Arduino Focus control and Cloud sensor

[ncjunk]

I will sort it out..i was being lazy..you have better readings than me...hhhmm must check everything again.

[ncjunk]

From those readings i take it its clear where you are?

[George]

From those readings i take it its clear where you are?

Very....imaging as we speak

[ncjunk]

-33 deg c is a perfect reading for sky temp for clear skies....its a bit smoky here from all the log fires but might give some imaging a go.

[George]

A few piccies of the cloud sensor outside my obsy.

Even at 4pm everythings covered in frost

Everything has been working perfectly and data is being logged (need to sort some graphing out). Had a play with the setpoint buttons but they didnt seem to work (was doing this remotely from the house so don't take it as gospel their broke). Some cloud drifted over around 3.30am sky temp went up to -13 (from a steady -33), ambient was -10 and it was still registering as clear, I think the extreme ambient here at the moment was the culprit

Would be nice to have a standalone version for data logging (think you already mentioned this Neil (if not....hint...hint )

This project is coming along very nicely now......Im well pleased:D:D

[ncjunk]

Stand alone version is going to be more difficult if your using the focuser as well on the same arduino.

If you have an arduino specifically for cloud sensing then no problem.

May redo the comms to yesyes comms thingy he mentioned.

Going to have to have a think..,it may hurt a bit

[George]

Im thinking about getting a second Arduino, 1 for focusing etc and one for observatory control like YesYes.

[yesyes]

Hmmm. The ultimate goal of my project is observatory control, yes. But I'm far from it...

I haven't even got an obs yet... I just thought I'd get started while waiting for the obs. ;-)

Neil, the Windows side of SNMP could be painful. I have no experience with that. But I was going to look into that. Maybe write a little app that can send config commands to the Arduino. Cacti can only read data and graph it.

[George]

Found some interesting stuff on making a Arduino into a weather station including code to upload to a web page.....its pretty interesting.

Lars Schumann - Make - Projects - Weather Station

[yesyes]

Interesting... Although his website looks more like his personal notepad...

Anyway, he seems to have got the SHT15 humidity sensor working. So I just ordered one too. Would be good to have humidity readings as that would allow for dew point calculation.

I'm assuming I can just connect this up parallel to the Melexis sensor on the I2C / TWI bus? Then control it the same way as the Melexis but with different device address and commands?

Apart from that, my next steps will be to build a box around the Arduino and then run it in the outside storage room to get some real outdoor measurements. I have electricity there, so will just use one of these HomePlug things to get a network connection there.

[ncjunk]

He seems to have got his sht15 together...(in my brain it works)

The connectivity to download files via ftp i have but he is using sql and google graphs. I would prefer to do it the same as cumulus and generate a graphic within the cloud program that gets uploaded. I may fire a question off on the cumulus forum and see if someone knows how it is done.

[yesyes]

I've had a bit of a set-back today. I have finally installed the Arduino and sensors outdoors. At that moment Cacti has stopped graphing temperatures. At first glance it appears that Cacti can't handle negative values. This would be really bad if confirmed. I've posted on the Cacti forum. Will have to see what the experts say...

[ncjunk]

That must be a simple config or range error somewhere. I cant believe it wouldnt handle neg values.

I am sure it will be fine....

[George]

Mine has not been logging data since last Wednesday, looked into it yesterday and the weight of the snow on the cables pulled it out of the Arduino.

Will do a permanent fix tonight.

[yesyes]

Are you saying that you have not looked at your weather data since Wednesday?

After testing it all out I have decided to do it properly this time and used proper connectors. I decided for these ones:

10 - 8 Way JST XH Series PCB Connectors on eBay (end time 09-Dec-10 11:22:15 GMT)

I also received my SHT15 humidity sensor today. So will have a go at that quite soon; once I figured out that negative value thing...

[yesyes]

phew... I finally managed to get Cacti to graph negative values. There's a build in limiter for returned values to avoid recording very high and wrong values that would destroy the resolution of the graph. By default there is only an input field for the maximum value. The minimum input field needs to be enabled. And the default is ... you guessed it... zero! ;-)

Doh!

Anyway, I'm back in the game and will solder up the SHT15 this week.

[George]

Are you saying that you have not looked at your weather data since Wednesday?

Yes I was watching the data remotely but.......I had a 2 foot snow drift blown against my observatory doors....plus the 3 locks were frozen solid

[ncjunk]

I have found a free active X 2d graphing program. Just chucked it in the code and got a sin wave so will add a simple graph with our data tomorrow.

I have a day off tomorrow so i am thinking a beer, Star Wars and coding a graph (only 1 bottle beer in the morning as I have to pick up my son in the afternoon!)

How did you do your sig George?

My wife keeps telling me she can see the blumming rain and doesn't need updates...every 5 minutes....of course that just amuses me even more!

[George]

How did you do your sig George?

TNET Weather: Cumulus PHP-GD Banner

There's some other stuff on that site that might be of use Tnet Cumulus Scripts - CumulusWiki

Might have found an answer to the wire easily coming adrift in the Arduino Screw Shield from Cool Components

If I could find some 3.5mm pitch screw connector blocks id make my own with some bread board, still at that price i suppose its worth buying.

Looking forward to the graphing addons neil

[yesyes]

I use these screw terminals:

10 - 3 Way PCB Screw Terminal Low Profile 5mm Connector on eBay (end time 24-Dec-10 16:51:05 GMT)

And I have this protype shield:

Prototype Shield v.5 for Arduino Duemilanove DIY set on eBay (end time 30-Nov-10 17:28:25 GMT)

And I use these connectors on the prototype shield to connect the sensors and later the LCDs.

10 - 8 Way JST XH Series PCB Connectors on eBay (end time 09-Dec-10 11:22:15 GMT)

[ncjunk]

Hi,

Just uploading a new version in yahoo of the cloud&focuser with a graph. You will have to make sure you check the "Install Source files" box and then go to

C:\Program Files\Common Files\ASCOM\Focuser\Source\SGL Cloud Focuser Driver\Resources

and register the NTGraph.ocx (The help file explains what to do). Basically you go to the dos console and navigate to the above directory and then type regsvr32 NTGraph.ocx

The driver then should...<cough>....should work....I reserve the right to completely muck it up and accidentally destroy the world due to infecting your computer with my incompetence.

Oh it will be fine! trust me!

Anyway, it is another update but just a basic graph with a menu to select the range of the y scale. Remember to click on Start logging as the graph is written to at the same time as the log file at the moment (I will make them independent).

Saludos!

[yesyes]

Looks like I should have been out imaging last night...

[George]

Hi,

Just uploading a new version in yahoo of the cloud&focuser with a graph. You will have to make sure you check the "Install Source files" box and then go to

C:\Program Files\Common Files\ASCOM\Focuser\Source\SGL Cloud Focuser Driver\Resources

and register the NTGraph.ocx (The help file explains what to do). Basically you go to the dos console and navigate to the above directory and then type regsvr32 NTGraph.ocx

The driver then should...<cough>....should work....I reserve the right to completely muck it up and accidentally destroy the world due to infecting your computer with my incompetence.

Oh it will be fine! trust me!

Anyway, it is another update but just a basic graph with a menu to select the range of the y scale. Remember to click on Start logging as the graph is written to at the same time as the log file at the moment (I will make them independent).

Saludos!

Thanks Neil, been a bit tied up this week (daughters 18th birthday plus my wifes and my brothers birthdays too)

Hopefully this weekend I can play

[ncjunk]

Well, it works but not very well...the graph gets to the end of the x axis then stops. I am looking at it a bit now. But apart from that the traffic lights work and the setpoints to switch them work.

There has been a thin layer of cloud for the last 24 hours and it has been interesting looking at the temperature difference between the two. It will be good when I get the graph working correctly.

[yesyes]

Does one of you have an SHT15 humidity sensor connected to the arduino? I thought I could just connect it parallel to the Melexis but it turns out the SHT is not-quite-I2C...

There is a library for it in the Arduino Playground. But it uses yet more digital pins and I'm running out...