Connecting Sky and Earth!

Zapping My Mount: A Shocking Tale of Electrical Grounding!

Ever since I set up my EQ6 mount, I’d occasionally get little electrical zaps from it under certain specific circumstances. I kept putting off figuring out the source of the problem, until one glorious day I just said: “Enough is enough!” Last week, after a few too many “nightly zaps” to my hands – and worse, my face – I finally decided to tackle it. I enlisted my friend Julio, a fearless man who isn’t afraid of electricity, and who would henceforth be known as “the guinea pig”…

So, after several hours of investigation (and mild torture of my guinea pig), I came to a startling conclusion: My PCs had a grounding fault, and this fault was being transmitted to the cameras (APNs) on the telescopes via the USB cables!!! Simply touching the mount and the camera at the same time would guarantee a shock (our bodies, in contact with the mount, having a greater ‘mass’ than the Earth in my setup). My guinea pig confirmed this about thirty times with a chorus of “Ow! Ow! Ow!” Clearly, I needed to install a new ground connection so this fault would go there instead of my dear guinea pig friend!

No problem too big! After a quick trip to the local hardware store (and the pharmacy for my guinea pig), a hole drilled into the observatory wall, and a few good whacks with a hammer to drive in the new grounding rod, we had one more problem solved!

The grounding rod, driven in with gusto:

Building an automated amateur observatory on a modest budget is quite an adventure, full of unexpected twists and turns. Thankfully, the passion for astronomy and the support of those around us (family and friends) help us see it through. Each little problem like this, once overcome, gives us a fresh burst of energy to keep going and reach our initial goal: getting closer to the sky while keeping our feet firmly on the ground…

A thousand thanks, Julio!