With the Easter holidays off work for both my wife and I, we headed off to Extremadura in Spain, to stay a few nights at the e-EyE facility. This was not only a three-night break for us, but also a big step up for me personally, as I aimed to finally set up my astrophotography equipment there for remote hosting.
e-EyE has several modern houses on-site available for rent. Given just how amazing and peaceful the area is, if you are heading over for any kind of astronomy work, it is worth staying on-site.
The houses are really well equipped and are very, very comfortable, particularly given the air conditioning and the comfortable sofas and beds. It is also really nice that the houses are decorated with astrophotographs produced fully from e-EyE. Sitting on the porch is very relaxing and you can certainly enjoy a really nice view. And for those summer days, there is a pool just outside the houses.
The plot of land consisting of e-EyE is a sizable one, full of foot paths that at night are dimly illuminated by red lighting along the ground itself. Otherwise, when the Moon is not up, the sheer darkness can be intimidating to anyone not used to it. This of course lends well to e-EyE's main purpose - astronomy. The following is a popular nomogram for sky brightness by Dark Skies Awareness:
It is known that SQM readings of approximately 21.6 present a perfectly dark night sky full of stars and with a very powerful Milky Way, rich in details. It is therefore worth seeing the following SQM readings captured live from e-EyE, in intervals throughout every night:
And the beauty of it is not just how incredible these SQM readings are, but the fact that an SQM of approximately 21.5 is the average at e-EyE. I have personally seen readings as high as 22.7, which is absolutely incredible. For anyone personally invested in astronomy, this is definitely a site worth visiting. Near the observatory modules, there is a large circular platform dedicated to hosting star parties, as well as to allow people staying on-site to practice astronomy.
This platform has several benches to sit on and is, quite importantly, fully wired with mains electricity. Setting up here allows astronomers to simply run their equipment entirely off e-EyE's mains electricity, making it very comfortable to use as a dark sky site, especially if you are already renting a house on-site. The Wi-Fi provided by e-EyE is very impressive, since it seemingly services every little corner of e-EyE, without a hitch, outdoors and indoors. In theory, someone renting a house on-site could set up on the circular platform, leaving a computer connected to Wi-Fi to control the equipment. This computer can then be remotely controlled from the rented house via a second computer, also connected to Wi-Fi, using TeamViewer, for example. At least that is what I used to do at O'Hara's Battery in Gibraltar, so it is certainly possible at e-EyE given the great Wi-Fi coverage. It certainly saves you from the cold if you are staying on-site and with astronomy equipment.
Of course, one of the major highlights of e-EyE is the remote hosting - taking advantage of the fantastic local dark skies with a permanent setup.
Of course, one of the major highlights of e-EyE is the remote hosting - taking advantage of the fantastic local dark skies with a permanent setup.
Above is my car parked by the on-site workshop and near the observatory modules. Currently, there is a single observatory at e-EyE containing six individual modules. The entire observatory is built upon a massive underground, reinforced concrete slab. At each module, a reinforced concrete pier extends from the ground up into the observatory shed. An elevated floor inside has removable flooring to cable each module near the corresponding pier. This flooring has zero contact with the piers themselves, maintaining their literally rock-solid stability. Best of all, each module has an individually-controlled retractable roof, controlled via ASCOM. Each customer that has their equipment hosted remotely at e-EyE, has full control over their own retractable roof and effectively has a 3 x 3 metre observatory space to fit whatever mount and telescope(s) they so wish.
So far, I have not been able to take full advantage of e-EyE's remote hosting in that I set up using my Avalon T110 tripod rather than the pier. This is a personal choice, since I live only 4 hours driving away from e-EyE and wanted to take advantage of the remote hosting right away, while I wait to receive the appropriate pier adapter from Astrograph.net. Once I do receive everything else, I will drive back up to migrate my things to the pier.
So far, I have not been able to take full advantage of e-EyE's remote hosting in that I set up using my Avalon T110 tripod rather than the pier. This is a personal choice, since I live only 4 hours driving away from e-EyE and wanted to take advantage of the remote hosting right away, while I wait to receive the appropriate pier adapter from Astrograph.net. Once I do receive everything else, I will drive back up to migrate my things to the pier.
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As you can see, I am using the pier for a good purpose at the moment - as a table to hold my Aurora Flat Field Generator. In the second last photo above, one can see the TALON 6 retractable roof controller and motor as well as my webcam (to see my equipment remotely). In the last photo above, we can see the contents of the cupboard next to the equipment. This holds all the electrics that are wired into e-EyE's mains supply underneath the floor. Inside, I have two UPS, one dedicated to my Mini PC and its powered USB hub, and another dedicated to the green box to their right - the Firefly Seletek controller. This controller connects to the Mini PC via USB and provides remote control over power supply to devices wired to it. As an input, I have the mains voltage. To each output, I have each piece of equipment's own transformer (for the mount, the CCD camera, the autofocuser, etc). Each one is individually-wired, allowing me to switch each piece of equipment on and off remotely and individually.
Granted, the cabling is not all that tidy - certainly not living up to my OCD. This is something that will get looked at carefully once I physically migrate the equipment to the pier and it is well and truly a permanent setup. The use of the tripod is a temporary solution, but I have to say that it is working wonderfully. My sincere and deepest thanks to Jose Luis Quiñones, e-EyE's co-owner (with his wife Cristina Fabo), who provided an insane level of help and support in getting everything wired and set up. e-EyE would not be half the remote hosting facility it is without Jose Luis' extremely personal and friendly service. I look forward to returning as soon as I can, both to enjoy some more nights staying at a house on-site, and to migrate my equipment to the pier.
Granted, the cabling is not all that tidy - certainly not living up to my OCD. This is something that will get looked at carefully once I physically migrate the equipment to the pier and it is well and truly a permanent setup. The use of the tripod is a temporary solution, but I have to say that it is working wonderfully. My sincere and deepest thanks to Jose Luis Quiñones, e-EyE's co-owner (with his wife Cristina Fabo), who provided an insane level of help and support in getting everything wired and set up. e-EyE would not be half the remote hosting facility it is without Jose Luis' extremely personal and friendly service. I look forward to returning as soon as I can, both to enjoy some more nights staying at a house on-site, and to migrate my equipment to the pier.