Been about eight months since I got the observatory up to a usable stage but now it’s time to motorise the dome, particularly the azimuth axis. For this part of the project I will be basing the system on “OnStep Observatory Control System (OCS) an of shoot of “OnStep Telescope Mount GOTO Control System”
Links
https://onstep.groups.io/g/main
https://onstep.groups.io/g/onstep-ocs
OCS is based on using Arduino type boards. For my system I will be basing my OCS around the ESP32-S2-Saola-1R boards which I purchased from Little Bird Electronics (
https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/). The reason for this particular choice is the ESP32 has a large memory 2MB as compared to the Arduino Mega 2560 which is 256KB. Found out the hard way when uploading the firmware on the Mega 2560. It turns out some features of OCS need a bit of memory and therefore the Mega 2560 is quite limited.
Motors for driving the azimuth axis will be two by, NEMA 17 Stepper motors fitted with 10:1 gear box. Why this choice, they were purchased for a GOTO dob project but never actually used. These will be mounted opposite to each other to help centre the dome during operation.
Finally have also started redesigning and manufacturing new rollers for the dome to roll on, moving from 16 to a total of 20. Pictures to follow. Plan to have the new rollers in place by the end of the week. Will also replace the skirt in coming weeks.
Stay tune
Cheers Anthony
