EqMod and a RoR

[A320Flyer]

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 😕

[Tomatobro]

I would feed the mount supply through an industrial roller position switch so when the roof is closed the power to the mount is off.

To prevent the roof from closing when its likely to hit the scope a IR through beam detector on the leading edge of the roof.

[A320Flyer]

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. 👍

[A320Flyer]

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. 😳

Edited November 6, 2022 by A320Flyer

[Tomatobro]

Adding a latching relay across the roof switch would fix the problem.

You go into the ROR and the mount will not be powered until the roof is opened. Opening the roof puts power on the switched side and closes a relay which shorts out the switch. Now you can open and close the ROR while still maintaining power to the mount. At the end of the session turn off the power which opens the relay and shuts off the power to the mount. Now you have to open the roof to put power back onto the mount.

[A320Flyer]

Sounds good. Can you recommend a suitable relay?

[malc-c]

When I designed my observatory I made sure there was enough headroom to place the scope in the normal home position with the roof closed, but need to park it in a custom position to allow the roof to be moved.  EQMod does allow you to set custom parking positions, but how you would be able to tie the two functions and logic of "if roof switch is closed then disable EQmod from running" I have no idea.  Whilst you may be able to use a switch to turn off mount power until the roof has been opened, there may be nothing to prevent the roof being closed whilst the scope is in the way.

[A320Flyer]

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. 

[malc-c]

1 hour ago, A320Flyer said:

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. 

I'm struggling a little to understand the need for this feature unless the roof is motorised and you want to have a system that monitors the sky and if it rains or becomes overcast can park the scope into the custom park position and then close the roof

If the roof isn't powered and has to be manually closed then it means you will be in the observatory anyway to close the roof, so it's a simple click of the mouse to have EQMOD (or NINA  or GreenSwamp Server) to park the scope to its custom position and then manually close the  roof is all that is required.  It's just a case of being careful and getting into the habit of  opening the observatory before unparking the scope

 

[A320Flyer]

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

 

[malc-c]

In that case then I can see the logic in wanting to automate the parking of the scope prior to closing the roof.  Googling "observatory automation" threw up this site   They also list a lot of PDFs that might help you plan the wiring etc.  They also seem to use Arduinos and offer ASCOM software that might help integrate with NINA or other software ?

[A320Flyer]

Many thanks