Hi all,
So far we have had expressions of interest in participating in developing this unit from Kinetic (Steve), Bert (Brett), ChrisM (Chris), Hikerbob (Bob), and myself, mldee (Mike).
First off, I'll reiterate the basic concept as discussed so far;
The perceived need for a simple and low-cost USB-based controller, (The IISbox?) to take care of the general astronomy and housekeeping tasks involved in doing general hobby-level astrophotography using a "remotely located" backyard observatory. Remote means "from your living room or such"
Tasks that come to mind include:
1 - Remote focussing of multi-telescopes with reasonably accurate focus status and limits.
2 - Remote sensing and control of temp, humidity and dew heaters.
3 - Remote monitoring and if necessary, control, of home-brew cooled camera systems, including possible development of a simple generic TEC system and controller.
4 - Remote monitoring of various supply voltages and chargers, IP-based security cameras etc.
5 - Alarms and reporting for various functions that may cause damage if ignored, including unauthorised entry.
6 - Various simple switching and controls as desired to do such things as operate Roll-off roof motors, air circulation fans, lighting, etc.
7 - Integration of the unit into a simple home LAN, wired and wireless.
8 - Possible future integration into commonly used scope control systems such as ASCOM.
What is it NOT meant to do: Anything that can be easily bought or done at the moment with existing items. This includes mount control and goto, camera control functions, image processing, sky charts, off the shelf scope adaptor hardware, breadmaking, etc, etc.
The intent is to fill the hole for items that are difficult or impossible for the average home-based astonomer to find or easily build.
We don't really want to get into investing loads of our time in circuit and board design, testing, etc, so the intent is to wherever possible, use off-the-shelf electronic assemblies such as electronic kits, etc, and integrate them with some accompanying simple PC-based control software so that the basic functionality above can be achieved. If a function can't be done with this approach, we probably shouldn't include that function in our first attempt.
Doesn't sound overly elegant, does it? But I believe it's the most cost-effective way to quickly achieve most of the objectives without spending excessive hours and needing PhD's to make it work. And the intent is a la Mal Bertel's;
Labour's free, the skills are free and the knowledge is free. Nobody get's paid or gets any rights to the item, me included. There will obviously need to be some form of organised approach to providing the finished unit concept to interested users, but we'll discuss that further down the line. We have enough on our plate now just to get the thing off the ground.
It may well be that as the project progresses, others may wish to join, great, and it may well be that as other ideas and skills become available, a bigger and more sophisticated approach may later become viable. I hope so, because it will mean that the initial objective has been reached successfully. But for the time being, it's a 'Keep It Simple' approach to start off.
BTW, skills needed in the group will include simple electronic integration, simple PC skills including basic LAN knowledge, simple programming in VB, C++, etc, some general aesthetic skills to see if we can make the thing look at least presentable in its final form, basic technical documentation, basic machine shop design/fabrication and large loads of enthusiasm and common sense.
I have electronic and PC/LAN skills, live in the west of Brisbane, am retired and have plenty of time on my hands (If you haven't already guessed!)
Time frame? I would guesstimate that a working breadboard of basic functions should be available for beta test in 3-4 months, subject to manpower and enthusiasm.
Enough from me, I'll leave it open to the floor for comments, suggestions and new ideas.
