Well it's been a while since an update, but really I've had so many other things to do. Hypertune and beltdrive an EQ6, modify an ED80 for autofocus, who has the time for all this crap
So a quick update on where we're at and my astrofest experience:
Recent mods:
- Replaced top right external 5V regulator with an internal one. It was originally external because I didn't know what load I was going to apply to it and didn't have any parts to make it internal, and extending the boardspace would have cost a fortune. Fortunately I came up with a bolt on regulator which is shown in the top right of the picture below. It still needs a heatsink.
- Also working on the AF module. Firmware is mostly complete. Software is mostly complete. And now I'm writing an ASCOM Focuser driver for it.
Astrofest what worked what didn't:
- It all worked

Well mostly worked. But it got me through a treat. We tested the battery fail over with a tripped circuit breaker on the third night. It worked an absolute treat. Except ...
- The "PWR FAIL" alarm was red on windows grey colour scheme. The problem with that is that when you put a red gel over the screen you can't see the alarm. Fixed that it's now a dark red.
- The environmental monitor was picking up internal heating as was the focuser temperature. Both registered about 4deg above the actual temperature so I'm revisiting the mounting locations of these.
- The controller locked up when I fired up my camera once. I then realised the only time it did so was when I didn't have a battery connected. Turns out turning on the TEC on the camera draws a sudden inrush current which is enough to drag the main powersupply down to the drop out voltage of my microcontroller causing it to reset. I resolved this issue by turning off brownout detection, however I still have an issue where if I don't have a battery connected and I turn on the TEC I get a brief power fail alarm. So brief that it really is just a log that power did fail at one point. I'm tempted to configure it to ignore the power fail if it doesn't activate for more than 200ms or something.
Otherwise my little creation did not miss a beat. Even when I tried to accidentally short it out it survived miraculously after sparking a bit.
Anyway back to visual studio. ASCOM awaits.