while I do the winding, then another tie to hold the last end on the dowel while I do the heating. When the cable has cooled I then snip off the ties and then do the reverse wind.

[gb44]

Jim
For how long do you heat gun treat a cable?
I tried the hair blower...not so good.

GlennB

[JimsShed]

I use a paint stripper heat gun about 10cm distance and keep it moving along and around the cable. I stop when the cable feels very hot to the touch, but obviously not burning my skin.
A telltale that you may be overheating is if the outer shield on the cable goes from dull to shiny.
Make sure you let the cable cool to near ambient or less before cutting the zip ties and removing from the dowel. I'm impatient so I put it in the freezer for a few minutes.

My heat gun is like this:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/xu1-2000w-heat-gun_p6290580

[AdamJL]

Nice, a new reason to buy more power tools :)

[mswhin63]

Just tried the curling wire on my gear, very nice. Thanks for suggesting.

[AstroJunk]

My EAF and WiFi extender arrived which leaves only one port left for an EFW should I ever new one!

There is one power, one USB and one ST4 that need to be attached to the mount, otherwise the OTA can be carried fully assembled and with no leads dragging about :)

Now to actually use the thing :rofl:

[AdamJL]

That looks great, Jonathan. What dew heaters are they?

edit: are is that the stock ring setup for the Esprit line? They look different.

[AstroJunk]

The straps are from ProAstroz, but cut down and re-wired to keep them ultra short and they have a built in rheostat temp control that works just fine (If you get the direction of flow right!). The rings are the same but the bar is different, I use an AZ-EQ5 mount that has a vixen plate, so I modified a vixen bar to suit and added a grab handle from Bunnings which works very well.