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a remote unmanned pico observatory

Gonzo

By Gonzo
in DIY Observatories

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Gonzo
Gonzo

A video is worth a gazillion words..... please be patient, the video is 2m46s long, there is a delay after the lid opens up and the telescope deploys. (the thumbnail picture was taken with my GF1 an

Gonzo
Gonzo

Some further progress. After battling with a silly issue with my Raspberry B+ (yeah, don't upgrade to the latest firmware... it breaks stuff...) I am now able to move forward with the automation. Here

Gonzo
Gonzo

I've managed to reach focus this evening. This is HD 231061 (the bright one) unguided, 300 sec exposure. http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/756460#annotated

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Hi gonzo just stumbled across this thread while looking for information on the atik titan.... And now I'm thinking I need to build one of these obsys for myself!!! :)

Have you sold your titan yet?

Cheers,

Stu ~

Hi Stu,

I have not sold the Titan yet (still for sale), are you interested, if you are then private message me please.

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mhard26339

mhard26339

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Great thread Gonzo. I have just completed my automated dome (New Obsy in Norfolk UK) with a Pulsar dome but using should I say more available off the shelf technology; hats off to you, well done and keep going, it is worth it in the end, last night I had my first light actually using my UK dome from Spain, I have been testing it from within UK for a couple of months but now all up and running.

I will follow the rest of your build with interest, I could do with something like this on my veranda in Spain but it will still not solve the serious light pollution that caused me to do it the other way around in the first place.

Regards

Mike

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Great thread Gonzo. I have just completed my automated dome (New Obsy in Norfolk UK) with a Pulsar dome but using should I say more available off the shelf technology; hats off to you, well done and keep going, it is worth it in the end, last night I had my first light actually using my UK dome from Spain, I have been testing it from within UK for a couple of months but now all up and running.

 

I will follow the rest of your build with interest, I could do with something like this on my veranda in Spain but it will still not solve the serious light pollution that caused me to do it the other way around in the first place.

 

Regards

 

Mike

Hi Mike,

At the moment, I think I just need to tidy up my wiring, get myself a few waterproof boxes for the electronics and I'm done really with that part of the build.

However, software wise, it's a bit like 1 step forward 10 backwards at the moment... but I do like challenges... :D

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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I can understand now why certain Astro software can cost that much money (or any software really), I'm spending so much time troubleshooting my scripts, improving them etc... Everytime I think I'm close to a finished one, I found bugs....

Frustrating is not the word .....

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Sp@ce_d

Sp@ce_d

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I can understand now why certain Astro software can cost that much money (or any software really), I'm spending so much time troubleshooting my scripts, improving them etc... Everytime I think I'm close to a finished one, I found bugs....

Frustrating is not the word .....

It's something you have to enjoy doing when you're doing it for yourself & not for financial reward! I decided after a few attempts to go & try that certain "astro software". It made my eyes water even more than the cost when I realised how much of the guys life had gone into it! Best decision I made though, not having enough years left in me to write "a bunch of scripts" that would come anyway near! You still have to customise & script a bit to fine tune though.

So, I take my hat off to you. You've come a long way with this. Make sure you reward yourself that sense of achievement & enjoy. It's not a trivial undertaking.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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I am enjoying it (99% of the time... lol) and at the same time I'm helping the guys from Kstars (Ekos) finding bugs in their software and also requesting new features.

The Linux Astro community is well alive and growing and proud to be part of it.

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  • 2 months later...
Gonzo

Gonzo

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Some long overdue update, project is still on....

IMG_2606_640.JPG

As you can see from this picture, the test frame has now been reduced in size.

This is due to my scripts being finished so I don't really need a full box. It's still operational of course.

IMG_2605_640.JPG

In this picture, you can see the grey boxes (IP67 rating) which contain all the electronics.

Two are currently empty as I need to put the Odroid-C1 (yeah I ditched the Raspberry PI.... way too slow).

Still have to get a box for the 4 ports switch.

I do think that as it stands now, it's pretty complete in terms of layout.

There will be just the power cable and that's it.

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Peje

Peje

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Apologies if this has been covered before,

I see all of the electronics are inside IP rated enclosures, but what about the mount?

EDIT: Ah it's inside a box!

Edited by Peje
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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Apologies if this has been covered before,

 

I see all of the electronics are inside IP rated enclosures, but what about the mount?

 

EDIT: Ah it's inside a box!

Yes it's inside a big box, but you do raise a valid question. I guess time will tell if my box ventilation will be OK or not....

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  • 5 weeks later...
Gonzo

Gonzo

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A bit of bad news coming from Germany last week....  in-laws location been through quite some storms lately and some water managed to find it's way in.

SAM_4710_1024.JPG

SAM_4711_1024.JPG

 

SAM_4712_1024.JPG

it's a bit of a bummer really, I'm going to install the telescope this coming August.

I will have to redo the lid as it was too small in the first place (see further up this thread).

Still battling with automation and scripts, but I will go-ahead with the install.

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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For example here a few more things that happened last week,

The SX wheel died, well not 100% dead but went crazy. The carousel was going round and round without stopping.

I brought it to StartlightXpress end of last week and it is now repaired (picking it up this evening after work). Huge thank you to them.

Also my FCUSB Shoestring box also died, sent it back and got a new one in exchange, straight swap. Again huge thank you to Opticstar.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Gonzo

Gonzo

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Some overdue updates on this project.

IMG_3284_640.JPG

in that box we have the FCUSB controller.

IMG_3289_640.JPG

left box we have the odroid C1 + relay board.

right box we have two ykush USB boards

IMG_3290_640.JPG

And it fits in the boot of the car as I can't be bothered to dismantle it...

So, am I ready to go live in two weeks time, absolutely not.... lol (well almost ready).

Was the journey so far fun? yes it was

Would I do it again? hell yeah

For anybody out there thinking of doing similar thing, let me tell you something: It's not easy!!!!!!

I will still have quite some wiring to do, PSU, linear actuators to connect, rain sensor etc... (not in the above pictures but they are ready).

I know for a fact that something is bound to go bad, that's why I need to spend some time with the in-law to explain how everything works in simple terms... in case I need a remote hand.

455 miles away, 8h30min drive.... You can imagine that I really need everything to works correctly.

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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IMG_3308_640.JPG

I'm finishing the cabling... only about 4 cables to wire up and this is done.

It's been a pain to get to that point, please excuse the organised mess.... It's not usually like this.

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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Here's my weather stick...

IMG_3312_640.JPG

At the end, it's the rain sensor and the big box is the all-sky camera slash weather station.

Currently in full swing to get this ready, last minute orders on fleebay, wiring here and there (not that many left now).

Software side is all ready, I went with the simple bash scripts instead of doing complicated stuff.

One week to go and I'm off to Germany to install it. THE WEATHER BETTER BE GOOD !!!!!!!

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