This page tracks the initial development of the Twilight Monitor in the 106 McKay Lab. It is written in log format.

Created date: Aug, 2024

SkyHunter AltAz Mount

SkyHunter ToDos

Series of Test

1. Always park before each power cycle

2. Get the current Alt, Az.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2. Check if it always comes back to the zero point.

SkyHunter Alignemnt Procedure

The alignment of the SkyHunter mount is explained below.

1. Once you connected all the mount parts to the tripod, check the level on the top of the mount (green button)

2. With a level ruler check the level the three directions (see figure below)

3. Point the mount to the north position, az=0. You can use an iPhone

4. Place the photodiode perpendicular to the zenith, which should be your zero point.

5. Check the counterweight.

6. TODO: Make some tests to check the mount orientation

Algorithm Interface

The AltAz mount has an easy connection to windows os. But it is not straightforward to Mac OS.

Open

Skyhunter-python Algorithm

After testing different algorithms, I created my python script to talk with the ioptron skyhunter mount.

https://github.com/stubbslab/skyhunter-python

You can start using now by doing

git clone github.com/stubbslab/skyhunter-python.git

then cd to skyhunter-python and do

pip instal -e .

History Log

Aug 11, 2024

After some deep dive on some forums, I found out that it is possible to have a Python interface through RS-232 scripts

https://groups.io/g/iOptron/topic/controlling_cem26_mount_from/97702939

https://github.com/chimerasaurus/ioptron-python

Chris found we can use the indi library to connect to the iOptron mount. I should check only if they have the driver for the Skyhunter mount.

https://www.indilib.org/

Aug 19, 2024

Testing the mount with our commander options:

• The Windows interface works well. One just needs to download their software (link here). Then, the setup is straightforward.

• The GitHub ioptron-python repo needs some fixes. After making some modifications to include the SkyHunter model, I was able to successfully move the mount.

• The indilib seems to be a python library. Unfortunately, their website had no clear instructions on how to connect to an ioptron mount.

Aug 20, 2024

I am modifying the Python ioptron repo to have a simple user interface and should also set up an alignment procedure.

https://github.com/estevesjh/ioptron-python

Electrometer Keysight B2983B

Connection Setup

Step-by-step for connection setup

1. Connect a USB Type B on the back of the electrometer to the laptop

2. The USB cable is connected to a USB hub that goes into the USB-C power entry of the laptop. This step is needed because the laptop does not accept a high-voltage entry through USB.

3. Turn on the keysight electrometer (see apparatus manual for instructions)

4. After that, the electrometer should pop-up as an external driver (hard disk)

5. Make sure you have install keysight commander

6. With keysight commander discover what is the name of the instrument USB

7. Run the python script keysight_local.py