ScopeDome dome controller quick how-to for INDI driver

ScopeDome dome controller quick how-to for INDI driver

For more informations and support please contact with Jarno Paananen.

INDI repository info: https://indilib.org/devices/domes/scopedome.html

Please note that currently the driver only supports version 2.1 controller.

Connection options

ScopeDome USBCard controller communicates via USB serial port at 115200 bauds. The device is using FTDI serial adapter but with custom product attribute so it's possible to use a specific udev-rule to create the symlink:

SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{product}=="ScopeDomeUSB Card v2", SYMLINK+="scopedome", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"

Main controls

Main controls shows information about current device status and most used controls:

  • Control of shutter
  • Control of dome azimuth, either absolute or relative to current position
  • Abort button aborts any movement in progress, both dome rotation and shutter
  • Parking and unparking, which optionally also opens and closes shutter
  • Find home rotates the dome counter-clockwise until home sensor is activated
  • Derotate rotates the dome back close to counter value 0 as there is a limit on both directions how far the dome allows for rotation, the value is around 14000.
  • Power relays on the controller can be toggled on and off
  • Other relays can also be toggled on and off here. Relay 1 is by default reset and is useful if link to the rotary part has been lost for some reason.

Options

Three different azimuth presets can be saved and used from this tab.

Slaving

This tab controls slaving of the dome to telescope movement. This way the dome always rotates so that the telescope is in the middle of the shutter opening. The values here are for German equatorial mount, but can also be used for Alt/Az mounts by setting OTA offset to 0.

  • Slaving can be enabled and disabled
  • Meridian side is shown here, it's normally snooped from the mount but can be overriden
  • Autosync threshold controls how far from current dome azimuth the mount is allowed to go before dome is moved
  • Radius is the dome radius, here the dome is 2m in diameter
  • Shutter width
  • Displacements are how far the RA/DEC axis intersection is from dome center, negative for S/W/Down
  • OTA offset is how far from the RA/DEC axis intersection the OTA center is, relevant for German equatorial mounts only, should be zero for Alt/Az mount

Site Management

  • Park position sets the azimuth to which the dome is rotated when parked
  • Park options sets park position to current azimuth or default 0 degrees. Write data needs to be used after changing the position
  • Close automatically options are not yet implemented, but would specify conditions when the shutter should be automatically closed
  • Home sensor position sets azimuth of the dome home sensor which is used to orientate the dome.

General Info

This tab shows general info from the controller like sensors (temperatures, humidity, air pressure), voltages, input sensor states and firmware versions of the main controller and rotary part.

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