The new GOTO mode had its ‘first light’ this week. I’m confident that it will simplify the demonstator’s work, especially when the weather isn’t optimal.
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Last wednesday evening, I could finally install a working firmware version that I had prepared the weekend before. Aside from the new GOTO functionality, it brings back some of the old functionality like “align to parking position” and the “sync on target” in StarryNight. Also included is a fix for the focus controller board which I forgot to consider when increasing the baud rate between the feedback board and RA box board to 57600 baud. The focus controller monitors the data from the feedback board for focus packets and switches the DC motor of the secondary mirror on and off to adjust the focus by moving the secondary mirror closer to or further away from the primary mirror.
The main new feature of this firmware version, however, is the GOTO mode. It works reliably enough to make it available to a broader group of people. On wednesday evening, when I was installing the new firmware, the members of the AGZU “adult group” (in contrast to the youth group that meets on saturday) had their monthly get-together in the observatory. They quickly learned how to work with the new GOTO mode. Two options exist: You can invoke the GOTO mode via the StarryNight application or directly via the buttons of the AGS terminal console. In this short video clip, you can see GOTO mode in action (invoked via the StarryNight application).
From the list of open points that I had listed last time, only one open point remains:
I have already measured the forbidden zone and will work on this point in the coming weeks. There are also other points to refine. E.g. if you carefully watch the video above, you can see at about 40 seconds into the video that the distance to target suddenly jumps to a completely wrong number...
(to be continued...)