Hello from across the ditch and thank you for such a wonderful project.
I have the first of 3 dew controllers up and running, with the others in progress.
I'm using GX12-5 connectors to connect the primary and secondary mirror probe / heater via a single cable each. (GX12 sockets on telescope - multiple thin copper tape on spider). I am also using a GX12-2 for power.
All straight forwards and neat on this imaging Newtonian setup.
Instead of the internal cooling fan, I'm using the 4th channel to control a 120mm fan (12 volt, 1.6 watt PWM) behind the primary mirror. (GX12-6 connectors are used here for fan / probe).
This mostly works ok, but the Windows application and firmware are sub optimal.
It would be great if there was an ambient temp option instead of the hard coded on and off set points.
This would allow the mirror to cool down to ambient which is the usual issue here. Also fan speeds below 50% would be useful.
The Arduino side appears straight forwards to implement and I will look to implement this myself shortly. (The 335 code changes have dramatically tidied things up and make it easy to follow - thank you).
My question is mostly around the Windows code side. Is this available to download somewhere?
This is entirely for private use and will happily send any changes I make.
Is this change something you would entertain in a future version?
Thank you in advance.
regards
Robert Bronca
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Some time ago I released the 4 dew channel modification for the myDewControllerPro3 so you could use the fan as the 4th channel, with new firmware and new windows app.
For the myDewControllerPro3 turning the fan into a dew channel was a retrograde action so somewhat limited what could be done with it. BUT
However the controller_v402_4CH firmware does not use the fan ON/OFF set points any more. The 4th channel is coded exactly like a dew channel and there is no support for a fan in the firmware of software myDewControllerPro3-4CH windows app.
The goal of the project was Cheap and DIY, so moe things were comprimised. The use of GX12 aviation connectors I use now on all my projects, I just have little time to go back and update some documentation, parts lists etc as I am doing so much with so many projects.
Fan speeds below 50% are not possible with the 40x40 cheap fan in the project. The idea was keep down costs. As the cheap fan was voltage operated, dropping below a certain voltage meant the fan would not no longer rotate.
The new ESP32 version of the dew controller is where this project is now headed. I will continue to support this project of course.
Cheers
Robert
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Thank you Robert, I will investigate both the 3 and 4 channel options.
As is always the case, you released the ESP32 version after I had ordered all the bits. :-) It does look very interesting though.
Happy new year.
Robert
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hello from across the ditch and thank you for such a wonderful project.
I have the first of 3 dew controllers up and running, with the others in progress.
I'm using GX12-5 connectors to connect the primary and secondary mirror probe / heater via a single cable each. (GX12 sockets on telescope - multiple thin copper tape on spider). I am also using a GX12-2 for power.
All straight forwards and neat on this imaging Newtonian setup.
Instead of the internal cooling fan, I'm using the 4th channel to control a 120mm fan (12 volt, 1.6 watt PWM) behind the primary mirror. (GX12-6 connectors are used here for fan / probe).
This mostly works ok, but the Windows application and firmware are sub optimal.
It would be great if there was an ambient temp option instead of the hard coded on and off set points.
This would allow the mirror to cool down to ambient which is the usual issue here. Also fan speeds below 50% would be useful.
The Arduino side appears straight forwards to implement and I will look to implement this myself shortly. (The 335 code changes have dramatically tidied things up and make it easy to follow - thank you).
My question is mostly around the Windows code side. Is this available to download somewhere?
This is entirely for private use and will happily send any changes I make.
Is this change something you would entertain in a future version?
Thank you in advance.
regards
Robert Bronca
Hi Robert
Some time ago I released the 4 dew channel modification for the myDewControllerPro3 so you could use the fan as the 4th channel, with new firmware and new windows app.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/arduinonanodewcontrollerpro/files/myDewControllerPro%20v300%203channel/USING%20FAN%20AS%204TH%20CHANNEL/
For the myDewControllerPro3 turning the fan into a dew channel was a retrograde action so somewhat limited what could be done with it. BUT
However the controller_v402_4CH firmware does not use the fan ON/OFF set points any more. The 4th channel is coded exactly like a dew channel and there is no support for a fan in the firmware of software myDewControllerPro3-4CH windows app.
The goal of the project was Cheap and DIY, so moe things were comprimised. The use of GX12 aviation connectors I use now on all my projects, I just have little time to go back and update some documentation, parts lists etc as I am doing so much with so many projects.
Fan speeds below 50% are not possible with the 40x40 cheap fan in the project. The idea was keep down costs. As the cheap fan was voltage operated, dropping below a certain voltage meant the fan would not no longer rotate.
The new ESP32 version of the dew controller is where this project is now headed. I will continue to support this project of course.
Cheers
Robert
Thank you Robert, I will investigate both the 3 and 4 channel options.
As is always the case, you released the ESP32 version after I had ordered all the bits. :-) It does look very interesting though.
Happy new year.
Robert