When SN 1993J appeared, the telescope was engaged in imaging all the Messier objects, and the telescope fortuitously imaged the SN only a few hours after shock outbreak, and a day before discovery. A complete data set for the first 400 days was recently published. There are three computers at the telescope site, one controlling the telescope and dome direction, another controlling the CCD camera, filters, and observatory housekeeping, and the third computer controlling communications and dome power. A fourth is located in town and performs communications, data reduction and image processing. The communication between the 'warm room' and dome are accomplished via a long coax cable ethernet.
Lightning is a common problem and ethernet boards are expensive.
Although fiber optic would be the best solution, Lou Boyd suggested a simple 'fast diode' protection circuit that has done the job. The mouse-proofing was one of the most difficult of the challenges. The observatory is located at the edge of a large open field and in spite of the efforts of a specially-installed security cat, the field mice were persistent in building nests in the computer and shorting it out with conductive liquids. The problem was solved by installing tight-fitting sheet metal over all openings. The telescope drive motors are controlled by a custom-built interface attached to the parallel printer port.