Jonk

For those who have seen this project, or have built and run your own, I'd thought I'd let you know that there has been some vast improvements over the past week or 2. There is now a version of the mySQM software that runs on the Raspberry Pi. I had the mySQM PCB with arduino fitted on a long term test (>6 months) outside in the shed and in that time, I lost count the number of times that laptop crashed or rebooted, sometimes due to an update, other times for no reason at all. I wrote on his forum about a Linux version being available for the PI, and at that time it wasn't. So Rob put some instructions together on how to compile the source code and run it on the PI, so I did just that. I found a couple of bugs, reported them to Rob which were promptly fixed and I've been testing to see what else I can break! So far however, it's looking very good and he's even added a function I requested to allow user definable readings to be displayable on the allsky camera overlay. The Arduino FW is now at V040, so if anyone is still running an older version, this is the latest ->https://sourceforge.net/projects/arduinomysqmskyqualitymeter/files/mySQMPRO/Arduino Firmware/ There is also the newer, more feature rich mySQM + which I may move onto in the future. Both this and mySQM+ have ascom drivers to integrate the information into sequencing software, and I have to admit I've not got round to playing with that feature yet. I also highly recommend moving from a Windows based mySQM monitor onto a RPI as it's a world of difference in reliability, not to mention the allsky software too! A couple of screenshots:

September....the return of astro darkness early enough to mess about with before bed. Mostly it's been a very patchy month, with plenty of 'short' imaging opportunities between batches of clouds, meaning a couple of hours here and there.

This very issue is the main driver for me using an allsky camera. I recently saw the BBC weather and most if not all sources say 100% cloud coverage - outside, I could see stars and no clouds. The allsky showed up a bit of murk, but in the main this didn't prevent any imaging. And this was for the first 3-4 hours of darkeness. All forecasts were wrong. I also post monthly realtime results for those interested -> For the forecasts, I use CO, Ventusky, Metcheck, Darksky and Raintoday - together you get a good idea, but I agree with a post above, you cannot beat using your own eyes. (Or allsky!)

I didn't see it, but it was caught on the allsky!

Caught the ISS on the dewy allsky, sadly no meteor was caught.

There's some software called 'Ulitmate Windows Tweaker' which has a disable Windows Updates option.

Just caught another one, not green this time though.

Yes it does, this is my <while True> loop while True: day = day_today() date = date_today() the_time = time_now() temperature = get_temp() humidity = get_humidity() dew_point = calc_dew_point(temperature, humidity) print ("The temperature on" ,date ,"at" ,the_time ,"was" ,temperature ,"Deg C") print ("The humidity was" ,humidity ,"%") print ("The dew point was" ,dew_point ,"Deg C") write_to_csv() time.sleep(5) # wait x seconds until next reading The csv file is written correctly and the output is printed as The temperature on 18-09-2021 at 21:10:22 was 21.57 Deg C The humidity was 64.0 % The dew point was 14.4 Deg C I think I now understand more how it works, so thanks very much! Next step is to compare the values to a set point or another sensor and operate a relay. Hopefully not too much trouble. I may be back!

Gents, thanks very much - it worked! while True: time_now() date_now() temperature = get_temp() humidity = get_humidity() dew_point = calc_dew_point(temperature, humidity) print (type(get_temp())) print ("The temperature on" ,date_now() ,"at" ,time_now() ,"was" ,get_temp() ,"Deg C") print (type(get_humidity())) print ("The humidity was" ,get_humidity() ,"%") print (type(calc_dew_point)) print ("The dew point is" ,calc_dew_point(get_temp(), get_humidity())) time.sleep(5) # wait x seconds until next reading <class 'float'> The temperature on Saturday, 18-09-2021 at 09:19:49 was 19.85 Deg C <class 'float'> The humidity was 64.0 % <class 'function'> The dew point is 12.8 The class still shows the actual dew point number as a function - please explain? I also thought that once a function had been called and 'executed', the 'return' remained in memory and you just had to use it, for example: temperature = get_temp() you could just put 'temperature' in a calc or print, rather than call it agin. So in this case, rather than: print (temperature) I would have to say print (get_temp()) Most things I've read say that a return statement puts the value (string, int, float, another function whatever) into memory (as seen above with the memory location) to use again and again later. This is why I was confused. Have I understood this correctly?

I understand that they're meant to be reported to the meteor network or something? But I never have...

I am fairly good at hacking up bits of code, but not fluent in writing from scratch or even understanding the rules, but I have a go! Anyway, I appreciate that this is not the best place to ask, but I don't want to sign up for another forum to be bombarded with "you're doing this wrong...." and "learn the basics..." I've turned to python for my rpi allsky, and want to conrtol relays based on temperature, humidity and probably more importantly, dew point. This is for inside and outside the camera enclosure, for various reasons. I have managed to connect a BME280 sensor and can output T, H and P (pressure) automatically to a csv file - great! I've even set it to run as a service. Get me! I have cobbled together a few bits of code, to try and calculate the dew point from the T and H values, in order for the program to decide whether to switch the internal heating or cooling on (yes cooling!) or to switch the external dew heater on. This is where I'm stuck. The function defined to a calculate the dew point uses the basic forumla round((((humidity / 100) ** 0.125) * (112 + 0.9 * temperature) + (0.1 * temperature) - 112),1) This should use the returned values for T and H to calculate and give me an answer, in this case: return dew_point Trying to print this value in the shell does not work, it prints a memory address. So, having read a bit more, I learnt I could use print (type()) to see what's going on. It's not a number that it's returning, it's the whole function. And now I'm a bit stuck. <class 'float'> The temperature on Friday, 17-09-2021 at 21:20:58 was 20.6 Deg C <class 'int'> The humidity was 63 % <class 'function'> The dew point is <function calc_dew_point at 0xb6681ae0> Can anyone cast their eye over this and tell me what I might be doing wrong please? I 'think' that the def calc_dew_point function is not using the returned values of T and H as numbers, or it's spitting out something that's not a number. I know I'm doing something wrong, but I don't know what. Any help appreciated. Here's my code: #!/usr/bin/env python #Dew point calculator for allsky climate and dew control # initial set up of imports import math import time import datetime # imports the modules for the sensor from bme280 import BME280 try: from smbus2 import SMBus except ImportError: from smbus import SMBus # sets up the variables for the sensor bus=SMBus(1) bme280 = BME280(i2c_dev=bus) # define functions to use def get_temp(): temperature = bme280.get_temperature() temperature = round((temperature),2) temperature = temperature -2 temperature = float(temperature) return (temperature) def get_pressure(): pressure = bme280.get_pressure() pressure = round((pressure),2) pressure = pressure -2 pressure = str(pressure) return(pressure) def get_humidity(): humidity = bme280.get_humidity() humidity = round(humidity) humidity = int(humidity) return(humidity) def date_now(): today = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%A, %d-%m-%Y") today = str(today) return(today) def time_now(): now = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M:%S") now = str(now) return(now) def calc_dew_point(temperature, humidity): dew_point = round((((humidity / 100) ** 0.125) * (112 + 0.9 * temperature) + (0.1 * temperature) - 112),1) dew_point = float(dew_point) return(dew_point) while True: time_now() date_now() get_temp get_humidity calc_dew_point print (type(get_temp())) print ("The temperature on" ,date_now() ,"at" ,time_now() ,"was" ,get_temp() ,"Deg C") print (type(get_humidity())) print ("The humidity was" ,get_humidity() ,"%") print (type(calc_dew_point)) print ("The dew point is" ,calc_dew_point) time.sleep(5) # wait x seconds until next reading

Anothe reason I like allsky cameras, there's always something going on.

This is quite a good one, I captured a very green meteor (?) flash a couple of days ago. Through the clouds / dewed dome too! Here's the individual frame...

Just wanted to say thanks to the OP, this has made a custom part I want to make a whole lot easier!

Ok fair enough, not trying to teach anyone to suck eggs! I would take it to your nearest machine shop, give them a tenner or bottle of plonk and ask them to turn it out to 65.2mm or something. Then get it anodised!

It’s not my sale, nor am I selling for someone else, but I thought I’d share it on here. Hampshire Astronomy Group based at the Clanfield Observatory are replacing an old fibreglass dome built in 1985 with a new one. It’s advertised on abs https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=177795 I went to see it this morning and they only want £100 as it needs to go asap. The internal equipment was being removed as we were there and the dome is being lifted off tomorrow. It’s too much work for me to refurbish otherwise I would have taken it. It’s in 8 sections and is the dome only, not the base. Fantastic project for someone, so if you’re looking for something like this get in touch with them.

I may be wrong, but I'm not sure you're measuring the adaptor in the middle of that bore. Try with the callipers perpendicular to the plate, and slowly turn one end of it - watch the numbers as you put slight pressure on opening and they should go up, then back down. Of course if you already know this, ignore me! After a few goes you will feel what's right and be comfortable I would be very surprised if whoever turned that was 250um out. It's possible though, so I would send it back if so. If anything it should be slightly bigger than the mount. When I designed mine and had it made by a friend. I specified 65mm and it's fine.

James, have a look at the battery university website -> https://batteryuniversity.com/ I find the information very good and quite often use it.

Thanks for the info - I've pretty much managed to do something very similar on the temperature etc, but the demo I found just streams the data continuously. You're correct in that mine is a basic "read value-> check if within parameters -> do something or wait for next measurement" but it's a little more complicated as that, as I want it to work out the dew point for inside the camera dome and outside, and work out what the temperature is inside vs outside too and whether to cool / ventilate the dome internally (too warm), warm / ventilate it internally (for internal dew) or warm the dome without ventilation for external dew. Yes this may only involve a python script, but only know how to spell python at the moment, nothing more! The waveshare board examples is what I've tried, but these are manual - I need to learn how to run it automatically based on the results from the sensors / truth table.

A friend of mine has a couple set up so they can watch the hedgehogs. You sound like you have a mystery going on! The allsky has already proven its worth, but not for the skies. We would probably never have known about Terry (the owl’s name!) if I didn’t have one.

Little sod! Hope he hasn't scratched it...

Store in the cold, use in the warm for performance (but the warmer they are, the quicker they degrade). The ideal working temperature for lead acid blocks is 20-25 Deg C. Cooler than this, they won't perform as well, warmer than this they will but degrade quicker. A typical lead acid block will degrade by up to 20% over 10 years, when used correctly within design parameters. 12V x 60A? That's a 720 watt motor. But no, to answer the question they will not perform like that.

Mine's much the same, needs a clean!

There have been a flurry of improvements and bugfixes recently, so update again if you need to.

You have moisture in there, you probably need to ventilate it - no amount of heat will prevent it I would guess.