

- Stellarium telescope control plugin how to#
- Stellarium telescope control plugin install#
- Stellarium telescope control plugin serial#
- Stellarium telescope control plugin portable#
- Stellarium telescope control plugin free#
Solder, shrink tube, cable ties, tape, etc
Stellarium telescope control plugin serial#
Wire and connectors from scrap (old serial or VGA cables, usb cables. Plywood (5mm and 3 mm thick) and some pieces of wood (12x12mm) Metal plate (I use 2mm aluminium plate I took from an old cabinet, but steel should be fine)
Stellarium telescope control plugin install#
Also, I always like to use recycled materials or something that I can salvage from scrap.Ī laptop with stellarium and arduino IDE (you can download and install both for free)Ģ bearings 5175 (5mm hole and 5mm thick), but you can use othersĪrduino DUE and USB cable (UNO have a lot of limitations for this project.)Ī small proto PCB to solder the components (instead, you can work with a breadboard)Ģ springs (you can remove from a pen.) or 2 rubber bands It also should have a low budget, otherwise, it would be better if you just buy what you are looking for. In my opinion, a DIY project should be something that you can make in your garage using your own tools. It will cost you some time and (a lot.of) patience, but you will be pleased with the result. Install and config Stellarium to work together with your controller Program the controller to calculate coordinates and communicate with a computer Now, that you are already introduced to this "little" project, a summary of what you need to do is:įind a way to place 2 position sensors (encoders) to read azimuth and altitude Ĭonnect them to a controller like Arduino īuild the hardware interface (elementary electronics)

It's easy to interact with I/O ports, both digital and analog It's very versatile and flexible (I/O ports, communication, etc) You can easily add a lot of shields and sensors specially designed for Arduino, or you can adapt others įor most of the projects, it's reliable enough It's easy to find libraries that can help you using a lot of different things Have a huge community and tons of information online I personally prefer Arduino for several reasons, including:
Stellarium telescope control plugin how to#
This instructable will guide you, step by step, how to complete your own controller using Stellarium (astronomy software) and Arduino (open-source prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software).Īnd, why Arduino? Well, there is not a simple answer for that. If you are not interested to spend thousands in a go-to mount, this will give you a really good help when you start to point your telescope to the sky Your telescope will become "famous" among your friends Your telescope will be customized to fit your needs You can control your own budget and keep it below 50USD It's a good contribution to learn a lot of new things (otherwise skipped by using a ready to use solution) like: alt-azimuth and celestial coordinates, local sideral time, earth movement, spherical trigonometry It will be a lot of fun trying to do something new Why build a controller instead buying a ready to use one? However, because of my electrical background and because I like to consider myself hobbyist, my first thought was: - I can (and I will) build a DIY controller for my telescope.

You can say: Yeah! Buy a goto telescope and you will see your problem solved! Well, you are absolutely right!

Stellarium is an open source project with a lot of helpful astronomy features, including a plugin that allow a connection between a computer and a telescope controller (like celestron, meade or sky-watcher).Īfter a couple of nights using my telescope, I realized that it should be helpful if, at any moment, I can compare my telescope position with the position of the target that I am looking for. To help you to know the sky, there are several software's you can use and stellarium is my favorite one.
Stellarium telescope control plugin portable#
It's a nice mount (cheap, portable and very easy to use), but to get what you want to see, you need to know the sky like the palm of your hands (which can be a problem to a beginner like me.!). Recently, I bought a 8" Newtonian telescope that came with a Dobsonian mount. Just set your coordinates and go.I am fascinated by astronomy since the first time I looked to the night sky. It is being used in planetarium projectors. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
Stellarium telescope control plugin free#
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer.
