Since I aquired an Losmandy G11 mount without any goto provision I decided to create my own solution. I was a bit reluctant to use a Gemini, mainly because of the cost, but also due to the reliability since the servo motors are somewhat prone to failure. I also like to have complete control over the software/firmware so that no "show stopper" issues will ever be a problem for me. Looking around the 'net I saw other goto systems that seemed capable, but either they had needlessly complex hardware or were commercial systems that cost about twice what they should.
OnStep is a computerized goto system, usually for stepper motor equipped mounts though any step/dir interface motor driver (including servo) should work. It was designed, from the beginning, as a more or less general purpose system and provisions were made in the firmware to allow for use on a variety of mounts including Equatorial and Alt/Az (GEM, Fork, Dobsonian, etc.) It uses an LX200 like computer command set with a few extensions to suit hand controller-less operation.
There's a telescope hand controller App for Android (free in the Google Play Store,) an option to control through a website (Smart Web Server,) and a dedicated physical hand controller (Smart Hand Controller.) Or, on a PC there's ASCOM and INDI drivers for control. These options allow you to setup and control OnStep using a wide range of software including my Sky Planetarium, Cartes du Ciel, Stellarium, SkySafari, KStars, PHD2, etc. You can see most of the control possibilities in the diagram below:
Also, please visit my StellarJourney.com site for updates, links to OnStep resources, my other astronomy software, or to see some Images taken with the assistance of my OnStep operated mounts.
If you find OnStep useful and would like to show your appreciation and support please consider making a small monetary donation. This keeps me motivated and helps cover expenses associated with my projects.
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Re: SHC not working
andrea tasselli
Thanks for getting back to me, Dave. The issue here isn't the display. When I connect the SHC to the PC via USB the OnStep Logo is splashed and the SHC tries to connect to OnStep.It is when is connected to the controller (BluePill) that it doesn't work. The led light goes up and that's it. JP3 is shunted and the resistor array orientation is correct. I checked the input voltage thru Pin 1 from the cable and it reads 4.2V.
Thanks for any help. Andrea
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Re: CNC V3 resistors
OK, I've had an hours sleep and some thought about this...
What could be better than tying the 10K resistor to 3.3 Volts? Here's photo of 10K resistor relocated to bottom of board and the above mentioned pullup resistors too...
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Re: Suggestion for the FYSETC S6 WIKI (Windows)
Gerry Byrne
Good thinking. Gerry
On Sun 10 Jan 2021, 16:28 Dave Schwartz, <Dave.Schwartz@...> wrote: In order to preserve the original intent as well as to provide this --
Copernicus
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Re: Suggestion for the FYSETC S6 WIKI (Windows)
Dave Schwartz
In order to preserve the original intent as well as to provide this shortcut, I've changed it to:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
* locate the file stm32CubeProg.bat. It should be at ~AppData\Local\Arduino15\Packages\STM32\Tools\STM32tools\1.4.0\tools\win\STM32CubeProg.bat but if the location changes in the future due to package updates you may need to search for it starting at ~\AppData\Local\Arduino15.
On 2021-01-10 9:19 a.m., Gerry Byrne wrote:
Starting to get my head around the preparations for flashing the FYSETC S6 but one of the issues that delayed me was not being able to find the stm32CubeProg.bat file in the Arduino15 folder that required address line editing. Searches, both directory based and system wide, failed to locate it until I decided that perhaps it did not exist. So I reinstalled the Arduino and CubeProgrammer software and tried again. System wide searches, using either the full filename or *.bat failed to locate it. A more focussed search in the Arduino15 directory using the full filename finally found it after a search ran for more than 15 minutes. My aging computer is slow but I could not believe it took could take that long.
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Re: SHC not working
Dave Schwartz
You should get at least the OnStep logo on the display... that is done before anything else.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Check that your display's pin order matches the order in which the PCB is routing them. Some OLED modules have the order VCC GND SCK SDA and others have GND VCC SCK SDA (i.e. the order of VCC and GND are reversed). Some modules also have zero-ohm chip resistors on the back that allow you to switch the order from the default, which is silkscreened on the front, to the other order. In order to accommodate this, I designed the ESP32 SHC PCB with jumpers to either side of the OLED header so that you could reverse the order without having to buy a different module or rework the chip resistors that you may or may not have. The Teensy PCB does not have such jumpers so your choices would be surgery or buy a different module (many eBay vendors offer both types explicitly now whereas before it was random as to what you got).
On 2021-01-10 8:58 a.m., andrea tasselli via groups.io wrote:
Hello everyone,
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Re: CNC V3 resistors
Well, I've graduated from brain farts to brain diarrhea...DUH
RA- is not the same as RA1- and looking at the Teensy SHC schematic will not help me with my ESP based SHC. Many apologies to all for the confusion. Guess I should take a break instead of working 48 hour shifts. Now climbing back under my rock with my tail tucked between my legs. Howard, If you can delete the appropriate... Please do. Ken
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Blue pill pcb
steven.sharp2@...
Hi All,
I am new to this group and am looking at converting my eq5 mount into a goto system, I have been trying to figure out how I purchase the blue pill pcb but with no luck, been on the wiki page and it seems the pcb need to be ordered from a pcb manufacturer this is proving difficult for us novices, can someone point me in the right direction please. Regards
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Re: Choice of output levels for auxiliaries
Sylvain Mennessier
I found, the problem comes from adding the line:
#define MEGA2560_ARDUINO_SERIAL_ON
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Re: Choice of output levels for auxiliaries
Sylvain Mennessier
I just upgraded v5.1.j, since the GPS configuration does not work
#define TIME_LOCATION_SOURCE GPS //
#define SerialGPS Serial2 //
#define SerialGPSBaud 9600 //
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Suggestion for the FYSETC S6 WIKI (Windows)
Gerry Byrne
Starting to get my head around the preparations for flashing the
FYSETC S6 but one of the issues that delayed me was not being able
to find the stm32CubeProg.bat file in the Arduino15 folder that
required address line editing. Searches, both directory based and
system wide, failed to locate it until I decided that perhaps it did
not exist. So I reinstalled the Arduino and CubeProgrammer software
and tried again. System wide searches, using either the full
filename or *.bat failed to locate it. A more focussed search in the
Arduino15 directory using the full filename finally found it after a
search ran for more than 15 minutes. My aging computer is slow but I
could not believe it took could take that long.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
All of which is a long way of suggesting that the bullet pointed Wiki line Open File Manager and navigate to ~\AppData\Local\Arduino15 in Software sub-heading Important, be changed to read: Open File manager and navigate to ~AppData\Local\Arduino15\Packages\STM32\Tools\STM32tools\1.4.0\tools\win\STM32CubeProg.bat. Open the file STM32CubeProg.bat in your favourite editor (etc, etc) Gerry Byrne
--
Copernicus
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SHC not working
andrea tasselli
Hello everyone,
I am trying to see whether the SHC I have built works. It flashed correctly. So far so good. ST4_HAND_CONTROL is set to ON and ST4_INTERFACE is set to ON_PULLUP in Config.h. When I connect the SHC to the ONStep box (BluePill) nothing shows on the screen and a red led is lit in the STM32. Nothing else. Is there a way to know what is going on and why it doesn't work? Thanks for your help Andrea
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Re: CNC V3 resistors
Howard Dutton
On Sat, Jan 9, 2021 at 11:07 PM, Ken Hunter wrote:
Checking the schematics, I see that the SHC (Smart Hand Controller) already has the pullup resistors installed (RP1). The various Home Brew schematicsThe RP's in the SHC are not for those signal lines. If you plan to enable the ST4 port install the pullup resistors. I'm not convinced that removing the 10K resistor on the CNC V3 is necessary. If it were a 2K resistor the resulting current to the MCU might be excessive but 10K provides only enough current to activate the logic circuitry, not burn it out.Mike is correct. The ESP32 is a 3.3V device and that resistor is putting 5V on that stepper driver enable pin. In general this is not ok and will result in reducing the life expectancy of that pin. Now that being said some 3.3V devices are designed to be 5V compatible. According to the datasheet the ESP32 isn't one of those devices though some speculate it has fairly effective protection circuitry built in.
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Re: CNC V3 resistors
Mike Ahner
On Sun, Jan 10, 2021 at 01:07 AM, Ken Hunter wrote:
'm not convinced that removing the 10K resistor on the CNC V3 is necessary. If it were a 2K resistor the resulting current to the MCU might be excessive but 10K provides only enough current to activate the logic circuitry, not burn it out.It is not current but voltage, a common problem with mixed technologies, hence it the need to remove it. It's in the Wiki, second paragraph main@onstep.groups.io | Wiki
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Re: OnStep ST4 interface in Config.h
In addition to the above, a lower case "on" caused a upload fail also.
It's the little things that mess you up! Ken
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OnStep ST4 interface in Config.h
Wemos D1 R32 with CNC V3...
// ST4 INTERFACE ------------------------------------------------------ see https://onstep.groups.io/g/main/wiki/6-Configuration#ST4
// *** It is up to you to verify the interface meets the electrical specifications of any connected device, use at your own risk ***
#define ST4_INTERFACE ON // OFF, ON, ON_PULLUP enables interface. <= 1X guides unless hand control mode. Option Selecting "ON_PULLUP" caused the upload to fail. Error message said that only OFF or ON were allowed. Ken
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CNC V3 resistors
I've been wondering why a resistor is disconnected (10K pullup) and a flat
pack or discrete pullup resistors are needed with the CNC V3 shield... Checking the schematics, I see that the SHC (Smart Hand Controller) already has the pullup resistors installed (RP1). The various Home Brew schematics do not show the pullup resistors. A note should be included in the build that states "the CNC V3 pullups are only required if the hand controller does not already include them". A better solution would be to state that "pullup resistors should be included in all home brew hand controllers" That way the possibility of "double pullups" would be eliminated I'm not convinced that removing the 10K resistor on the CNC V3 is necessary. If it were a 2K resistor the resulting current to the MCU might be excessive but 10K provides only enough current to activate the logic circuitry, not burn it out. Ken Hunter
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First light with Onstep based mount. Thanks y'all
I was finally able to convert my CGEM to use Onstep with Fysetc S6 board and belt drives. I see dramatic improvement in the auto guiding. However I think I have to adjust backlash settings a bit more and align the pulleys as I only did them by visual inspection. I do not have PEC sensor installed but used predictive PEC algorithm and got less than 1 arc-sec error and less than 30 very little DEC oscillations.
Here is a processed image of an 8 min exposure of Andromeda. I am not that good in processing yet. https://flic.kr/p/2kqFwiu A big thanks to Howard for this project on github, Khalid for help on forum postings. -Hemant
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Re: How to... Additional serial port for GPS .
Never mind... I just rechecked to download the new Beta and the changed validate.h
file is there now... Have no idea why I couldn't find it yesterday, probably a brain fart. It's difficult to teach an old dog new tricks! Ken
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Alt drive with foldable altitude bearings
mandimastro@...
Hi,
I have start working on motorizing my truss dob using the onstep system. I'm thinking to use the cable solution for the altitude bearing but my bearings are foldable. Is it going to work on this way or do I need adopt some other solution (friction drive)? What hapens when the alt bearings are folded for transport? Do I need to remove also the cable every time? This would be very tricky when do this on darkness and also time consuming.
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Re: How to... Additional serial port for GPS .
Thanks Howard...
I'm just learning to program and using this as an educational effort as well as a useful project. For my education could you please point me to the line number and file in the beta code? Ken
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