Getting the dome controls working at the desk was quite satisfying, and left me in the position of having a couple of quick projects to be worked on, and I’d have controls both at the desk and on the observing deck.

I started by installing the electrical boxes behind the desk, and for the main power switch. Then I started working through the installation of the wires at the desk, while the Jr. Maker started crimping the control wires for the observing deck. He finished crimping about the same time that I got the wire stubs for a pair of buttons figured out, so I started the task of installing the control wires into their box, which they will share with the power cable for the Sith handle LED. This is super-helpful, as it means that I have GND in the box already, so I didn’t have to bring it over from the motor control board.

In order to get things installed, I performed a much-needed upgrade to the LED power cable; I’d originally installed it using tiny 24ga wire, which doesn’t work great with the terminal blocks, and was also Way Too Short, so it’s difficult to work with the terminal block, because it’s jammed way up inside the box. I replaced the 24ga with (totally overkill, but more “standard” in my setup) 12ga wire. As I was reinstalling the LED, I belatedly remembered why I’d used 24ga in the first place — the wires with crimped ends wouldn’t fit in the chiseled-out recess I’d made (as an aside, I want to mention again how much I love that the handle appears to be lit “as if by magic”, because you can’t see any wires poking out). Luckily, I’d left the chisel very nearby, and so I took a few moments and opened up a little more space behind the mounting block, so the wires would fit. With that done, I was easily able to install the control cables and LED cable to the terminal strip.

With the control cables installed, and with GND available in the box, I used a jumper wire at the terminal strip to confirm continuity (between GND and various of the control wires), and also to mark the ends of the control cables (a nametag on each cable, and a marker on the “#1” wire of each end), which made hooking things up to the motor control board a lot easier.

In fact, once I hooked up to the control board, I swiped the control switches from the desk (alas, it was a good run while it lasted) and connected them to the new terminal strip, and all 4 directions worked, first try. Woot! It’s almost like I knew what I was doing.

So, dome movement controls are conveniently located under the dome where I can see what’s moving, and are also very close to the power switch. I still need to get things permanently enclosed in their outlet boxes, but otherwise, the upstairs UI is pretty much done at this point.

I need to finish off the cabling for the other two desk buttons, and run the jumpers from the outlet box to the desk, and then I’ll have dome control back at the desk, too.

Also on the near-term backlog, I have to swap out the NO shutter limit switches for some NC ones; those are awaiting installation. A quick buildout and install of the shutter control circuit, and I’ll be able to open and close the shutter without fear of grinding the cables to dust. At that point, I’ll be ready to add shutter control to the ASCOM dome automation routine.

I sent in a request for a full license of Lesvedome, as I’m confident after giving it a trial run that it will do the job.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *