TeensyDSC: WiFi DSC adapter

[synfinatic]

I figured people around here might like to know about a project I've been working on for a few months: TeensyDSC

TeensyDSC is a fully 100% open source digital setting circle to WiFi adapter.  Both the PCB design and firmware are GPLv3 and if you're so inclined you can build one yourself by purchasing the necessary components from places like Digikey and SparkFun.   The brains of the TeensyDSC is a Teensy 3.1 board which is basically a smaller, cheaper and faster version of an Arduino board.   It can be powered via 12V or a free USB port.

TeensyDSC connects to your encoders (US Digital, CUI AMT, etc) and brings up a WiFi access point which allows any computer, iPad, Android, etc device to connect to it.  So far I have it working great with my iPad and SkySafari with my AD12.

What's next?

1. Testing with the US Digital 10,000 CPS encoders which provide 40,000 "ticks"

2. Adding a webserver to make it easier to configure (currently is done over USB and a serial terminal

3. Trying to get my hands on an Orion Intelliscope encoder and add support for that (will require a new PCB design)

4. ???

Want to learn more?

- There are some photos on my website.

- More info on the TeensyDSC Wiki.

Or of course, feel free to ask here!

-Aaron

[synfinatic]

So I received my two US Digital S2-10000 encoders in the mail today.  These encoders have a native 10,000 resolution and after quadrature decoding have 40,000 steps.  That makes each encoder 4x more accurate then my old 10,000 step encoders (model S2-2500) and improve the overall resolution by 16x (of course, this is actually dependent on your mount since any inconsistencies can hurt accuracy).

Of course, that's the theory!  As you may know, some DSC systems like the SkyCommander can't handle really accurate encoders because they generate too many steps and they can't keep up.  I had of course done my homework and made sure to use hardware interrupts so I had every reason to believe the TeensyDSC could handle over 100,000 steps, but until it was actually tested I wasn't sure.

So after soldering on my quick disconnect boards (using the same RJ9 connector and pinout as my encoders from Astrosystems) I mounted the encoders on my AD12 and did a few tests.  And to cut to the chase, the results were really positive!  While I didn't get a chance to take the scope outside, I was able to verify in SkySafari that it was able to keep up as I move the scope- even spinning the scope on the az axis as fast as I could wasn't a problem.