steppenwolf

I haven't fully completed my calibration of the AAG unit but the following image shows my preliminary figures which seem to be in the right ballpark as I appear to be getting consistent results (Location Sussex)

ADDITIONAL NOTE 6 - Software De-Bugging:- I have now completed my personal ‘holiday season’ with Scotland, La Palma and Spa Francorchamps ticked off the list so I can now get stuck back into the observatory project before Janie drags me off again! The first issue to resolve is an error-free start-up of all the software as from time to time I noted an error message caused by an apparent inability of the software to find the focuser even though I knew it was connected and working! I spent some considerable time testing all sorts of permutations but eventually it came down to an issue with the automatic un-parking of the mount (?!!). My first solution was to write a short VBS script to build in a pause that required the click of a button to confirm that the mount was un-parked and tracking. However, although this worked fine, it seemed like a real kludge (and let’s be fair, it was a kludge!) so I found a much better solution and that was to enable the mount automatically from within FocusMax. I found it wasn’t possible to auto-close some programs without leaving some issues with apparently enabled connections to other programs so I currently manually close FocusMax, MaxIm DL and Cartes du Ciel. I have no doubt that there is a solution to this but as I am on site and already turn off the power supplies manually, I am happy to close these programs too for now. If anyone has any suggestions for an automatic solution, I’d be pleased to hear from you! FocusMax will load automatically when CCD Commander is run (and subsequently close when CCD Commander is closed) but this does not resolve the mount un-parking issue mentioned earlier. To automate the start-up and close-down sequences has required minor modifications to be made to the batch files so I have reproduced the latest versions here: The main batch file :Pause to display warning message echo off CLS :*** WARNING - UNDO DOME LOCKS *** undo_locks.vbs start "" "C:\Program Files\FocusMax\FocusMax.exe : Run Cartes Du Ciel start "" "C:\Program Files\Ciel\skychart.exe : Start AAG_CloudWatcher executable cd\AAG Cloudwatcher autostart_CloudWatcher.vbs : Start CCD Commander and wait for it to close start /wait "" "C:\ccd commander\CCDCommander.exe : Run AAG_CloudWatcher executable close-down after CCD Commander closes close_AAG_CloudWatcher.bat :Exit this batch file exit close_AAG_CloudWatcher.bat autoclose_CloudWatcher.vbs tskill AAG_CloudWatcher There has also been an intermittent issue with the shutter control system in that it doesn’t always respond to the limit switch on opening and again, intermittently fails to respond to a shutter close command. For a couple of weeks, I put this down to a software issue coinciding with the focuser load error mentioned above. This was a red herring that wasted some valuable testing time to resolve and I wish I had been aware that the LesveDome GUI could be run at the same time as POTH as this demonstrated conclusively that the dome control software was correctly responding to ‘close slit’ commands! This put the fault squarely onto the shutter control box and a replacement has been organised by Pulsar Observatories who responded in their typically positive manner to the issue once it had been diagnosed. I have now carried out a drift alignment and tested automatic meridian flips so as soon as the new shutter controller arrives, I will be able to move onto the next phase of testing. This phase will involve automatic plate solving at start-up and each side of a meridian flip, auto-focusing every ‘n’ minutes, auto-focusing between filter changes and automating the acquisition of a suitable guide star. The final stage will be full calibration of the AAG CloudWatcher software to ensure that it closes the aperture when poor skies or rain are detected, once I have satisfied myself that the aperture controller will work flawlessly as this is key to a successful automation project. Something else I have completed is the 'beautification' of the observatory to help its insertion into our (or should I say Janie's!) garden. We decided to try the 'high-tech' approach to this with non-terracotta pots and a more technical, uncluttered feel with the removal of the brick and pebble base to give a 'clean' look. 'Baaabara' the sheep was a surprise present for Janie to compensate for the fact that I went motor-racing at Spa with my two sons over a week that included our 40th wedding anniversary - I think I got off lightly :grin:. The unit on the wooden post to the left of the observatory is the AAG CloudWatcher sensing unit. I know it is soooo obvious now that I have installed it but I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have that other wooden post to the right to hold the observatory door open on a stainless steel cabin hook!! Why didn't I do this with the original dome - Doh!!

OK, back from a family holiday in La Palma (including a visit to the Observatories - see below) and I have now installed my telescope and written a set of CCD Commander 'Actions' to start a session in either Luminance or Ha followed by appropriate filter changes and Flats collection with a re-focus every 30 minutes (approx. allowing for downloading etc.) and a final closedown procedure with full weather-watch in between. I am polar aligned (although not perfectly yet) and I spent last night calibrating my weather sensor to identify what constitutes 'too light' and what I interpret as 'cloudy'. A problem with my Flats being too bright has (hopefully) been resolved by making a set of encapsulated white paper blanks that I can insert depending on whether I am capturing narrowband or wideband data so in theory, I am good to go! All I need now is a clear night .......... SGL Gets Everywhere! The Gran Telescopio Canarias (looking down on the cloud layer) The William Herschel Telescope

Intrusion protection only. Earl, if you copy my text below and paste it into Notepad, you can then save the text as a vbs file in your root directory - call the file something like Start_AAG.vbs - (note the vbs file extension, NOT .txt). You now have a VBScript file that you can run by double-clicking on it, setting a shortcut on your desktop to it, placing a batch file to run it in your startup folder, etc. etc. Dim oCW set oCW = CreateObject("AAG_CloudWatcher.CloudWatcher") oCW.Device_Start() oCW.RecordStart False Set oCW=nothing Hope that helps!

Hi Earl, you have a PM

It is just a script (does not need to be compiled) so you can run it directly from a batch file, as a desktop shortcut or from the CMD prompt.

Using AAG CloudWatcher with CCD Commander version 1.7.4 Issue There is an issue with using AAG CloudWatcher with the current version of CCD Commander but there is a work-around as follows:- 1. Download this AAG CloudWatcher executable:http://lunatico.es/aagcw/AAG_CloudWatcher.exe... replacing your current one.2. Launch the CloudWatcher software, go to the Setup / Network tab and select a new folder for the CCDAutoPilot4 data file (the installation folder is protected in recent windows versions).3. Run CCDCommander and select "AAG CW Remote" under 'Weather Monitor) and point it to the AAG_CCDAP4.dat file (in the new folder you have just selected in the step 2 above).

Yes there is, my VBScript above starts the program and the logging automatically for you.

ADDITIONAL NOTE 5 - Software Implementation:- With all the hardware now installed, it is time to get to grips with the software and getting each component to 'talk' as one! The first issue is actually a hardware one - remembering to undo the dome locks but software comes to the rescue here. The second issue is the sequence in which the various pieces of software must be initialised - anyone remember 'batch files'? Here are the batch files and scripts that I use to get it all started:- Start FocusMax, Cartes du Ciel, AAG CloudWatcher and finally CCD Commander VBScript to run batch file minimized CreateObject("Wscript.Shell").Run "start_CCDcommander_and_AAG.bat", 0, True The batch file itself :Pause to display warning message echo off CLS :*** WARNING - UNDO DOME LOCKS *** undo_locks.vbs : Run FocusMax start "" "C:\Program Files\FocusMax\FocusMax.exe : Run Cartes Du Ciel start "" "C:\Program Files\Ciel\skychart.exe : Start AAG_CloudWatcher executable cd\AAG Cloudwatcher autostart_CloudWatcher.vbs : Start CCD Commander and wait for it to close start /wait "" "C:\ccd commander\CCDCommander.exe : Run AAG_CloudWatcher executable closedown after CCD Commander closes close_AAG_CloudWatcher.bat :Exit this batch file exit undo_locks.vbs MsgBox "*** WARNING - UNDO DOME LOCKS ***" autostart_CloudWatcher.vbs Dim oCW set oCW = CreateObject("AAG_CloudWatcher.CloudWatcher") oCW.Device_Start() oCW.RecordStart False Set oCW=nothing close_AAG_CloudWatcher.bat (also closes FocusMax) autoclose_CloudWatcher.vbs tskill AAG_CloudWatcher : Close FocusMax tskill FocusMax I also discovered that it is necessary to set FocusMax to automatically connect to the focuser (default is to not connect) Try as I might, I cannot get Cartes du Ciel to automatically connect to the mount or to disconnect and close automatically. For the latter, I have tried the following with no success:- Method 1 (fail) : Close Cartes Du Ciel - under development tskill skychart.exe Method 2 (fail) : Close Cartes Du Ciel - under development cd\PSkill Tools\PSTools PSKILL skychart.exe Anyone have any suggestions for this?

This installation phase of this project is now completed successfully so there will not be any further updates on that aspect. Thanks for reading so far! PC Installed AAG Cloud/Rain/Daylight Sensor Installed

Today I completed the installation of the hardware in the new observatory and ran the first set of tests on the system. The first test was simple yet key to the success of the project - confirming the 'slaving' of the dome aperture position to the telescope's pointing. I was delighted to discover that the telescope points directly through the centre of the aperture slit at both sides of the meridian. The second test was to confirm software control of the automatic Flat-Flap using one of the digital outputs from the LesveDome control board. I had to modify a couple of small VBscripts (a pretty new experience for me!) to close and open the flap and once I got the switch number right (no correlation to the actual digital channel number ) I was delighted to see it working perfectly VBSCRIPT TO CLOSE THE FLAT-FLAP USING CHANNEL #7 driverID = "ASCOM.LesveDomeNet.Switch" set o = CreateObject(driverID) o.Connected = True o.SetSwitch 3, True WScript.Sleep 60 * 60 VBSCRIPT TO OPEN THE FLAT-FLAP USING CHANNEL #7 driverID = "ASCOM.LesveDomeNet.Switch" set o = CreateObject(driverID) o.Connected = True o.SetSwitch 3, False

Blimey Matthew, that is a monster ......... Now would be a good time for me to thank Moonshane again for the excellent advice he gave me as I was planning my Dob base build - thanks mate!

Wow, these big Dobs make mine look like a pea-shooter but - I made it, it works, I love it! Sky-Watcher 10" (254mm) SPX OTA on home brew base.

ADDITIONAL NOTE 4 - Images of the power and control installation in the new dome for those interested in this project:- The new power board is installed and commissioned with zero faults at switch-on! New Observatory with Solar Charger Electric Power Board and Dome Control Unit My original observatory had a series of extension cables on extension cables as the system grew but the new installation has been custom designed for purpose and has its own consumer unit with RCD rather then relying on an external RCD feed from a greenhouse. Items hatched out are part of the extensive intrusion detection and lock system. Azimuth Control Unit This is the very latest design from Pulsar and utilises a single friction drive with a precision pinch wheel on the smooth reverse of the dome flange to ensure little risk of slippage - it works extremely smoothly. An encoder keeps track of where the dome aperture is pointing. Azimuth Motor Drive Aperture Controller The aperture controller is powered by an 18 amp-hour battery charged by a solar panel.This unit is controlled via the azimuth control system using a RF link. Aperture Drive Chain A nylon chain is used to open and close the aperture and this works very well but it did require silicone lubrication to make it run quietly and it is very sensitive to getting the tension right - however, I am now on top of that and have got it operating perfectly.

Yes, that's exactly the problem.

I use an iPhone App. for this purpose ( see my review here ) and although I have no doubt that it isn't as accurate as Olly's hardware solution, for relative readings, I reckon it is a pretty good guide.

I'll be happy to do so, Earl. I'll be in touch as soon as I have the system fully proven.

I haven't as yet documented my ASCOM setup as I am still assembling the system and completing the observatory installation itself. However, I am using POTH to connect to both the dome controller and the mount. Is there any specific information that would help you?

Hi Mike, Sorry to hear about the chain snapping - that is bad news with you being so physically remote! I will be using the Lesvedome system (I think yours is the Shelyak system?) so it *could* be that there is a feedback signal to indicate that the end-stop switch has activated - I will check this out as it is a significant feature if it exists. One of the first things that I am going to do after I have completed the dome installation proper will be to silicone spray the chain links. I have now got the mains AC power connected to the observatory but I am still making small tweaks to the observatory itself before I start installing my astronomy gear - door détentes, security system, a cable entry point for the cloud detector etc. are all under way.

That's m' boy - I knew that you were a secret petrol head. An unreasonable car, I like that idea :grin:

Now Olly, you really do need to define 'a reasonable car' to give this some kind of perspective. I'm thinking 'Fiat Panda', that's reasonable but then at a lower price, so is my old '1998 Impreza' :grin: . All joking aside, I hope you and Tom get this going.

Hi Mike, The design of the Mesu doesn't lend itself to measuring with a ruler as the RA and Dec axes are large and thick platters. Now, if it had been my EQ6, I could have easily measured that! I rather enjoyed re-learning my old school trigonometry though and the data and how it was derived may be of interest to other Mesu users following this automation path. There is an error that I will correct when I get the time - the N/S figure should be positive not negative. Corrected 20/05/15. Sent from my iPhone from somewhere dark .....

Skybadger, it has just occurred to me that you may be scratching your head and wondering why I am using a spreadsheet to get these values rather than a ruler? If you could see the shape of a Mesu 200, you'd understand. Sent from my iPhone from somewhere dark .....

Hi Earl, with the latest version (which I have) there have been various changes- photos to follow soon - and one of those changes is that the speed controller is no longer connected even though it is physically there so I am afraid that I am unable to answer your question meaningfully! Sent from my iPhone from somewhere dark .....

Absolutely right but I needed to get those offsets for the one-time entry in the first place and that is what the spreadsheet does! This spreadsheet is not intended to be volatile, it simply formalises the data, calculates the offset of the intersection of the RA and Dec axes and corrects for the actual pier position, all for that one time entry.