Lesve Dome

[Phil]

Hi everyone can someone help with this. I have got the motor running in both directions with the lesve dome driver on the computer which is good. I am having a problem with the bottom thing. It goes on the dome wall to tell the software what position the dome is in. After hooking it up and running the motor you would think there would be some kind of input to the computer. Can this be tested in any way to check if it is working. At the moment when hooked up i get nothing on the software saying that the motor is moving.
Phil

[Orion]

Hi Phil
I'm not to good with electronics so I can't help
but you might want to post your question in the Sofware & Computer section.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13

[Glenhuon]

Looking at the pic I'd say the box goes on the wall and the wheel with the holes goes up against the rotating part of the dome. If it is meant to be a "universal" setup you will probably have to calibrate it in some way before the computer can read it. The disc with holes looks like it passes through between a signal source and receiver, the software will need to know what distance or angle each on/off pulse represents. Might have to input the dome inside diameter or circumference and set a 0 point. Best I can do off the top of my head.

Best of Luck
Glenhuon

[jase]

For a “best I can do off the top of my head” Glenhuon, that was rather darn close. The wheel is an azimuth sensor to tell the ascom driver where the dome is pointing. The sensor is from the guys that make the homedome.

Phil… you’re embarking on some interesting territory of which I’ve partly been down. To answer your question. The sensor needs to wire back into the Vellemen K8055 USB board in order for ASCOM read the sensor. It connects to digital input no.1 and no.5 (see diagrams attached). The difficult part is mounting the sensor on the Sirius observatory. Usually around the lip of the wheel guard works ok, but you may need to paint the surface as you don't want the wheel to slip (or you'll lose the measurement). At the time I used a grip paint that is used on steps for non slip purposes.

I found this design a little frustrating and subsequently went down the MaxDome path – at considerable cost I might add. If you intend to also automate the dome shutter, MaxDome is really the only sensible way of achieving the task as it uses wireless to communicate between the controller and shutter - cables and rotation domes don't go well together. I also didn’t like the grey coder on the Vellemen board as doesn’t allow the use of a cloud/weather sensor – you need to buy another board to achieve this. These are minor hindrances, but it’s the little things that count.

[jase]

Forgot to mention that there are two drivers available (at the moment). 2.0.18 supports a cloud/weather sensor, while 2.0.22 (the latest) - does not due to the grey coder. You can get around this as previously mentioned.

[Phil]

Thanks guys i have the motor installed already to go and is working with the lesve dome software. I am able to run the motor with the computer. The problem is the sensor that reads where the dome is does not work. When wired up the motor runs fine in both direction but the sensor that tells the software where the dome is does not work. I was just wondering if this sensor can be tested to see if it is faulty.
Phil

[Glenhuon]

Sounds like the computer is not "seeing" the sensor. Check your software disk to see if there's an add in or "plug in" for the position sensor. If not I'd contact the supplier, you'll probably find the its a simple answer (I always do, and then think "why didn't I think of that" :))

Cheers
Glenhuon