Card replaced in ASC RPi and working as expected.  Vapour trails with a vengeance!!

Been thinking about the software.  When I started from scratch I got as far as compiling the Astroberry code which failed in the Astroberry Focuser code.  Now it occurs to me that the Astroberry Focuser is a bit OTT anyway for the ASC.  All I need is to be able to move the focuser motor one way or the other to refine the focussing.  The "bells and whistles" such as Auto-Focus are not relevant in this case and all I actually need is stepper motor control with movement either war and maybe coarse and fine steps.  In fact the Astroberry Board code that is in the present ASC micro SD card has focussing control which was working with an earlier setup.

If I take the test setup micro SD card which has WiFi working and remove the Astroberry Focuser compiling code lines from the CMakeLists.txt file I think it should compile.  I can take the Astroberry Board source code from the present ASC, edit it to use the current stepper motor GPIO lines then write it to the card to replace the original file.  That may work.

I was right ?  Now have code compiled, installed and working using the supplied Astroberry Board code (Astroberry Focuser removed from compiling list).  See my Tutorial.

Next will be to edit the Astroberry Board code to change labels, remove unwanted controls and make the code control the appropriate GPIO lines for the focussing motor driver.  Currently the focuser section looks like the screenshot below.  There is now only one motor so motor selection is redundant.  The tab label could do with changing to Focus and we don't actually have any Configuration.  Alternatively the Focussing could be moved to the Main Control tab.  Configuration could be the number of steps for Coarse and Fine focussing.  Needs a bit of thought...

Took the source files for the Astroberry Board (rpi_brd.h & rpi_brd.cpp) from the ASC cloned SD card and wrote to the "test" card overwriting the originals.  Deleted the build directory, remade it and changed to it and ran the command lines to compile and install the driver - it worked

Next to edit the files to make the control panel do and look like what I want.

Edited and, wonder of wonders, it compiled and installed fine.  No editing errors!  ??  Not quite right yet though.  I want the Camera Cooler to default to LOW.  And the focussing controls want to be momentary rather than toggling ON/OFF.  More thinking required...

Got the Camera Cooling defaulting to LOW but the light state is wrong - nearly there on the Camera Cooling control.  Still have the focus motor control to work out.

Summary of progress on code changes so far.

1. WiFi is working.
2. I can edit the source code and re-compile and install new version.

The focus motor control in Astroberry Board driver was not done though stepping the motor is simple.  step-on, delay, step-off, delay repeated as required. Motor control lines are defined as :-

#define DIR RPI_BPLUS_GPIO_J8_07    // GPIO4
#define STEP RPI_BPLUS_GPIO_J8_11   // GPIO17
#define SLEEP RPI_BPLUS_GPIO_J8_16  // GPIO23

Motor stepping code - ticks specify number of steps :-

    for ( int i = 0; i < ticks; i++ )
    {
        // step on
        bcm2835_gpio_write(STEP, HIGH);
        // wait
        bcm2835_delay(STEP_DELAY/2);
        // step off
        bcm2835_gpio_write(STEP, LOW);
        // wait 
        bcm2835_delay(STEP_DELAY/2);
    }

That's the easy part.  I now need to either work out or find out how to make a button send a set number of steps to the motor and stop.  Job for another day I think.

I've found how to control the button states.  This code sets the button state depending on GPIO levels.  It also sets the light state.

bool IndiRpibrd::LoadLines()
{
	// load line 1 state
	if ( bcm2835_gpio_lev(IN1) == LOW )
	{
		Switch1S[0].s = ISS_ON;
		Switch1S[1].s = ISS_OFF;
		Switch1SP.s = IPS_OK;
		IDSetSwitch(&Switch1SP, NULL);
	}
	else
	{
		Switch1S[0].s = ISS_OFF;
		Switch1S[1].s = ISS_ON;
		Switch1SP.s = IPS_IDLE;
		IDSetSwitch(&Switch1SP, NULL);
	}

	// load line 2 state 

If I set the motor moving when a button is pressed it can turn the light to yellow (working) and when the steps routine has finished it can clear the button and set the light to off (idle).  Or maybe green (OK).  If I used two rows, one for INwards and one for OUTwards  the light s could show which direction was last used if I use IPS_OK - green.

I think this may work - I'll try it tomorrow.

INDI References

Moon's a bit later rising tonight.

30s exposures now.

Well, I guess the hill to the east is a few degrees higher than the ASC as it's 5m since moonrise.

Going up to 60s exposures with no delay (other than download time).

Moon is just beginning to show.

Lovely red moon by No.1 eyeball ?

I think this is going to be the best view of the stars tonight - as the sun goes down the moon comes up!

Exposures of 60s with about a second or so download time before the next exposure.  Camera temperature 3.5°C with full cooling.   The breeze has gone and it's a warm stuffy night.  I'm sitting in front of a big fan to keep cool hoping it will cool down a bit soon so I can go to bed.

Back to coding...

Bit early yet for serious thinking but I've tried a little something to improve appearance.  Tried using "FOCUS_TAB" for the focus controls and it worked.  Code section concerned - original commented out :-

//    IUFillSwitchVector(&FocusSP, FocusS, 4, getDeviceName(), "FOCUS", "Focussing", OPTIONS_TAB, IP_RW, ISR_1OFMANY, 0, IPS_IDLE );
    IUFillSwitchVector(&FocusSP, FocusS, 4, getDeviceName(), "FOCUS", "Focussing", FOCUS_TAB, IP_RW, ISR_1OFMANY, 0, IPS_IDLE );

Next will be to rearrange the controls in the panel and change ISR_1OFMANY to ISR_ATMOST1.

Very different sky today!

I think I may want to add an extra level of dome heating to dry off raindrops.  That shouldn't be difficult - just a bit fiddly.  Ah, just thought - already using all four pins on the connector - hmmm...  Had an idea - change the control to work like the camera cooler.  OTOH might not need the lower amount of heating - may be enough from the camera cooling hot side.  I could change the resistors to run at a higher current.