A320Flyer

Just the ticket. 👌

Many thanks. I didn’t expect such a quick response. I’m away for a couple of days. Will try it as soon as I get back 👍

I’m setting up my new pc. I need a copy of the free HLVG plugin for photoshop. I’d download from RBA’s website (https://www.deepskycolors.com/archivo/2010/04/26/hasta-La-Vista-Green.html) but it seems to be down. Anyone able to PM me the 64-bit version of the file? Thanks.

In EqMod, my SideOfPier is currently set to Pointing(ASCOM).

This was my thinking. But there must be an EqMod logic that prevents parking on the east side. I dunno?

Every day is a school day! 👍

Can you please explain why 0deg on east side of pier is below horizon but 0deg on west side of pier isn't . Thanks

I have a RoR where I use a custom park position to park my scope horizontally. Using EqMod, I have this park position set to Alt 0deg/Az 0deg and it always parks on the same west side of the pier (fortunately, the side I want it to), pointing north. My question: why does it never park (thankful) on the other (east) side of the pier when that is the same Alt/Az? Is there a situation when that might happen? Mount is a SW EQ6R. Thanks

This is mine. It started with an HEQ5 and a 150p Newtonian. Now has a dual refractor setup. A 4ft x 4ft pent shed cut down and modified. All controlled via NINA. Tight but works extremely well. PhotonPapa Observatory V2.mov

Steve, I use focus offsets in NINA (used the Dark Customs plugin to set them up). But in the NINA options I don’t actually specify which filter is the autofocus filter! When doing NB, in my Sequence, I have: Change filter to Ha (choose the filter for AF) Autofocus 4x300 Ha 4x300 Sii 4x300 Oiii Dither Now loop the above until Dawn With this loop, you get an AF every hour, and a dither in every 4th frame. The AF is done on the filter that I’m going to use for Lum, with the other filters using focus offsets. If your system is reasonably parfocal, you might not need offsets. If doing LRGB, I substitute the Lum filter for AF and adjust the number of exposures. My thinking on this is that I want best focus on the filter I’m going to use for the Lum in processing, but not so critical on the others (as I usually give them a slight blur anyway). HTH Bill

Many thanks

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I have a mini obsy with motorised roof that can be opened and closed via a Nina imaging sequence as and when clouds/rain occurs. All controlled from inside my house. That all works fine. Access inside the obsy is limited due to its size. When I need to change cameras, say during the daytime, I would open the roof, slew the scope so the end of the scope is more accessible and change cameras. It’s at this point that I’ve sometimes inadvertently slewed before opening the roof. If that does happen, the clutches slip as the scope touches the roof and I loose my park position/alignment It’s currently no big deal to re-position the scope manually if this does happen. But if I could prevent this from happening, then I might be able to operate everything when I’m away from home. I agree that being careful and getting into the habit of opening the observatory before unparking the scope is the way to go but sometimes mistakes happen and I was looking for more failsafe. Cheers Bill

Nina has a safety toggle to prevent the roof closing if the scope is not parked. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have one to prevent the scope slewing if the roof is closed. I have approached the Nina developers but they are not keen on adding that feature. Hence my post here.

Sounds good. Can you recommend a suitable relay?

Actually, my sequence already has an Open Roof instruction just before the Unpark instruction so the sequence would still work as-is. It’s when I’m doing maintenance that I sometimes forget to open the roof before unparking. 😳

That might cause issues during an imaging session. My NINA sequence uses the state of my safety monitor to park and close the roof when Unsafe is detected, and to reopen the roof and continue imaging when it becomes Safe again. Cutting the power to the mount in the middle of a sequence could be a problem. I would need to Park and disconnect the mount first, then reconnect when Safe. Do-able. An idea to think about. 👍

Does anyone use EqMod with a RoR observatory? If you need to park the scope in a custom position to allow the roof to close, how do you protect against inadvertently slewing the telescope whilst the roof is closed? ie forgetting to open the roof first 😕

Thank you so much for your offer to help. The Ascom Conformance Tool shows 4 errors but I'm not sure what they mean. This is the log: Start-up ASCOM Device Conformance Checker - Version 6.6.8048.17861 - 64bit mode Start-up ASCOM Platform 6.5 SP1 6.5.1.3234 ConformanceCheck ASCOM Device Conformance Checker Version 6.6.8048.17861, Build time: 13/01/2022 08:55:24 ConformanceCheck Running on: ASCOM Platform 6.5 SP1 6.5.1.3234 ConformanceCheck Driver ProgID: ASCOM.CloudSensorEvoPlus.SafetyMonitor Error handling Error number for "Not Implemented" is: 80040400 Error number for "Invalid Value 1" is: 80040405 Error number for "Value Not Set 1" is: 80040402 Error number for "Value Not Set 2" is: 80040403 Error messages will not be interpreted to infer state. 12:30:49.717 Driver Access Checks OK 12:30:50.670 AccessChecks OK Successfully created driver using late binding 12:30:53.780 AccessChecks ERROR Error connecting to driver using late binding: System.Exception: (OpenConnection) Can't open port at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.LateBinding.InternalLateSet(Object o, Type& objType, String name, Object[] args, String[] paramnames, Boolean OptimisticSet, CallType UseCallType) at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.NewLateBinding.LateSet(Object Instance, Type Type, String MemberName, Object[] Arguments, String[] ArgumentNames, Type[] TypeArguments, Boolean OptimisticSet, Boolean RValueBase, CallType CallType) at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.NewLateBinding.LateSet(Object Instance, Type Type, String MemberName, Object[] Arguments, String[] ArgumentNames, Type[] TypeArguments) at Conform.DeviceTesterBaseClass.CheckAccessibility(String p_ProgId, DeviceType p_DeviceType) in J:\Conform\Conform\Devices\DeviceTesterBaseClass.vb:line 463 12:30:54.530 AccessChecks OK Successfully created driver using early binding to ISafetyMonitor interface 12:30:57.546 AccessChecks ERROR Error connecting to driver using early binding to ISafetyMonitor interface: (OpenConnection) Can't open port 12:30:57.655 AccessChecks OK Successfully created driver using driver access toolkit 12:31:00.703 AccessChecks ERROR Error connecting to driver using driver access toolkit: CheckDotNetExceptions ASCOM.CloudSensorEvoPlus.SafetyMonitor ConnectedSet System.Exception: (OpenConnection) Can't open port (See Inner Exception for details) Conform is using ASCOM.DriverAccess.SafetyMonitor to get a SafetyMonitor object 12:31:00.812 ConformanceCheck OK Driver instance created successfully Pre-connect checks 12:31:00.875 IsSafe OK Reports false before connection Connect 12:31:03.953 Connected ERROR .NET - Driver Exception: CheckDotNetExceptions ASCOM.CloudSensorEvoPlus.SafetyMonitor ConnectedSet System.Exception: (OpenConnection) Can't open port (See Inner Exception for details) ConformanceCheck Further tests abandoned as Conform cannot connect to the driver Conformance test interrupted by STOP button or to protect the device. Your driver had 4 errors, 0 warnings and 0 issues I'm still awaiting the actual components to arrive so I can build the unit. I've successfully compiled the sketch (so must have the correct Libraries?) and uploaded the sketch to the Arduino. I've also installed the Ascom driver and NINA sees the driver (so must be installed correctly?). When I choose the "Ascom SafetyMonitor Driver for CloudSensorEvoPlus" in NINA and select Properties, The following dialog box appears: It reports "Currently connected to Error" This is where I'm stuck. In the original post, the author say something about "make sure your firmware is updated". This is what I don't understand. Does "firmware" refer to the CloudSensorEvoPlus.ino and Commands.ino files? Or is there a separate firmware that needs to be installed on the Arduino? Again, thanks for helping. If you'd rather do PM, thats fine. Just let me know. Bill

I know its an old thread, but has anyone managed to get this working? I have managed to get the find the Libraries, get the sketch uploaded and the Ascom driver installed. Nina, sees the driver but when the properties dialog is called it shows no device connected, even though I've selected the correct COM port. The documentation mentions new firmware but i'm not sure of the difference between firmware and a sketch. I think I'm on the cusp of getting it connected. I just need that little bit of help. Cheers Bill

Must be me, but I don't see any of those 😞 . I've tried on my PC. Do I need to register an account with GitHub? I'll admit, I'm just starting on Arduino. I've bought a couple of books to go through but would like to learn from some real world examples.

Thanks for this. Sounds interesting. Im not familiar with GitHub. Are there any instructions? Component list? Cheers

Are there any instructions anywhere for a diy Arduino rain sensor that can be connected to NINA? Thanks Bill

This is what I ended up doing. It might give you some ideas.

Something else to look at. Thanks.

Thanks guys. I’ll look into that 👍