Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Let's Talk More Configuration.

If you're here to order a kit go down to the first post, thanks. Come back here when you've got your build finished. The latest stuff is at the top.

Configuration, it's definition; an arrangement of elements in a particular form, figure, or combination, doesn't tell us too much of what we're about here. What we are trying to do is to get the OnStep software to talk to our STM32 controller so it will make our mount do as we desire.

Well there's a few things you have to do before you continue here. If you haven't gone through the prior post on configuration do that first. The scarred veterans of that experience can continue.

OnStep will work with just about any telescope mount you may imagine. But we can't do that right out of the box. It needs to be told the details of your mount. Configuration is what gives it its great flexibility. I guess it may be more accurate to say Howard Dutton & friends have designed OnStep with the flexibility to adapt to any configuration. All we have to do is to accurately communicate our mount's details to OnStep. 

If you have done this with OnStep versions before 3.16, it's time to learn it again. Gone is the Configuration Generator and ConfigXXX.h. If this is your first go you won't miss them. There is now just one Config.h file for all the OnStep controller designs. So here's how to use it.

After you've down loaded OnStep-beta.zip (ver. 3.16), move it into your Documents/Arduino folder and expand it. Go into your old OnStep folder and delete all the files. Open the OnStep-beta folder, copy all the files and folders and paste in the old OnStep folder. Good House Keeping tip: don't hang onto old versions of OnStep. The Arduino IDE will find them and get confused.

When you open the OnStep folder you will see the Config.h file. Do your self a favor and save a copy of the native file as XConfig.h somewhere, just in case you have start from GO.


In the file, which should be opened in a text editor like Notepad, you will find, by my count, 103 "define" statements that together describe you mount's characteristics to Onstep. Don't panic! To get started you only have deal with about 20 of them. Yeah, it's like twenty questions and you know the answers, only OnStep doesn't. OK, here an example for a fairly simple Vixen SP. 
  • #define PINMAP                        STM32
  • #define SERIAL_C_BAUD_DEFAULT         ON // needed for STM32
  • #define MOUNT_TYPE                    GEM
  • #define LED_STATUS                     ON // I like the light 
  • #define BUZZER                        OFF  // I unlike the this
  • #define BUZZER_STATE_DEFAULT  ON // 
  • #define TIME_LOCATION_SOURCE      DS3231
  • #define ST4_INTERFACE                 ON
  • #define ST4_HAND_CONTROL              ON_PULLUP
  • #define TRACK_AUTOSTART               ON  // at least at 1st, I go w/ON
  • #define TRACK_REFRACTION_RATE_DEFAULT  ON
That takes care of the first 41 define statements. Now we have to call up the spreadsheet
and deal with statement 42; define AXIS1_STEPS_PER_DEGREE, et seq. [Didn't think you'd ever need that Latin, huh?


The circled values should be transferred to you Config.h file as follows:
  • #define AXIS1_STEPS_PER_DEGREE    15360
  • #define AXIS1_STEPS_PER_WORMROT     38400
  • #define AXIS1_DRIVER_MODEL           DRV8825 // driver model
  • #define AXIS1_DRIVER_MICROSTEPS       64 
  • #define AXIS1_DRIVER_MICROSTEPS_GOTO  OFF // no Āµstepping during slews
Repeat for the Dec axis.
  • #define AXIS2_STEPS_PER_DEGREE    15360
  • #define AXIS2_DRIVER_MODEL            DRV8825
  • #define AXIS2_DRIVER_MICROSTEPS      64
  • #define AXIS2_DRIVER_MICROSTEPS_GOTO  OFF
// THAT'S IT FOR USER CONFIGURATION!  You may want to come back and adjust things as you gain experience with your mount, but for now you should be working. Now copy your edited Config.h over the native Config.h and go on to flash your controller.

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