Re: Helena Observatory (re)build
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2023 2:48 am
Nice, best of luck with the new digs and looking forward to some Images!
Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
https://www.theskysearchers.com/
Yes. That is how I pulled the power cable for the building.JayTee wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2023 1:58 am A tip I learned from my eclectrician when he was pulling my power cable through 150' of conduit: He used only string and a vacuum cleaner (shop vac) to pull the string all the way throught the 150' of conduit. I was amazed at how well and how quickly that worked. He just used light cotton string attached to the power cable.
KathyNS wrote: ↑Sun Nov 12, 2023 11:45 pm Some minor progress yesterday and today. I pulled DC power and data cables through their respective conduits to the mount. I still have some re-connection to do: I had to cut the RS-232 cable to remove it prior to the move, so now I have to splice it back together.
Tips for pulling multiple cables through one conduit:
- Make sure it is a big conduit, especially if some of the cables are USB.
- Pull cables one at a time.
- Don't try to pull cable with a fish wire. Use the fish wire to pull a string.
- Attach each cable in turn to the string, then pull it plus another string through the conduit.
- Pull cables in decreasing order of plug size. USB before RJ45. Naked cables last.
- Leave the last string in the conduit for future use.
With all the tying of string, I had to work gloveless. It was cold. Note to self: use a heater next time!
That would have been my preference. But it wasn't going to work due to the USB and RJ45 plugs on the ends of the cables. There was no way to bundle the plugs in a way that wouldn't jam in the bends in the conduit.Graeme1858 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 7:32 am Cables are never pulled sequentially into a conduit due to the risk of friction burns causing damage to the cables. The cable drums are put on a rack, or a length of conduit, or a broom handle and all fed into the conduit in one go with one person feeding them in and one person pulling on the draw string.
I sure hope not! This move has taken way too long to complete, and the honey-do list is still long. I have been out of action for nearly a year, and that is way too long for my sanity.
.... and was all set to use NINA instead
Thanks for that link, Graeme. The manual is less clear than it ought to be, but is a vast improvement over the videos. (But why did they use the least readable colour scheme for the example screen grabs? Argh!)Graeme1858 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 1:57 pm Here's the manual:
https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/master/site/
Graeme