Okay, it was Halloween yesterday. In keeping with that I'll show you my replacement for the Pegasus Powerbox that died in Iowa.
My Powerbox was a USB and Power Hub with the capability of controlling dew straps as well. My replacement would need to have those capabilities.
I already had a powered USB3 hub and a small Anderson Powerpole-based power bus from past tinkerings, so it was only a matter of replacing the dew control capability. A nice little Pegasus Dew Controller took care of that. Yes, it's manually operated, but that's fine.
The USB Hub is so old it's no longer sold (not a surprise) and now is a 7-port, smaller device.
What was left was how to put it all together. And that's how it became Frankenhub. I decided the perfect "suturing" was silicone bathtub caulk. Silicone caulk is waterproof, bonds to almost anything, remains pliable, and can be removed. As an adhesive it's more than adequately secure when joining two flat, clean surfaces.
Frankenhub is three layers, a dovetail to mate it to the ad-hoc finder shoe on the scope OTA, the USB hub, and then the dew controller on top:
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| Frankenhub |
Definitely not as pretty as the Pegasus box, but it works just fine. What it lacks is software control of the dew controller, but I can live with that.
Wait, where is the power hub? Caulked to the side of my G11 saddle:
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| Power Bus |
Think of this as one of those big bolts in the neck of Frankenstein's Monster. You know, these things:
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| OEM Heavy-Duty 300,000,000 volt / 30,000 amp Connectors |
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Speaking of power, here's a minimalist approach to supplying power: A 50 Ah battery and cute 12 V distributer:
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| Power and Distribution |
The battery has all the power I need for several nights of summertime imaging and the distribution box has three 12V automotive sockets, all I need to run my setup. Here's a closeup:
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| Power Distributor |
Note that it includes a voltmeter that can be turned on/off, various sockets for charging your mobile devices, and a 3-level light that you could easily cover with red plastic.
The included 50 A Powerpole connector probably couldn't handle the 30,000 amps that jolted Frankenstein to life, but it's more than enough for my rig's peak draw of 5 amps.
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| 50 amps of gray |
Next time I'll have another Frankenstein that I hope isn't monstrous: the Veil Nebula mosaic, using parts (images) from a few sessions at Eagle Lake Observatory, The Iowa Star Party, and a friend's back yard near Stacy, Minnesota. A real Frankenimage.
