lukepower

Hi Gerhard, thank you for your consideration. Well, I guess we'll end with either a Casssegrain with the camera in prime-focus, or a newtonian scope. Myself, I just mounted a Cassegrain-Newton (interchangeable secondary mirrors) with about 105kg total weight on my DDM85XL and have no issues (besides the really stringent balancing). If I could make a wish to ASA, I would ask for a brake or something like that to lock down the tube once the scope is parked. In my case, once I close the main mirror covers, the little weight shift is enough to make the tube move and hit the roof

Hi there, I am still in the process of getting the new tube running, and today was the mirror cover day. ASA kindly replaced the original controller unit (either my fault or something wrong, but it wasn't working). The new unit works, I actually can open and close the lids manually through the software. What is not working are the automatic modes: If the lids are closed and I hit "open", nothing happens. If the lids are open and i hit "close" they close for about 30% of the needed way. I guess I have to change something with the settings, but I have no Idea which ones are the correct ones for my covers. Has anyboy an idea or even a manual for this? Thanks

Hi Nigel, I actually have a light reflection sensor to monitor for the correct park position of the telescope. In theory, as soon as I turn off everything, the sensor would inform the roof controller if the telescope is still "Safe" (ie. in its park position) or not. If not, the roof wouldn't open and nothing would be hit. I could also work with foam, but my major concern is if it hits the roof while it is opening or closing (happened once, ruined my concrete base). Regrettably, the observatory building's dimensions have been limited by various factors, including the neighbours I had once a dome, but it was simply too small for the new 20" scope :/

Hi Nigel, I actually mean power on and motors on, like when you park the scope (but leave the motors on). I am seeking a way to hold the scope there no matter what happens, as I have a mere 6cm of room between the parked scope and the roof. A slight misbalancing, maybe caused by the motion of the focuser, could be enough to ruin my day

Hi there, I was wondering how much current the DDM85 (in my case XL) drwas once it has been parked, like during the day. I used to power off everything after the night, but my remote setup is very position-sensitive to avoid collisions with the roll-off roof, so now I am considering to simply leave everything powered on. What would the motors consume? My guess would be that, a properly balanced telescope should need very little force and so very little power to keep everything fine, or am I wrong here? Thanks

Hi Pedro, Linux would be an interesting piece to do, but with only Autoslew running there it wouldn't help that much, would it? MaximDL, Pinpoint also would need some sort of Linux counterpart (I know, there are some pieces of software out there). I presonally would, at this point, miss all the scripting offered by ASCOM, as INDI doesn't look that complete to me right now. But hey, Autoslew looks like a VisualBasic.NET application, so it should be relatively easy to compile using Mono for Linux

Hi Michael, I used sometimes MoinMoin, which is quite simple. there is a cool site where you can choose wiki softwares depending on your exact needs (like, what your hosting offers ): www.wikimatrix.org. I think the most important thing is a WYSIWYG editor, to keep things easy for all users, and of course a user management system

Die Dietmar, thanks for your answer. Well, how much would be a problem? It should be mounted in Namibia and enjoy not only the clear skies, but also crisp winds... Thank you

Hi there, I am a proud user of a DDM85XL; so for a (theorical) project of a few friends and mine we are aiming for a DDM160, as we play with the idea of a VERY large scope sitting on it. We think about a huge Newtonian scope, where the tube would be as long as 2700mm (!), and weight about 250kg. Alright, the weight might be within the limits of the DDM160, but what about the tube lenght? I recall long refractors weighting not so much, but requiring serious mounts just because of their size... Thanks for your comments

Hi Michael, I would also like to add myself to the testers Thank you Lukas

Gerhard, I definitively like the Hubble-palette version! The details are simply amazing! I guess that, together with your obvious excellent processing, the optics in Namibia helped to get this result Definitively have to get back there soon. Lukas

Looks good now I won't sleep well until the new optics are here and on the mount

Hi, well, I think both A and B are not completely correct in terms of what is written... "Axe Pôle Nord" is definitively wrong how it is written there, but the remainder is correct. The orange line pointing South is of course not pointing to Polaris (how could that be?), but pointing South. The scope, as it is drawn on "A" is right now pointing to Polaris. COnsidering the (original) drawing of "B", that is also correct, this time with the axis pointing to Polaris drawn in the right direction. It looks like a side view to me... It should be really simple: The second, upper part of the bend pier shall point to polaris

Thanks Gerhard, I'll have to look into it as soon as I get the scope. Clear skies

Alright, in case somebody needs it: Telescope = new ActiveXObject("AstrooptikServer.Telescope"); Telescope.Connected = true; Telescope.Tracking = true; Telescope.Park(); Telescope.Connected = false; This starts Autoslew if needed, issues a Park command, and closes it Save it as "scriptname.js" and it should run on Windows.

Hi there, I am considering right now how to use the "Script" command of AAG CloudWatcher: The idea would be to signal Autoslew (in case it is running) to park the scope, so that the roll-off roof can be closed. I'd like to program it in the simpolest possible fashion, so that if other parts fail (example: ACP) the system can still reach a "safe" state. I do have a sensor signaling if the scope is parked (done with a light sensor), and the AAG Weather Sensor has a relay signaling an unsafe weather situation. I would "only" need to tell Autoslew to get the scope parked. Has anyone a script doing that? Thank you

Hi Gerhard, interesting... The coming week I should finally get my new scope, then I'll try my luck from these alpine skies here. Also waiting on the new Sequence version If I may ask, are you using a guide scope or a Off-axis guider? I guess that, with that big-chip'ed camera, it is not easy to find a decend off-axis guider... Thanks Lukas

Spectacular details, Gerhard! I noticed you went for 1200sec subs, are they guided or did you relied on Autoslew or MLPT? CS

+1 from me, would definitively make sense It would be even better if there would be something like a temperature control/reading to use (but I guess that would need some external sensor)

Nigel, I know it's off-topic, but I used to have a ScopeDome 3m version, which I ultimately sold as I had too many issues with it to use it remotely as planned. Is the 4m version better in that regard? To be specific, I had trouble with the cable connecting the fix to the moving part getting messed up at some point during the nights, and also the gear driving the cog-rim sometimes "jumping" from the rim, ultimatively leaving the dome un-motorized. For the remainder, I also go with a DDM85XL and a soon-to-be-installed 50cm-Cassegrain-Newton Lukas

Hi Simon, Grüezi Man, I saw that on facebook a while ago, it's impressive. Too bad I cannot go and mount a scope on the Sassolungo or Marmolata, that would be a nice line-of-sight to yours Best regards Lukas

Hi SImon, keep the fingers crossed By the way, how is your DDM160 working? What kind of equipment have you put on that "beast"? Regards, Lukas

Hi Simon, well, I (and a few others) noticed that, when tracking is turned off, Autoslew always returns "AtPark: true", even if it is not parked. It was "interesting" at the time I used to have a dome, but now with the roll-off roof it is simply bad. I don't know if it is anyhow related to your issue, but it sounds to me like another glitch in the related code. I really hope that ASA will come out with an updated Autoslew version soon, it has been a long wait... Lukas

Ciao Cristina, I guess that it has something to do with the magnetic angle. When you turn on your mount (well, the motors actually), Autoslew searchs for this data, and at least with my mount it sometimes fails. This results in strange tracking problems. I then usually simply restart Autoslew, and more often than not the problem is gone. It's just stupid when it happens in an automatic session in the night...

Hi Bill, alright, I left the system run last night without issues, so the workaround seems to work reasonably well. FInally, after nearly 9 months of work, it seems like the obs is working now as hoped