The RIGrunner Solution or “No more dangling cords.”



We all hate dangling cords that can get tangled during a session, or worse, or just look bad. If you have a permanent observatory and can spend the time to secure all your cords and wires, that’s great. But for the rest of us that set up each time we have an AP session, the mass of wires and cords are at best a bother. Anyway, here is one solution, The RIGrunner.

What is shown in the picture was built for me by Mitch (or as we know him Gorsenmut). I take NO credit, except for buying the parts.

So here is the setup. The heart of the system is the RIGrunner, pictured on the left panel, near the top. The Rigrunner is a simple way to send 12V power to all your appliances. It uses the Anderson Powerpole connectors, the red and black connectors you see on the RIGrunner. All your 12V devices connect to the RIGrunner for power. On this setup I have (from top to bottom), the RIGrunner, the powered USB hub, the dew heater controller, the Moonlite autofocus controller. Also the QSI takes power from the RIGrunner. All the devices requiring a USB port, connect to the powered hub. All of the devices you see on the left panel are secured with Velcro to a removable board attached to a top D-plate on the scope. The board can be easily disconnected from the plate with all devices attached, and moved to another scope setup.

The connection from the powered hub, the power source for the RIGrunner and the usb cable from the AP mount are contained in a single silicone-wrapped cord that runs down the left side of the scope and the mount. You can see it and the attachments used to secure it on the top center panel of the picture. There is enough slack in the bundled cable for free movement throughout any session. Also all the movable cables used in this setup are silicone wrapped and completely flexible at almost any temperature.

The center lower panel of this picture shows the PowerWerx power source for the RIGrunner and the power supply for the AP mount. The PowerWerx could also power the mount, but I chose to use the AP power supply.

The left panel of the picture shows the complete setup, an AP Mach 1 mount on a trolley, with a Celestron 9.25 HD and a QSI 583. You can see the end of the wire bundle where the single usb cable emerges and runs into the house and attaches to the computer. I also use the RIGrunner setup for the AP 130 GT with an SBIG 11002 STXL. In that case, the RugRunner setup is simply removed from the 9.25 and attached to the top plate of the AP130GT and a couple of the appliances changed.

I highly recommend this kind of setup. If you want more information about building you own RIGrunner, you can contact Gorsenmut (http://www.astrobin.com/users/Gorsenmut/ ). His Astrobin pictures shows his RIGrunner setup.

Good Luck.

Eric