Practical Projects: (continual work in progress)
For those of you who are interested in making and developing projects, some projects are better suited to sharing online rather than the printed page. These are complimentary resources for for purchasers of the third edition of The Astrophotography Manual.
They are kept up to date at intervals and the source code is published to GitHub.
These are shared with no guarantee, warranty, or liability, and while they may work for me, they may not for you. Everyone’s system is different and it is up to the user to check that these projects are robust, and do not cause any potential issues.
As such they are best seen as jump start to evolve for your own projects. The ASCOM driver templates have changed over the years and my drivers are DLL and EXE based. I will update over time to the later EXE format.
I have converted my Excel formats over to Apple Numbers, so that I can store them on iCloud and view on all my devices. There is nothing sacrosanct about these and feel free to modify and re-use.
Interactive Equipment System Checklist (updated version)
Refraction Effect on RA tracking
These are zipped JSON files of the sequences used in each instance. Each is made up of a startup, imaging and shutdown template. The Sync functions used in the server to control clients are bypassed if no additional NINA instances are detected, so the server sequence will also run a single camera system. I have experimented with ‘when unsafe’ trigger in some instances and call be reference; though these make the sequence easier on the eye, I have reverted back to standard NINA instructions. The following four files contain generic sequences.
Roll-off-roof - single/server camera
Roll-off-roof - additional client cameras
Roll-off-roof - Target Scheduler / server
Simple Environmental Conditions Monitor (Arduino / ASCOM)
This is an ideal starter project, to dip your toe into the do-it-yourself water.
Flat Panel Controller(Arduino / ASCOM)
This is another ideal starter project, to dip your toe into the do-it-yourself water.
Sky and Environmental Conditions Monitor (Arduino / ASCOM)
This is a more complex Arduino-based project, which will challenge building and software skills. It may require some modification if you use different sensors (e.g., the rain sensor).