I finally got her set up in her temporary test facility..Mums place
All balanced and ready to go, in these pictures she is well balanced across about 90% of the sky, I need some more weights though (note the ankle weights strapped to the counterweight )
I have created another album and I will place photos of my testing sessions and the resulting test images here...she certainly looks good..?..
Oooooo, that was close! I was about to give you stick for not reporting progress in a timely manner!
Looking good there mate ... but watch out, you may have a few showers heading your way tonight. I went outside a half hour ago and saw stars AND felt rain at the same time!!! Hey, forget the new weights and get yourself a pink mount .
you were game setting it up in the weather we are having Mr Sidonio. I wish you luck for future testing
Oh yeah, I had one eye on the sky the whole time, I was only interested in getting her setup and balanced, just wanted a feel for her in her new (temporary) home to leave more time when I finally do get to sit at the laptop
The trials and tribulations of the portable astro-imager. After a successful test night on Saturday, I spent Sunday morning sorting out the wiring loom for my rig. I have bundled up all the data cables on one side of the mount and the power cables on the other side. The data cables run down to a box under the mount where I have a powered hub. Then there is just one USB cable back to my laptop. The wiring looms roll up inside the box, meaning that they just pull up and attach to the side of the scope and everything comes off at the right point to plug into the scope controller, robofocus, camera, autoguider, focus motor, etc. Hopefully will save me 10+mins with cabling during setup & tear-down.
In the attached image, the power is on the left, data on the right. Haven't seen any interference from bundling yet.
looking good mike...a wonderful setup.. i nearly dropped the laptop when i seen you with the leg warmers..your mum's back yard looks like there's plenty of room for a dome
Yes I am getting a little edgy and impatient, but the weather has been so fickle I have been reluctant to have everything out..you know, new scope, can't get wet or dusty, kid gloves etc
Dave that looks very ergonomic, nice, will have to think about some of those ideas myself
Pete, yes my mums backyard would be perfect for an observatory but apart from maybe narrowband work a 12" F3.8 astrograph would be utterly wasted under the strong light pollution...I tried to get mum to move out to dark skies ...but she wouldn't do it .
I know what you mean by edgy and impatient - I've had my mount since January and still no imaging done!
The forecast for SPSP looks good right now so that will be a nice consolation You could always bring that black beauty up with you - you'd have plenty of help setting it up and getting first light (read: lots of cooks in the kitchen!)
Cheers, Marcus
PS: Don't lose anymore weight - you're looking a little anorexic ... however, now I'm finding myself rather strangely aroused
)
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...which is still cool though 
