I think by now most of you know that I have a
very remote observatory and it comes with all sort of challenges, I control it from the UK and the box is located in Germany (~9 hours drive with very limited remote hands if needed...).
It's not like I can pop to the garden to reset something
V1
was fun to build, it was too big, had a big design flaw (sprung a leak...), then came
V2
(still live and kicking).
V2 was a huge setup up in the construction and running.
Now it's time to take it a notch further with V3, hence I'm opening this thread where I will document everything.
There will a lot of core design changes, different material will used for the frame ie: instead of wood I will be using 2020 aluminium extrusion.
The roof opening (well, lead really...), if I can pull it off, is going to be amazing. Something that I have not seen anywhere so far.
The panels will still be Dibond (aluminium composite), they are super light and super resistant.
The electronics will be upgraded from an Odroid C1 to an Odroid C4, more memory/cpu/USB3 etc...
The HEQ5 pro mount will be replaced by my latest acquisition, a
CEMT25p
The Megrez 72 will be replaced with a SharpStar 61EDPH (whenever I can get my hands on one, hopefully soon). And I will add an EAF ZWO as I hear it's supported.
There will also be a dew heater as I do not have one.
The electronic box will be located on the outside of the box and not on the inside as currently, the position of the scope within the box will be different.
In other words, the box is being polar aligned on the RA axis and the scope will be on DEC only (+fine RA adjustments)
tbc...