208 replies to this topic

[synfinatic]

Well now that I've actually tested it and it seems to work, I'm happy to publicly announce a project of mine: TeensyDSC.

 

Yes, it's another digital setting circles project, much like Dave Ek's or about a dozen others you might find on the internet, but mine is a little different then most- and not just because it's mine! 

 

First, mine is designed from day one to connect your encoders to programs like Sky Safari on your computer, iPad or Android device.  Unlike most projects which connect via a cable, TeensyDSC has a built in WiFi access point so you can connect to it wirelessly.  And being WiFi, it has much better range then bluetooth and will work with an iPad.  I've also designed a custom PCB (printed circuit board) which I have had professionally made so it's easy to install in a small enclosure and it can be powered via a USB connection or via 12V DC. 

 

The "brains" of TeensyDSC is something called a "Teensy 3.1" board.  If you've heard of "Arduino" it's a lot like that only cheaper ($20) and much faster (72Mhz vs 16Mhz) which opens up a lot of possible features in the future.   TeensyDSC will have no problem keeping up with 10,000 step encoders- actually it should be able to handle 100,000 step encoders if such a thing existed.  In the future, I'm thinking of adding other features such as a dew heater controller and more advanced features like you might find in other commercial products like the Orion SkyFi and Astro Devices Nexus.  

 

One little feature I have planned is the ability to use a button on a remote (so you can hold it in your hand) to "lock" the encoder values reported to SkySafari/etc. The idea is that when you're doing a 2 star alignment, you can lock the values so you don't have to worry about knocking the scope or anything while you reach over to the iPad and click a button. I'm open to other ideas as well, so feel free to make any suggestions.

 

And my project is completely open source.  You can modify everything- the software and even the PCB design if you wish and of course build your own for about $75-100.

 

I've posted more information up (and photos!) on my website and Github:

 

Latest post on my blog with some photos of my first board: http://synfin.net/so...m/tag/teensydsc

 

My web site describing the project: http://synfin.net/teensydsc

 

The Github project page with all the code & designs: https://github.com/s...atic/teensy-dsc

[freddiemercury1]

Very nice project! I came across your blog sometime ago. It is very interesting what you did. Did you write the code yourself?

[pbunn]

Are tested  PC Boards available now from the supplier?

 

Thanks

 

Pat

[synfinatic]

Yes, I wrote all the code myself.

 

Pat: So the short story is you can order the bare PCB direct from OshPark here: https://oshpark.com/...ojects/AmBE9CQm  The way OshPark works is that you get 3 PCB's in your order for $23.  Then you'd have to buy the components and solder them on yourself and then upload the program to the Teensy using your computer and a USB cable.  If you've never done this sorta thing before, it probably would be a bit daunting especially since I haven't taken time to write up step-by-step directions.

 

The longer story is:

 

I consider my project in BETA which basically means I've done a little testing and it seems to work for me.  There is still more testing I want to do (for example, I haven't yet tested powering the board via 12V DC yet) and some code improvements before I consider it "ready".  Hence I'm a bit hesitant to be offering up for sale anything just yet since I wouldn't want to take anyone's money unless I was really confident that it would work for them.  

 

There is also the issue that the software I used to design the board is the "not for commercial use" version.  If I wanted to sell individual PCB's or completed & tested boards, I'd first need to pay the software company some money up front.   It's not a lot of money ($70), but it would likely mean I'd be losing money on the deal unless I had a few people willing to buy complete boards from me.

 

Honestly, one of the reasons I started this thread was to gauge interest in this project and see if it makes sense for me to spend the extra money for the commercial version of the PCB design software and make this commercially available to others who might not be electronics savvy enough to build it themselves.  I'm not really looking to make money and honestly if you consider the hours I've spent on this project I would of been a lot better off buying an Astro Systems Nexus.  

 

The other reason for announcing it, is because there seems to be other people on this forum who are familiar with electronics & the Arduino who might be interested in helping me improve the project and make it even better.  For example, I don't have GoTo or tracking on my scope, so I have no way of testing any kind of features like that in the future.

[pbunn]

I have done quite a bit of electronics and building the board would be no problem. In fact, if the board was not available, I thought about doing it myself in my shop. I often produce single sided boards down to .010 trace width and sometime double sided, but not if I can accomplish what I need with zero ohm jumpers. I normally do through hole work but that is getting harder to do every day. I have been doing PC board work for quite a long time and also prototype building.

 

I am not an efficient computer programmer (I have done some PIC assembly programming, but am not a higher level language programmer). Loading the program should not be a killer, or I wouldn't think it would be.

 

Most of my electronics design has been RF related. I have a pretty much full RF lab and shop.

 

Pat

[synfinatic]

Hey Pat,

 

Sounds like you're probably more knowledgable about stuff like this then I am.  

 

Since OshPark sent me 3 boards and I only have one scope, I really don't need all of them.  Since I can't sell you the board, I'd be happy to just mail you one if you'd be willing to be a beta tester and provide constructive feedback.

[pbunn]

I'd love to give it a try and be glad to pay for your cost in the board and for shipping.

 

Pat

[synfinatic]

Quick update, I've just added the components for powering via 12V DC and it works just as expected.

[freddiemercury1]

Cool! I am excited to see how this project goes. Did you try it with a Android device?

Edited by freddiemercury1, 19 November 2014 - 09:58 AM.

[synfinatic]

I don't have an Android device to test with but there is no reason it shouldn't work.  I have a buddy who has one, next time I see him I'll see if he can join the wifi network.

 

The WiFi board I use creates a normal wifi access point and runs a DHCP server instead of using ad-hoc like other devices (which I know can be a problem for Android).  In the future I will probably support other modes like joining a wifi network or ad-hoc mode since the WiFi board supports that too.

[synfinatic]

So another update:

 

I've been designing the next generation PCB which adds:

 

2 RJ11 serial ports

1 3.5mm jack for camera shutter/focus control

1 3.5mm jack for a remote of some kind

Headers for an expansion board

 

The serial ports & shutter/focus will of course be accessible via WiFi so you can control your goto/tracking system.  The headers are for connecting additional functionality to the main board sorta like Arduino has shields for things like a dew controller.

 

The bad news is that I've realized the WiFly board I'm using for WiFi right now isn't ever going to be able to support things like serial ports.  This is because it only supports a single TCP port.  Basically this means it can only do one thing at a time.  So you could put it in digital setting circles mode or switch between each serial port, but it can't do all 3 at the same time which is kinda important.  The good news is that I've done a bunch more research and found another WiFi solution (http://www.shopwiznet.com/wizfi210) which supports multiple TCP ports and can function as an Access Point too.  

 

What does that mean?

 

The existing board design (what I called v0.5) will still work just as well as when it was released.  This means if all you care about is digital setting circles, then none of the above information is really changes anything for you.  It does mean however that work on the new design is going to take a lot more work then I originally expected because I need to do a lot more work designing the new PCB and rewrite a lot of the software.  Such is life!

[Jon Isaacs]

Aaron:

 

Your TeensyDSC looks very nice and very interesting.  While it seems more work will be needed to fully implement your original design goals, I think that it is likely that keeping things as simple as possible, i.e. DSCs only, might be a good place to stop with the design for now. 

 

Perfect it as DSCs, find the bugs, get some out there in the field, find out what people want, what they like and dislike. That's the time to do a redesign and produce version 2.0.

 

Questions: How much soldering skill is needed?  How long does it take you to populate the board?

 

Jon

[synfinatic]

Hi Jon,

 

Yeah, I totally get what you're saying.  That's one reason I first went with this simple design which just tries to solve one problem as a proof of concept.  It's also the feature that I most wanted and didn't want to buy a commercial solution for.

 

Things kinda went sideways once I realized the WiFi solution I originally picked wasn't going to scale up.  Even that WizFi module I found doesn't look like it will work now that I've actually read the programming API docs for it.  With winter nearly here and dew becoming an issue I was hoping to add the dew heater controller feature since I haven't yet bought a dew heater and pretending my time is free, it would be cheaper to build my own.

 

Honestly, I don't need the serial ports for anything.  I don't have goto/tracking and don't ever plan on adding it.  I originally included it because it seemed like a simple thing to do.  If I don't include those, I probably could get by with my existing WiFi solution.

 

The good news is I was able to finally take the scope out and do a full test- everything worked great! I used Altair and Shedar as my alignment stars and it had no problem tracking the scope and could use SkySafari to find other objects.  I've got a couple of photos of my setup on my blog here: 

http://synfin.net/so...nsydsc-it-works

 

I think my next task is just going to clean up and simplify the code.  I've already mailed Pat one of my PCB's and I still have one more if someone wants to give it a go.  I'll give that person the same deal as I gave Pat: I'll mail you the PCB for free, you buy the other parts (about $75) & assemble it and provide me feedback so I can make it better. 

 

As for your other questions:

 

I'd say it's a medium level soldering skill job.  There are a number of surface mount parts although they're generally of the larger variety (0805 for example).  I wouldn't recommend it as a first soldering project, but people with through hole soldering experience who are willing to try SMD should do fine.  If you power it via USB that reduces the number of required SMD parts significantly.

 

I've done one board and while I didn't time myself, it probably took me 30-45min.  I'm far from a professional when it comes to soldering so I'm sure someone who has a lot more experience could do it in half that time.

[pbunn]

Got the board Saturday and the DigiKey parts package today. Hope to get the Spark Fun stuff ordered this week.

 

Thanks

 

Pat

[synfinatic]

Great to hear Pat!  Keep me informed!

[Navy Chief]

Very interested in this project, thanks for sharing it. If you need any testers let me know, I am interested in building something like this for my AD-10.

[pbunn]

I have the parts now - just need some time to put things together.

 

Pat

[synfinatic]

Great to hear Pat.  Let me know how it goes.

 

Navy Chief: I have one more board left.  I'll offer it to you under the same terms as I did Pat.  Namely I'll mail you the board for free, but the rest of the components are up to you to acquire on your own.  Ideally you have some previous soldering experience and shouldn't be scared off that it doesn't have some pretty graphical or web interface- it's all command line.  

 

If that works for you, PM me your mailing address.

[Navy Chief]

I am comfortable with the soldering and putting all of this together so long as there is a bit of documentation to follow, I have looked over the github site for the project and it looks pretty straight forward. . I will PM my address..

[synfinatic]

The docs are what is currently written up on GitHub.  If you need more information, let me know.  I should be able to mail out the board tomorrow.

[Starman1]

This is great that more amateurs are experimenting with a DIY DSC.

Some are making the units unbelievable (e.g. AstroDevices), while others, like Aaron are in the KISS school.

It's a great time to have a dob.

Edited by Starman1, 17 December 2014 - 08:34 PM.

[synfinatic]

Thanks Don!  To be fair, I plan on adding more features in the future to give AstroDevices a run for their money.

 

That said, as I told Jon, you gotta learn how to walk before you fly so it's gonna be baby steps for a little while.  Right now I'm just hoping for clear skies this weekend. 

[synfinatic]

Just a quick update:  Last night I took out my scope out back to just play around and see what I could see.  Living in the Bay Area and during the holidays when everyone has extra lights AND a near 50% moon meant that the light pollution was really bad.  I didn't pull out my SQM, but at best I'd say anything dimmer then +3 wasn't visible with the naked eye- the Great Square was *just* visible.  I figured it would be a great test to see if this thing actually works.

 

After making sure the two screws holding the encoder rods were really snug, I aligned on a couple of stars and went looking for Uranus which was not at all visible with the naked eye.  At first I put in my 30mm 82* EP and the glow from the moon completely washed out the sky.  So I put in a 6.7mm 82* which has much less FoV and wow, Uranus was right there where my scope was pointed!

 

I then went looking for and quickly found the Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, Owl Cluster, the double cluster in Cassiopeia and every time it was right there in my EP when I looked through the scope.  The LP was just horrible so nothing was really that interesting even in my 12" scope, but other then the Orion Nebula I don't think I would of been able to locate anything by star hopping since there just weren't enough stars visible.  The dew started to form and degrade the views even further, so I packed up after a short viewing session, but it was by far much more successful then it would of been had I tried to do everything manually.

 

Anyways right now I'm working on some code to see if I can hack in a simple web server and allow people to configure the settings via a web browser.  Should be much more user friendly then the command line interface it has currently.   Not sure if it is going to work just yet, but we'll see.

[1E1HFPPE]

Hi Aaron ...

 

I am interested in building a board or buying a completed board from you.  I have a 20" Dob I made myself that I have been wanting to put DSC's on.  SkySafari is my preferred interface as well.

 

I used to be a professional programmer, but have been a software manager for quite a while.  My coding skills are not what they once were, but I can still get by.  I have done simple projects with an Arduino and am moderately proficient at soldering. 

 

What is the easiest thing to do?  I can order 3 boards from OshPark unless you want to make the jump into selling a finished board.

 

Thanks, Randy

[synfinatic]

Hi Randy,

 

Honestly, I haven't given any more thought to selling anything right now.   If it's something you're comfortable soldering yourself, then that's probably the quickest way for you to get a board.  No programming skills are required.  I've given away my other two boards, so sadly I can't send you one, but maybe you could sell the other two here.

 

Right now I'm hoping pbunn or Navy Chief follow up soon with their results and some questions/suggestions. Come to think of it, I probably should actually write up a simple manual.  Maybe I'll do that while I wait for the garage to warm up before I go out there and get some real work done.