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Gina

Beyond the Event Horizon
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Blog Entries posted by Gina

  2. Gina
    INTRODUCTION
    This is a tutorial explaining how to install an operating system and software into a micro SD card to use in a Raspberry Pi 3B+ for astro imaging and control of the relevant hardware.  The software to capture images, control camera cooling and other things such as the mount etc. is called INDI and provides a set of drivers to control all the hardware. The Raspberry Pi will run in what is called "headless" mode - meaning that no human interfaces are directly connected to the RPi - instead the RPi is connected to the local area network (LAN) using either Ethernet (preferred for speed and reliability) or WiFi.  Everything is then controlled from indoors on a computer also connected to the LAN.  This computer is called a "client" and the Raspberry Pi a "server".
    This tutorial will detail all the steps involved in installing the operating system and software - there are rather a lot of them, hence the need for a tutorial but there is a script that is downloaded that does all the difficult stuff.  I believe that anyone with some knowledge of computers should be capable of following these steps and setting up a working Linux based astro imaging system.  The Raspberry Pi can be put on the pier (or tripod) or even directly on the telescope mounting and would replace a laptop for instance, reducing the use of long cables etc.
    The operating system used is Ubuntu Mate and involves using a monitor, keyboard and mouse (or trackball) in order to set up the operating system and enable remote control before the RPi can be used headless in the observatory or on a tripod.  The Raspberry Pi is a "proper" computer though a bit slower and with less storage space that a desktop or laptop.  When powered up the operating system goes into a setup routine and you just have to answer the questions, same as when setting up any computer.  Near the beginning there's an opportunity to set up WiFi so you'll need your WiFi password.
  5. Gina

    Test blog

    By Gina,

    I'm new to blogs - never used them before so I don't know what I'm doing   I'll just experiment and see what happens...
  6. Gina
    INTRODUCTION
    This is a tutorial explaining how to install an operating system and software into a micro SD card to use in a Raspberry Pi 3B or Raspberry Pi 3B+ for astro imaging and control of the relevant hardware.  The software to capture images, control camera cooling and other things such as the mount etc. is called INDI and provides a set of drivers to control all the hardware. The Raspberry Pi will run in what is called "headless" mode - meaning that no human interfaces are directly connected to the RPi - instead the RPi is connected to the local area network (LAN) using either Ethernet (preferred for speed and reliability) or WiFi.  Everything is then controlled from indoors on a computer also connected to the LAN.  This computer is called a "client" and the Raspberry Pi a "server".
    This tutorial will detail all the steps involved in installing the operating system and software - there are rather a lot of them, hence the need for a tutorial but there is a script that is downloaded that does all the difficult stuff.  I believe that anyone with some knowledge of computers should be capable of following these steps and setting up a working Linux based astro imaging system.  The Raspberry Pi can be put on the pier (or tripod) or even directly on the telescope mounting and would replace a laptop for instance, reducing the use of long cables etc.
    The operating system used is Ubuntu Mate and involves using a monitor, keyboard and mouse (or trackball) in order to set up the operating system and enable remote control before the RPi can be used headless in the observatory or on a tripod.  The Raspberry Pi is a "proper" computer though a bit slower and with less storage space that a desktop or laptop (called a Single Board Computer).  When powered up the operating system goes into a setup routine and you just have to answer the questions, same as when setting up any computer.  Near the beginning there's an opportunity to set up WiFi so you'll need your WiFi password if you want to use WiFi.  This section can be skipped if using Ethernet cable rather than WiFi.
  7. Gina
    The centre light fitting in my living room is looking tired and I want to replace it with something funky that fits my interests, like 3D printing and clocks as well as astronomy, so my idea is a giant 3D printed gear wheel with five globes as shades for LED lamps.  The gear wheel represents both 3D printing and clocks which contain lots of gears.  The globes can represent moons or planets.  Thinking about this, I guess I could add a star in the middle - I'll give it some thought.
  10. Gina
    I modify my 28BYJ-48 stepper motors to run off the A4988 driver modules, just like the Nema 17.   I use these for remote focus for my astro imaging.
    These motors come with centre-tapped coils with the centre-taps connected internally.  We need the full coils without the centre-taps and these need to be separate so the internal link needs breaking and center-taps ignored.  This in turn effectively changes a 5v rated motor to one that works fine with 12v.
    These photos show the coils and connection PCB taken out of the motor, to explain the process.  (Don't jump straight in and take the motor apart, it isn't necessary.)


    The yellow and blue wires are one coil (or winding) and the orange and pink wires are the other.  The red wire is no longer used and cut short for safety.
    At first I opened the motor casing to get at the connection PCB but it was very difficult to get everything back in so I decided to try and cut the PCB track without taking the motor apart. 
    I carefully drilled a hole through the blue plastic connection cover to access the PCB where the strip wanted cutting through.  Then I was able to take a very small screwdriver and scrape through the track without disturbing anything else.  This is shown in the close-up photo below.  As before the coils are orange-pink and yellow-blue.  Do not connect the red wire.

    Note :-  Seems not all motors use the same colour wires but the outer two wires are one coil and the inner two are the other.  The middle wire is not used and should be cut short and insulated for safety.
  11. Gina

    "GinaRep Giant 3D Printer" 2021

    By Gina,


    DIY 3D Printer
    Same size as earlier versions but with differences.
    The outside measurements of the "box" are 740mm x 660mm x 1m high.  I was using ABS when I first designed it so the box consists of an extruded aluminium frame with clear acrylic panels for use as a fume cabinet.  Now I use only PLA and fume control is no longer an issue.  The bed is a 500mm x 500mm x 5mm aluminium plate with a mains powered 1200W heater pad stuck to the underside.  I expect printing volume to be 290mm x 290mm x 700mm high.
    I'm planning to have the bed moving up and down for the Z axis.  In one of my earlier versions I had a moving XY carriage and fixed bed but that proved impractical.  The Z drive will consist of three trapezoidal threaded rods with 1mm pitch driven in unison by one stepper motor, 3 timing pulleys and timing belt.  Adjusters will be provided on the nuts for rough bed levelling and fine bed levelling will be automatic using the software in the Duet 2 WiFi control electronics.
  12. Gina

    Overview

    By Gina,

    This is my progress in buying, modifying and making 3D printers.
    Velleman kit UP Plus 2 - Proprietary 3D printer "GinaRep Pilot" created from the Velleman kit with variations and new parts "GinaRep Titan" - a larger printer with 300mm cube print capacity "GinaRep Giant" - larger still with over 400mm cube capacity "GinaRep Mini" - a replacement for the Pilot with improved accuracy and printing speed  
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