Part 2 - Cabling and Power Supply

It is important that you cable correctly from the mount to the computer /Laptop, my recommendation is to use the minimum cabling from the mount to the PC, but having said this, you would need to feed not only the power supply to the mount, but also the communication /transfer of data from mount, CCD, guider camera etc.

To overcome the spaghetti of cables surrounding the mount and telescope, and avoiding many meters of cables passing through the carriers from the mount to the 'control center' I purchased a 'Mount Hub' (see above).

This became a tricky situation, First you need to place the Hub in a position that will move with the scope, camera etc, this way once you connect the cables from the units to the hub they will be kept in position. The other benefit is that only one, say cable connecting from the Hub to the Laptop is used, instead of having a minimum of four /five (camera x2, Dew heater, OA, auto focuser).

The mount cable I decided to separate from the mount hub, as i wanted that communication from it to the laptop was singular in avoid fluctuation of data.




The cables carriers/trunking will have to be water proof (in my case) to withstand the weather elements, even if the distances is not too much like in my case, it is vital that cables are probably sealed and separated from communication cables and power supply cables, this will avoid affecting with the data coming from the mount and back.

 The following images shows how you will need to separate the data to the power cables, I passed two RS232 cables, both will connect to the Astro-Physics Mount, and an extra two USB cables, one that connected to the Mount Hub Pro, the other is reserve just in case I used it.

On the power supply, I passed two 12V 6amps cables for the Mount Hub Pro, and the other one to the AP Mount. I also passed two 240V cables to supply the QSI632 CCD and another as reserve.

To have a constant power supply the best solution is that it will come from the wall socket, having batteries to supply the mount and all the other units, is not ideal given that after a few hours taking images there is a good possibility that the power will fall.

The solution I found (after searching in the net for days) was a converter unit coming from 230v to 12-15v, 7amps with 5 constant.

These two units will provide a stead power supply without interference to the units from the control center.

Permanent Pier

In the past two months I been constructing a permanent pier with the sole propose of minimize in-balancing and increase stability. Securing the pier is the most important part in the construction, having a permanent pier should give you the confidence to incorporated the mount, telescope and all its accessories including the counter weights.

The Image on the left show the amount of kilos of cement used to secure the base of the pier with 4 bolts 1 foot length with a 'L' shape incorporated inside the wet cement. I also inserted 2 tubes which later I inserted electricity cables.

The above images shows the 8" diameter steel pier already bolted down and balanced, the two tubes are inside the pier this will ensure dryness and is separated from the PC (USB) cables to avoid electromagnetic interference.

The left image shows the upper section which goes on top of the pier top flange, Its produced by Hans Pier flanges and will connecting with the pier's flange to the Astro-Physic Mount 1100GTO.