Hello All - First off, thanks to this community for creating such a powerful and flexible product!  This astroberry distribution and associated utilities work very well together, getting out of the way so one can focus on imaging and enjoying the experience under the stars!  Well done Open Source community!

I am having a great time automating my sequences for the evening, using plate-solving and PHD2. I have recently upgraded my camera and now need to focus when I change filters, so I have the new ZWO EAF on order.  My concern/question to this community is if there enough power from the rpi4 to drive my cameras (ASI294mm main and ASI290mm mini in an OAG), my ZWO 7x36m filterwheel and now the new USB-only powered ZWO electronic auto-focuser?  I have 12v running to the 294mm for cooling and the filterwheel and 290-mini plugged into the hub on the 294mm.  I then have the 294mm usb3 cable plugged into the usb3 port on the rpi4.  I also have a second usb cable to the mount (EQ6-R).  

My concern is that the power needed for the stepper motor of the EAF might be too much for the rpi4.  I'd like to avoid getting a powered USB hub if possible (mostly for cable management reasons) but I will if this will not work.  I've been looking at this one: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L07AAZM/ref...4adf2&language=en_US

any help greatly appreciated.

Hi Hank, Actually I found that by adding a powered USB3 hub, I was able to simplify cable management. Only 1 cable to the Pi4, the rest to the hub and devices (includes 2 ASI cams, an EAF focuser, and Pegasus PPB. I think you'd be pushing the Pi4's power to run both your cams, the filter wheel and new EAF, but I don't know. The USB3 hub has been thoroughly vetted by many users, and is a sure bet. Cheers, Doug

 

That makes sense dmsummers, thank you. - Cable management is a goal of mine as well. I'm focusing on shorter/appropriate length usb cables and minimum scope-to-mount connections. Two follow-on questions:

1. What model/make is your powered USB3 hub? The vertical orientation of the plugs makes for a smaller footprint than the one that I found. Do you power this hub from the Pegasus PBB?
2. I was looking at the Pocket Powerbox Micro to power ASI294mm, EQ6-R pro and USB3 hub. No dew-heaters (yet). Do you power your mount via your Pegasus PBB?

love the RASA11, looking long/hard at it as a compliment to my 130m refractor.

The USB3 powered hub I used is here:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SIQIV04
I do power the hub from the PPB, but not the mount.   That's from the same 10A power supply, but a Y joint (soldered) splits the feed so the mount gets power before the OTA.  Works great. I did do some soldering on top to shorten some of my cables for a nice clean fit (when I couldn't find short cables to purchase).
About the RASA, it's a really decent wide field scope, but I designed it for narrow field by clipping the wavelength (Hoya UV/IR filter), and then pairing with a small pixel field and smaller chip (intentional to keep off-axis distance small). I probably should have gone with an ASI294 (didn't know about "unlocked mode"), but I did go with an ASI183mcPro & 2.4um pixels. That makes for reasonably nice images and platescale of 0.799 arcsecs/pix. See here for example images I've captured with the RASA:
www.astrobin.com/users/dmsummers/
Good luck with your cable management & new EAF focuser; I'm really happy with my EAF. BTW, expect about 90 steps of backlash for the EAF.
Cheers, Doug

Thanks for the link - it should be here before the EAF now. I like the idea of the Y joint, the aim is to keep this clean (I'd like to travel to nearby darksites with a battery solution).

Regarding your portfolio, those are stunning, I've made it through about half of them so far. I hope my M51 project can end up well, I'll let you know.

Thanks again for the help dmsummers.