Where is the roof open/close command ? Or maybe roof position ? I take it you're not in command of the roof from your remote PC. But when the observatory cloud watcher decides the roof needs to close, is that the moment your gear goes to the "Unsafe" routine ? Your scope is always clear of the roof ? Mine is not clear of the roof, so this would be tricky if not setup perfectly. CS, Miguel
I was doing these commands in the situation where I don't have control over opening and closing the roof myself - Pixel skies is in control of that. As far as I know, the rigs are all clear of the roof no matter position they are in. The .json files are there as a sort of basic starting point that you adapt to your particular setup. So, for example, you would add in an command 'Close Dome Shutter' in the list of instructions when things become unsafe and 'Open Dome Shutter' when they become safe again . If your scope isn't clear of the roof when in home position or when imaging then you would want to scope to return to the park position first, then close the roof which I imagine would be done by making those instructions under 'When Becomes Unsafe' a Sequential Instruction Set just like you probably have for your basic sequence end instructions when your sequence ends in the morning. I will be setting up my Cloudwatcher here at home as soon as the bracket arrives so I will have to adapt those .json files to my situation also where I control the roof opening and closing. Whilst my Skywatcher is clear of the roof in any position, my Meade 10" with it's dew shield isn't so I will have to make sure those instructions send the scope home first (where it is clear of the roof.... just) and then close the roof just like I currently have for my 'Basic Sequence End" set of instructions. I'll add a note in the description that the set of instructions I have provided is in the situation where I don't control the roof.
I need to dive deeper inti NINA. It's such a deep and complex piece of software. I may just have to man up and get my observatory connected. You have put a lot of energy into your set up. I hope you have all your program data backed up. LOL. Imagine having to start from scratch.
Yeah good point. Setting up NINA from scratch again isn't too bad as I recently had to do that with the rig in Spain that was running on SgPro. But working through the roof automation stuff and Arduino setup etc - now that would definitely give me a headache.
Thanks for the video I just figured this out myself and did almost what you did, wish I had found this first. I also have an old cloud watcher, which is what I am using to be my safety device. Now I need to see your other video to see if I missed anything :) Thanks again
Thanks Mike. This video was quite specific for the Spain rig but the most recent video is pretty similar with a few changes specific to my home setup. These Cloudwatchers definitely work very well. Clear skies.
Interesting video Logan! Nice to hear about your scope in Spain! Glad you’re getting plenty of clear skies from the northern hemisphere 😀 We are not getting much here in Uk at the moment! It can only get better🤞 Congrats on your impending 2k subs, well deserved mate👍
Thanks Simon. The weather has definitely taken a turn for the better in Spain (quite the opposite here though). Hopefully things improve in your neck of the woods. Haha yes I'm very slowly inching my way to 2k.
Nice video! Waiting for the second part, I also interested in the CloudWatcher to my currently-in-construction observatory. Not a lot of first hand info about it, so I will help for sure!
Thanks. I'm just waiting on a few last parts to arrive but keen to get it up and running as soon as possible. It seems to work extremely well for the remote rig setup in Spain so that gave me more confidence to go ahead and purchase it for my home obsy.
@@LogansAstro yeah, all I heard was good opinions... although not cheap. I am thinking about making a cloud watcher using an allsky and some IA stuff, but I'll have to buy the camera and the housing, so no free option out there 😅
Thank you Logan. This is very useful and I'll view this again once my observatory is built in another year or two. I'm curious about the instruction behind the instruction (if this makes sense). Where does NINA get the information from to determine whether it is safe or not? Is this from the external software linked to the cloud watcher?
I've yet to set up my Cloudwatcher but as far as I know, you set up your safety monitor device (such as the Cloudwatcher) and install it's software where you set the parameters for the safe and unsafe conditions. Then in NINA, with the Safety Monitor device connected to your PC controlling your rig and obsy roof, you connect to your Safety Monitor Device in NINA and NINA will get told from the Cloudwatcher software when it is safe and unsafe.
Grant is a sound guy met him a few times now at star parties & at the IAS no doubt I'll see him there again this year, good of him to download NINA to, it sounds like SGP is starting to get buggy nowadays which is a shame.
Yeah Grant has been very quick to act on any issues and he is very open to letting us installed which ever imaging software we are most happy with which is very accommodating. SgPro does seem to be quite buggy (and it's not just me who was experiencing this) so NINA is a breath of fresh air. I think more rigs there will be converting to NINA shortly.
Very interested in this - am hoping to put my rig in a remote observatory next year, so this is very relevant to me. One question - you turn the camera power off before disconnecting it - I assume that causes no issues (rather than disconnecting it with a specific instruction, then turning it off)
That's a good point. It doesn't seem to have any issues doing it that way around. I think that disconnecting NINA from the switch first would mean it can no longer communicate with the switch to turn the power to zero.
Where is the roof open/close command ? Or maybe roof position ? I take it you're not in command of the roof from your remote PC. But when the observatory cloud watcher decides the roof needs to close, is that the moment your gear goes to the "Unsafe" routine ? Your scope is always clear of the roof ? Mine is not clear of the roof, so this would be tricky if not setup perfectly. CS, Miguel
I was doing these commands in the situation where I don't have control over opening and closing the roof myself - Pixel skies is in control of that. As far as I know, the rigs are all clear of the roof no matter position they are in. The .json files are there as a sort of basic starting point that you adapt to your particular setup. So, for example, you would add in an command 'Close Dome Shutter' in the list of instructions when things become unsafe and 'Open Dome Shutter' when they become safe again . If your scope isn't clear of the roof when in home position or when imaging then you would want to scope to return to the park position first, then close the roof which I imagine would be done by making those instructions under 'When Becomes Unsafe' a Sequential Instruction Set just like you probably have for your basic sequence end instructions when your sequence ends in the morning. I will be setting up my Cloudwatcher here at home as soon as the bracket arrives so I will have to adapt those .json files to my situation also where I control the roof opening and closing. Whilst my Skywatcher is clear of the roof in any position, my Meade 10" with it's dew shield isn't so I will have to make sure those instructions send the scope home first (where it is clear of the roof.... just) and then close the roof just like I currently have for my 'Basic Sequence End" set of instructions. I'll add a note in the description that the set of instructions I have provided is in the situation where I don't control the roof.
I need to dive deeper inti NINA. It's such a deep and complex piece of software. I may just have to man up and get my observatory connected. You have put a lot of energy into your set up. I hope you have all your program data backed up. LOL. Imagine having to start from scratch.
Yeah good point. Setting up NINA from scratch again isn't too bad as I recently had to do that with the rig in Spain that was running on SgPro. But working through the roof automation stuff and Arduino setup etc - now that would definitely give me a headache.
Thanks for the video I just figured this out myself and did almost what you did, wish I had found this first. I also have an old cloud watcher, which is what I am using to be my safety device. Now I need to see your other video to see if I missed anything :)
Thanks again
Thanks Mike. This video was quite specific for the Spain rig but the most recent video is pretty similar with a few changes specific to my home setup. These Cloudwatchers definitely work very well. Clear skies.
Interesting video Logan! Nice to hear about your scope in Spain! Glad you’re getting plenty of clear skies from the northern hemisphere 😀 We are not getting much here in Uk at the moment! It can only get better🤞
Congrats on your impending 2k subs, well deserved mate👍
Thanks Simon. The weather has definitely taken a turn for the better in Spain (quite the opposite here though). Hopefully things improve in your neck of the woods. Haha yes I'm very slowly inching my way to 2k.
Nice video! Waiting for the second part, I also interested in the CloudWatcher to my currently-in-construction observatory. Not a lot of first hand info about it, so I will help for sure!
Thanks. I'm just waiting on a few last parts to arrive but keen to get it up and running as soon as possible. It seems to work extremely well for the remote rig setup in Spain so that gave me more confidence to go ahead and purchase it for my home obsy.
@@LogansAstro yeah, all I heard was good opinions... although not cheap. I am thinking about making a cloud watcher using an allsky and some IA stuff, but I'll have to buy the camera and the housing, so no free option out there 😅
Awesome and fantastic, Super amazing and fabulous presentation, Brilliant and Incredible work 👍👍✨✨
@@happinessloveyoursmile thank you, greatly appreciated
@@LogansAstro 🤗☀️
Hi Logan,
Got to LOVE NINA. Keep us posted on that "Cloud sensor".
@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy just waiting on one more piece to arrive and then will be installing.
Thank you Logan. This is very useful and I'll view this again once my observatory is built in another year or two. I'm curious about the instruction behind the instruction (if this makes sense). Where does NINA get the information from to determine whether it is safe or not? Is this from the external software linked to the cloud watcher?
I've yet to set up my Cloudwatcher but as far as I know, you set up your safety monitor device (such as the Cloudwatcher) and install it's software where you set the parameters for the safe and unsafe conditions. Then in NINA, with the Safety Monitor device connected to your PC controlling your rig and obsy roof, you connect to your Safety Monitor Device in NINA and NINA will get told from the Cloudwatcher software when it is safe and unsafe.
Grant is a sound guy met him a few times now at star parties & at the IAS no doubt I'll see him there again this year, good of him to download NINA to, it sounds like SGP is starting to get buggy nowadays which is a shame.
Yeah Grant has been very quick to act on any issues and he is very open to letting us installed which ever imaging software we are most happy with which is very accommodating. SgPro does seem to be quite buggy (and it's not just me who was experiencing this) so NINA is a breath of fresh air. I think more rigs there will be converting to NINA shortly.
Very interested in this - am hoping to put my rig in a remote observatory next year, so this is very relevant to me.
One question - you turn the camera power off before disconnecting it - I assume that causes no issues (rather than disconnecting it with a specific instruction, then turning it off)
That's a good point. It doesn't seem to have any issues doing it that way around. I think that disconnecting NINA from the switch first would mean it can no longer communicate with the switch to turn the power to zero.
Very useful ! Thank you! Telegram works over wifi or cellular data?
Thanks. Oh, that's a good point. As far as I know it works over both. CS