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How I've dealt with the spaghetti mess of cabling
As previously promised, here are some images of my electronic junction box that sits beneath my tripod, and the data and power umbilical cables that run up each side of the mount.
I, like some of the great astro-imagers on the forum, must use a portable setup. This box contains a powered USB hub, USB-Serial converters and a 12V power supply. It receives all the data cables from the mount and distributes power to all of the equipment. I have managed to find at Jaycar 12V adapters for the USB hub and Laptop, so that I can run off 12V batteries if heading to remote sites (eg Leyburn). Usually, the 240V adapters for these devices run off a 240V powerboard that sits within the box. There is a junction box that all of the 12V cables plug into - this was done to allow one connection back to either a 12V power supply or deep cycle battery. The lid on the box can be closed when in operation so that dew is kept off the electronics.
The umbilical cables are wound in spiral wrap - the necessary connectors emerge from the spiral wrap at the appropriate points to plug into their devices, eg. mount computer, robofocus, cameras, dew heaters. The cables are attached to the tripod and mount with velcro strips - there is enough slack in the loops of the cables to swing the mount anywhere that one would reasonable want to image (>15-20 degrees above the horizon). Looking towards the pole, data runs on the right hand side of the mount and power runs on the left. I've put the ferrite RF chokes on all of the power cables from the outset - I'm not getting any interference, but haven't tried without them to see if it makes any difference.
The Robofocus controller and 12V distribution box are velcroed to the tripod to keep everything tidy.
There is one USB cable that runs from the box to the laptop which conveys all data to run imaging, guiding, mount & focusing. Thus far, it all seems to work happily together.
At the end of a session, the cables are rolled loosely up and stored in the box - there's plenty of room within the box to store extension leads, 12V adapters and miscellaneous bits. I estimate this saves 10-15mins in setup and pull down, versus individually rolling out and plugging in each cable.
Best of all, everything is together in one spot when it comes time to head off bush and do some imaging.
Cheers
DT
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