EOS 1000D extreme modding

[yesyes]

Too late in my case. Earlier this week I received a shipment of another 10 Mini 328's ;-)

[Gina]

Thinking of using a 16x2 LCD display :- http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1439.l2649

The little LED chips you used Chris are no longer available. Anyway the LCD display looks simpler to use.

[Gina]

I now intend to use Arduinos to control :-

1. Set-point temperature on two 1100D cameras
   
2. One or two focusers. I may arrange a focuser for wide-field camera lenses
   
3. Filter wheel.
   
4. Possibly dew heaters
   
5. Home built weather station
   

Well into the pre-addiction phase no doubt

I now have on order :-

1. One Arduino Nano.
   
2. Two stepper motors with driver modules (cheap from Hong Kong).
   
3. One 16x2 LCD display module.
   

(Editid for typos - why can one only see typos after posting?! )

[Gina]

Other possibilities include a large wall mounted weather display. Outside temperature, wind speed and wind direction principally. I was thinking of LEDs but pointer displays are another possibility.

[yesyes]

Thinking of using a 16x2 LCD display :- http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1439.l2649

These are quite easy to use. There is an Arduino library that comes with the IDE. See here:

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/LiquidCrystal

[Gina]

Thanks Chris That certainly looks easy. If the rest is that easy, I'll be well away

[ncjunk]

add a cloud sensor to that list. its easy and you could tack it onto one of the others...needs a dew heater or rain sensor (which has an on board heater) for dew.

[Gina]

Yes, indeed - I would really like a cloud sensor. Might even think again about motorising my roll off roof With the present scope I can roll the roof on with the scope in any position - it clears it. It's the end wall flap that's obstructed by the scope in some positions as it opens inwards (I was originally planning to open it outwards but that turned out to be awkward and opening inwards works very well). I can open and close the roof with one finger for most of it's run. One or two small improvements could make it even easier, so I think it would be possible to motorise it. I think it would need a more powerful motor than you can get in a stepper though.

[Gina]

Chris - back to topic... I gather you are putting your Arduino, display and circuitry in the box with the camera. Are you going to use one of those tiny USB hubs like you (and me and others) used in the SPC900NC LX mod. Will they take the data rate from the camera? That would mean only one USB cable to the camera.

I find I need to get the camera weight down as low as possible. ATM it's too heavy for my current SW crayford focuser. It slips out of focus if the scope is pointing straght up. I may have to get a SteelTrack. Must check if that will fit the SW FR/FF.

[yesyes]

Correct. The idea was to put it all inside the box and connect it all up inside with one of those USB hub boards. They are USB2.0 hubs, so that should be fine. The Arduino doesn't need much bandwidth.

I wanted to build my own box from 3mm black acrylic. The back of the box will be red tinted transparent acrylic and the displays will shine through that. But I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't use some ready box made of thinner plastic and only make my own back panel / lid to keep weight down.

[fwm891]

Chris - I doubt the weight difference between your lid and any other lid will be minimal

[Gina]

Correct. The idea was to put it all inside the box and connect it all up inside with one of those USB hub boards. They are USB2.0 hubs, so that should be fine. The Arduino doesn't need much bandwidth.

I though that might be so - thanks

I wanted to build my own box from 3mm black acrylic. The back of the box will be red tinted transparent acrylic and the displays will shine through that. But I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't use some ready box made of thinner plastic and only make my own back panel / lid to keep weight down.

I'm using ready made boxes with their lids ATM. I did think of making my own box - still might do as it's impossible to get the right size box. Cutting/removing bits of the camera seem fraught with problems - I seemed to have killed another camera doing this! No combination of the parts from the two non-working cameras seems to work. I have USB and the busy light on the back flashes but there is no display and the shutter doesn't work. The shutter speed control repeats in the USB Utility as does the Mode switch. Having recently bought a US version from eBay for about £200 I now have two working cameras - 1100D and Rebel T3. The UK one on my scope with filter mod and cooling using one TEC and waterblock, the US one unmodded and being used as a LX finder scope with one of my old Pentax lenses. I'll probably do the filter mod on it later.

Regarding your box, I would be wary of having a light source inside the box unless you block any light from getting into the camera. Even with a closed box, I find light gets in through the tinyest of holes/gaps. Also, a red tinted back will let red light in.

I'm thinking about making my own lightweight box from a light material such as balsa wood or even foamboard. Either something like that or get a better focuser for the scope that will take the weight (or both).

[yesyes]

Chris - I doubt the weight difference between your lid and any other lid will be minimal

I think that came out a bit wrong. I meant the weight of the box without the lid. A thin ABS box might weigh less than one made of 3mm acrylic.

[Gina]

My small box weighs 135g. That's box with 65mm hole in bottom plus lid. Camera stripped down weighs 240g. Pity it doesn't work stripped down!

Tthe box that will take a camera with minimal butchering weighs 560g. That's with cooling parts and water block plus electronics for manual cooling control and camera power, and lid with cold finger temperature display. Camera less back and front parts but with top (needed) must weigh at least 250g making a total of well over 800g. That is pretty heavy. I have the 16x2 LCD display which weighs 30g. Don't know how much the Ardino Nano weighs but I would guess similar. Heatsink and fan 120g. TEC 15g. I would estimate the cooling parts would weigh between 200 and 250g. Say 500g for camera and cooling bits (unless I've missed something). So... how light can the box be? The ABS boxes I have are about 2mm thick. I think it should be possible to make a box that weighs less than 150g.

I've considered having control and display separate from the camera in a separate box. This would save some weight in the camera box but, of course, needs more wires. 12v 2A for Peltier (and maybe camera power), 2 data wires plus gnd for 1-wire sensors and PWM. I would have the MOSFET close to the TEC.

[yesyes]

OK, I just spent a few minutes collecting all the stuff I have for the Arduino based EOS cooling controller.

I have attached the following:

- schematics diagram of the controller I built

- CoolingControllerStandalone.zip - contains Windows executable, requires .NET framework 4

- Arduino.zip - contains Arduino sketch and the following required libraries

#include <EEPROM.h>

#include <LedControl.h>

#include <dht.h>

#include <OneWire.h>

#include <DallasTemperature.h>

This is all still work in progress and there will be updates.

I'm not quite sure what else I should explain... Have a look and ask any questions....

If someone wants info on the communication protocol between PC and Arduino, let me know.

EOS Cooling Controller - Schematic.pdf

CoolingControllerStandalone.zip

Arduino.zip

[Gina]

Thanks very much Chris I'm hoping to have an Arduino arrive any day now. Then I can start testing. I've already done some research and read up on things. I've also got Simon Monk's little book on "Programming Arduino". Just to get started - I find a beginners book is helpful as a lot of web sites assume you know stuff. Have to say, it all looks pretty straightforward I'm dying to get playing

[rfdesigner]

Gina

Do just play. Having self taught myself PICs the trick I found was to just get something working as soon as possible, then work on how to make it better.

One question: how much coding have you done before?

Derek

[Gina]

Gina

Do just play. Having self taught myself PICs the trick I found was to just get something working as soon as possible, then work on how to make it better.

One question: how much coding have you done before?

Derek

I have the Arduino working - see "Arduino for Beginners".

I've done ooooodles of coding before Did it as a profession - lots of different languages from individual control codes, through assembler to various high level languages. I've also dealt with interfacing of various complexities. It's just that is was a long time ago now and I'm a bit rusty I started in the ealy sixties - computing was very different then I've watched the development of computers over the years and found it very interesting

[yesyes]

It boggles the mind to think that computers once filled big rooms or even whole buildings. And had nowhere near the computing power of, say, an iPhone. And all that in the space of a handful of decades.

[rfdesigner]

Gina

Ah.. an old pro, excellent

I find these little embedded processors a bit like stepping back into the past. Knowing how to write in assembly is essential to get the best out of them, none of this high level rubbish where you have no idea whats going on underneath. At work we're using an 8051 with 64k of memory for program and data yet are getting some quite sophisticated alorithums working in that space... bloatware doesn't get close.

Derek

[Gina]

Ah yes I got used to finding ways of writing the most concise code and where many were using interpreted code I used compiled code. For space or time critical parts I wrote in assembler to produce the most concise and fast code possible. I then included these routines in my main code.

[Gina]

Chris - I've been looking at your Arduino source code files (sketches) but they have a .pde extension rather than .ino that the Arduino IDE uses. Are you using a different IDE? I downloaded the IDE from the Arduino web site rather than using yours. I've been following the Arduino web site examples and mixing and matching them plus my own code to produce what I want.

[Gina]

Regarding plastic boxes to house the camera etc., I took the innards out of one of my boxes. It weighs 240g. I may cut the box itself down a bit so the depth is about 65mm instead of 75mm. That would make it easier to fit the heatsink on the outside with just the side nearest the TEC poking through the lid. It will also reduce the weight slightly

[rfdesigner]

Ah yes I got used to finding ways of writing the most concise code and where many were using interpreted code I used compiled code. For space or time critical parts I wrote in assembler to produce the most concise and fast code possible. I then included these routines in my main code.

hmmm... sounds just like my scope driver project, that's stuffed with assembler.

I love finding those little tricks that save an instruction. Like DECSZ, decrement, skip if zero, an excellent one to use at the tail of loops, and does the C-compiler use it?.. of course not, so all my loops get hand crafted.

I'm waiting with baited breath to see how you get on now.

Derek

[yesyes]

Chris - I've been looking at your Arduino source code files (sketches) but they have a .pde extension rather than .ino that the Arduino IDE uses. Are you using a different IDE? I downloaded the IDE from the Arduino web site rather than using yours. I've been following the Arduino web site examples and mixing and matching them plus my own code to produce what I want.

I'm still using Arduino IDE version 0021. I haven't got around to installing the latest. I have slightly modified some of the libraries and I'm worried that upgrading will overwrite these libs. I have to take some time and get this done though.

The sketch should still work if you rename it to .ino.

As far as I remember there was one catch when you upgrade to 1.x. They renamed the file Wprogram.h to Arduino.h. I'm not including that file, so it should be fine. Some of the libs I used might include that, though. If it doesn't compile, check the included libs and change any "#include Wprogram.h" to "#include Arduino.h".