Controlling your telescope via PC

[burf2000]

Since watching Stargazer live (I very new) I am getting some crazy idea's. Primarly I am a software developer who had a bit of a hobby building computer controllered robots out of Lego (NXT's and advance sensors) and the odd search engine (This is based on my lust for data)!

Anyway, I got a telescope for xmas because I am of course interested in the sky and like the idea of controlling it from my PC (Its has a Sky-Watcher SynScan AZ GoTo which can be controlled via Stellarium (NexStar protocol))

However I want to remotely control it, now of course it would be fitted with a webcam and thats pretty simple to stream but has anyone (sure you have) written anything to removely control the scope? Could be great fun

[BenG]

If the remote PC is networked you should still be able to control it with stellarium:

http://www.stellarium.org/wiki/index.php/Telescope_Control_plug-in

[cgarry]

I control my scope with EQMOD and when webcamming planets I often control the setup from the warm inside my house by using to VNC to control a small netbook at the scope. No new software required for that though.

I have also heard talk of wireless USB being used to control the scope and cameras remotely. I have never tried this myself.

Cheers,

Chris

[brantuk]

Yup I've seen scope control and imaging being done over wireless usb simultaneously and broadcasting to a tv monitor. Saw some smashing live views of the sombrero galaxy on screen. It was using either Minitron or Watec cameras - can't remember which

[Nillchill]

Hi burf and welcome to SGL

I am also looking to do something similar, but I am looking to write apps in Python to control my setup

here are some links that I have found to control my Webcam

VideoCapture - A Win32 Python Extension for Accessing Video Devices (e.g. a USB WebCam, a TV-Card, ...)

WebCamSpy - Python Webcam server

technobabbler Blog Archive drive a webcam with python

hope this helps

cheers

[Beyond_Vision]

There are quite a few people on here who have remotely controlled setup's so that they can stay in the warm if they want to. They are usually controlled by a PC local to the mount and controlled over an ethernet wired or wireless link using a remote desktop software. It's also possible to use USB repeater cables or wireless USB or bluetooth connections. Most planetarium programs can control a telescope through and application interface program called ASCOM if you google it there is a raft of info.

Regards

Kevin

[burf2000]

Thanks everyone for some great info. I think when I next have some time I might see if I can get my iPad to talk to it. It's only a thought at the mo as there is no way I leaving a pc and scope in the garden lol. It's open planned

[MikeWilson]

Thanks everyone for some great info. I think when I next have some time I might see if I can get my iPad to talk to it. It's only a thought at the mo as there is no way I leaving a pc and scope in the garden lol. It's open planned

I used to have my iPad controlling my scopes via a Sky-Fi unit and the SkyGazer app. It worked rather well and it's a great way to quickly get up and running with a portable planetarium control rather than going to the relative trouble of EQMOD or the relative restrictions of just a hand controller.

[NickK]

Since watching Stargazer live (I very new) I am getting some crazy idea's. Primarly I am a software developer who had a bit of a hobby building computer controllered robots out of Lego (NXT's and advance sensors) and the odd search engine (This is based on my lust for data)!

Anyway, I got a telescope for xmas because I am of course interested in the sky and like the idea of controlling it from my PC (Its has a Sky-Watcher SynScan AZ GoTo which can be controlled via Stellarium (NexStar protocol))

However I want to remotely control it, now of course it would be fitted with a webcam and thats pretty simple to stream but has anyone (sure you have) written anything to removely control the scope? Could be great fun

You may want to check out ASCOM for the PC. So alot of this work is available already.

You may want to search the posts for star catalog discussions - both the stellarium 1.2GB 114M star catalog and the 148GB modern star catalogue are available.

I've written camera control on Blackfin before, although at the moment I'm hard at work on Astronomy on OSX (AOSX). Which is progressing after a redesign and personal delays.. (also an old developer - SE degree and 13+ years experience)

On issue you will find is that you'll want to remote control the mount next... then other bits as it gets addictive