Long time no see? …

After a long delay due to high workload over xmas sales and having to move house (again), the telescope goto mount progresses.

The man-cave is now mostly setup as a workshop and various projects begin once again.

Man-cave

*A-hem* back to the project …

Programming the PIC Micro goes into gear with the motors now controlled by an interrupt service routine. The timer is on about a 5ms tick. each tick it tests the speed setting of each of the 3 motors. If the motor is within 10 degrees of the aim the speed is set to slow by the main routine else it’s fast. The ISR will either tick the motor over every interrupt on fast, or every 4 ticks on slow.

Perhaps a tad rough but its a start and it works (well after much debugging and swearing as usual ).

With only 5ms per tick I needed to keep the ISR code as simple as possible, my first attempt had it too slow and there wasn’t enough time for the LCD code in the main routine to work!!!

Also I found the motors turn much smoother and stable with the ISR control. Though I’m not convinced the steppers I chose will be strong enough for the end design but at least they are easy to swap over.

For those of you who may be interested in the code just let me know in the comments, if needed I’ll clean it up and post it.

So onward to sleep back again soon I hope!

Thanks!

- Radan.

ET-Base40 Proto board with PIC16C877 cpu, 2-line LCD Display, Stepper motor and driver board. Wired up for first test.

After several attempts re-learning ‘C’ to program the pic, I have the motor on a swing with the rotation on the LCD display.

Unfortunately due to working on it late at night a couple night ago, I managed to fry one driver chip and destroy a motor. Oh well, progress is not without some costs. (about $7, not really a concern)

Here’s a youtube shot of the action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIUbCfqXFwA

Time to get back into it, more work to be done!

Thanks!

Radan.

Added yet another hobby to my list (actually a few inc some gadgets but later)

Saw a jigsaw puzzle in a Toy & Sports shop located in Milton NSW that I just HAD to get, actually they had about a dozen of them I wanted but just one for now…

Heres a link to the site and a picture of the one I purchased (1000 piece – should take me a while )

Awesome! It’s just so me

I’m thinking I might Webcam the construction, not 100% sure yet, going to test the feasibility of it.

(if you think I should webcam it let me know by comments!)

Other new events are gadget purchases that have kept me busy along with watching more anime and playing Wii games. My partner and I have been stuck on playing Rune Factory for the Wii, complex game, sometimes frustrating, but awsome fun as well.

Purchased myself a MID – Mobile Internet Device, basically a cheap iPad type thing, 7″ screen, reasonably light and portable, runs 3 systems, Android, Windows CE6 & Ubuntu Linux. Lots there for me to tinker with ( and being a cheapish unit it needed a little tinkering )  Half the price of the iPad and far more ability to tinker…

Learning Java as I can, thus the MID purchase with Android being java based and potential profit maker if I can start developing apps for it…

Well that’s most of my catching up, let me know about the webcam thing, or any other comments, any suggestions on apps?

seeya again soon!

ttfn.

Radan.

Now has a new base box to bolt it firmly to the tripod.

Also a new mounting plate for the telescope itself to position the center of gravity a little better, also drilled 4 positions for it so I can move it as needed depending on the weight of the camera attached etc.

The unit is now usable again! Next step is to motorize…

I’ve been into astronomy for a long time now, having had a few different telescopes and binoculars. My current telescope is a Tasco Galaxsee reflector with a 4.5″ mirror, 114mm x 500mm focal length.
My problem with this telescope has always been the RA mount, being confusing and time consuming to setup and find anything useful. So since I also use a computer program to track stars, planets etc and starting to get into astrophotography using a webcam, I’ve been wanting a computerized ‘GOTO’ mount to hook up to my laptop for easier locating and tracking of objects, especially to go with the astrocam applications.

Now the easiest way to achieve this goal would be to purchase one, but since they’re all about $500 upwards and that I have limited funds, I figured I should make it a real hobby and build one.

The following are the current and planned steps, I’ll blog further as I progress to the final product.

Thanks and enjoy!

Radan.

–

Step #1: The Design:

The Sketch

Step #2: The 1st Build (just the mechanics):

Step #3: The Stabilised Mount: TBA

Step #4: The Motors: TBA

Step #5: The Electronic Controller: TBA

Step #6: The Computer Interface: TBA

Step #7: The Final Product: TBA

For some time now my girlfriend (a very active blogger) has been pestering me to start up my own blog site, so here it is!

I’ve never been much of a vocal person, previous websites have been plain and simple without many updates. The only thing I updated regularly was the photo gallery… I’m hoping with this site to be more active and refresh the content more often.

I’m doing this for many reasons, mainly to push through some changes in my own self being, as the problems with being too reserved is that I’ve missed many opportunities and have fallen behind in many projects. I’ve always believed that I can do anything I set my mind to and still do believe, but in the past I’ve not done things for the irrational fear of sticking my neck out too far and getting it cut off or upsetting others by my actions. Basically I’ve always tried too hard to avoid conflicts at my own expense… ( in some cases causing conflicts by avoiding others! )

So hopefully with this site and other changes I’m making to my personality and activities in life I can bring about more positive results for myself and those I around me. I’ve realised that I must act to achieve the things I want in life before they become out of reach. At 35 years old I have missed too much but can still achieve a lot if I act now.

The first 2 posts I’ve made when setting this site up are from my old website, as I work on this blog I’ll no doubt post more such thoughts, dreams or strange experiences. I also hope to integrate a working gallery of some sort, similar to what I had on the old sites, but for now I’ve put a few up for the sidebar random pics.

Other directions for this blog (which may change over time) will be about my hobbies such as the computer programs I work on, games I play both online and offline and indeed my photography.

So keep an eye on me, don’t expect daily updates but I should be able to make something fairly regular. Indeed feel free to prod me as always people trying to change their life need to be reminded of their commitments. This is why I’m linking this new blog to the changes I want to make in my life, by committing myself before others to make changes I become accountable for them, no longer can I hide inside myself from the world. So here I am, taking my big step forward, committing myself to continue this momentum and achieve something good in life.

Thankyou for visiting my blog and I hope to see more and contribute more as time goes on.