Disclaimer: This program is not distributed by AstroHaven Enterprises. It is provided to the users community for free, under the Creative Common 3 license.
This is my implementation of an ASCOM Driver which can interact with the console of your AstroHaven dome via its serial connection. The driver is built in C# using the open-source ASCOM Driver Visual Studio template , provided by the ASCOM Initiative.
In order to use this driver you will need to install the ASCOM Platform and the .NET Framework 4 (which may already come with the ASCOM Installer).
If you want to modify this driver, you will also need to install the ASCOM Platform 64bit Developer package available on the same release page (ASCOMPlatform64Developer.exe).
I aimed at building a generic driver, but if you notice some differences of behaviour with your particular version of the AstroHaven dome, please raise an issue or propose a code change via a pull-request.
Just a reminder that in order to successfully build the project, it is preferrable to run Visual Studio as an administrator.
In order to build the installer, you will need to install Inno Setup, the free installer for Windows programs by Jordan Russell and Martijn Laan. Open the file AstroHaven.Dome Setup.iss with Inno Setup and press the run button to build and launch the installer.
For more information, please refer to the guidelines provided as part of the ASCOM Driver development guide.
Pre-built binaries for windows can be downloaded from the releases page.
As for all third-party drivers, it will be installed under the following directory :
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ASCOM\Dome
The installer will create the following elements :
-
ASCOM.AstroHaven.Dome.dll, the main driver library, which is automatically registered in the ASCOM registry upon installation,
-
ASCOM.AstroHaven.DomeController folder, which contains the Test app (ASCOM.AstroHaven.Test.exe). I strongly recommend this app to control your dome. Create a shortcut of it on your desktop for quicker access.
See an 2min demo on youtube. The current user interface is black and red, to reduce eyestrain.
As you might know, AstroHaven clamshell domes are non-moving domes which have four shutters running in pairs (considered as two shutters by the driver). Thus the only functionality provided by the dome driver are open shutter and close shutter.
However you will notice that we have added some interesting features like partial, synchronised or independant shutter control.
We recommend to use test application provided with the dome driver if you require a nice user interface. It is available at the following location :
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ASCOM\Dome\ASCOM.AstroHaven.DomeController\ASCOM.AstroHaven.Test.exe
As for every ASCOM Driver, this driver has a few parameters that must be setup the first time you use it either programmatically or via the Test application.
- Com port and speed : these should correspond to the serial port on the computer which is bound to the dome console
- Minimum delay between commands, which is to regulate the flow of commands sent by the driver to the dome serial interface. Beware to not drop the value too low as you might end up flooding the dome console.
- "On Opening, pause after xxx" : this is a protection against belt loosening ; this is for domes suffering of the said issue where belts can be loose when the motor is unwinding due to top panels rubbing too hard on bottom panels. The AstroHaven manual contains some recommendations for this issue but we also found that pausing shortly upon opening shutters sometimes re-tighten the belt.
- "Overfeed when closing" : Some domes have badly placed magnetic sensors and will not fully close even if programmatically the console sensor returns a status of "closed". This options sends more commands than expected when closing the dome to ensure that it actually closes, while disregarding the status returned by the console.
In case you prefer to try out the driver on an arduino, I have also provided a simulator sketch which you can upload to your Arduino Uno.
Please give me your feedback, positive or negative, raise any issue that occurs with your dome when controlling it via this driver, so we can together enhance this program as a community.