-see the best with us- UNIWERSAŁ observatory dome sofware manual UNIWERSAŁ the oldest and best known manufacturer of top-quality astronomy and optical equipment in Poland
System requirements : - windows xp,7,8 or 10 - net framework 4.0 or higher - ascom platform 6.1 or higher Dome software is connected to vellemann k8055 card - through usb AB cabel. Cabel maximum length is 3m- above 3m must be very high quality otherwise computer can have problems with stability with the connection to usb card. Usb cabel schould be far from ac power sources such as ac motor drives or ac power supplies. Vellemann card connection : run the device manager and connect the card. If it react we can run the sofware latest dome software can be downloaded from here : http://uniwersal.eu/!dome_update/en/setup%20dome%20uniwersal.exe *dome sofware can be change from time to time due to constant development adn customer requests - any sugestions are welcome - we will consider any idea
after successfull installation please run the software : * when aag cloudwatcher is present install aag software * when aag cloudwatcher is not present do not install the aag sofware main window will appear : main window contain all functions for dome operations : * basic functions - rotate cw - manually when button is pressed dome is rotating left - rotate ccw - manually when button is pressed dome is rotating right - open shutters and close shutters : highlighted and available only in home position of the dome BEFORE MAKE ANY SETTINGS PLEASE MAKE SURE TO TAKE DOME INTO HOME POSITION,LATER ALL SETTINGS PLEASE MAKE ALSO IN HOME POSITION
connecting card into the software -to test if card is connected and if the dome dont respod to the commands please go into the settings - in the dome window please select card type: default is No driver into Vellemann Card K8055 - now just press Save settings - now we can operate and try to move the dome to the left or right - for proper program functioning please set : * Dome placement ( location of the dome ) * Grid ( number of impulses from encoder when making full circle ) * Dome diameter : for 2.2m dome -2110mm, for 3.2m dome-3110mm, for 5.2m-5150mm - no other parameters are required in this settings window * setting the grid parameter : -press Go home button and wait untill dome stop in home position -move the dome a little bit to the right like on picture below -press Go home and wait untill dome make full circle and stop in home position -read from the card counter number of impulses and save this value for good, put this value in Grid
*home position - place where lower connector meets the upper conenctor home position of the dome - to start work with dome please use function GO HOME - when starting dome software dome can be anywhere (not nessesary in home) - dome dont remember its last position because there is also wireless remote that can operate left or right when software is not on - card counter - every time dome goes through the home position counter is restarting - home position value can be set in settings/dome/home - how it works will be explained later
- upper connector have six skids : 1) 2)two for shutters power,3) one for open shutters, 4)one for close shutters, 5) 6) and two for home position sensor upper connector (1) dome center dome walls - home position - refers to true azimuth - we have to know what is the azimiuth of the home sensor - it will refers to the polar star. If we did polar alignment than we know where is north - we also can use compass or aplication on mobile phone - than we can establish what vaue to put in the settings/dome/home. It is very important because dome counter start counting impulses from the home position. * when dome is not in home position when starting software first use GO Home command
Settings/automatic : - here dependend from the hardware ( presence of the weather sensor or rain sensor or ups or other equipment options can be set to ensure safety of the dome when shutter are open ) * turn on telescope when opening - telescope is connected automatically to the dome software when shutters are opening * turn off telescope when closing - telescope is disconnected from the software when shutters are closing * park telescope when emergency closing - when shutters are closing dome software send park command to mount * emergency close dome if bad weather - if AAG is present dome will be closed if unsafe state * emergnecy close dome if used ups power - if ups will have no ac power will send signal to dome software to close the shutters * emergency close dome -if no internet connection if internet connection is lost dome software will detect intenet loose and close the shutters * emergency close dome if aplication dont respond for - if dome software wil hang for some reason it will be closed
This window is for precision when synchronizing with telescope and to choose telescope. main window will appear : Most of telescopes use Ascom driver - please select telescope according to the type of mount and model - after choosing the telescope please save settings. Deafault precision is 1 degree but we can set 2 degree so the dome will be more stable When dome is synchronizing with the telescope it will look for the 2 degree difference - sometimes it can be difficult to be in this range and can move for several times left or right. After it stop it will wait untill telescope move more than 2 degree from the range and than move again to the telescope position
To choose telescope we must click the : Select telescope : main window will appear : Ascom telescope driver can be downloaded from this link : http://ascom-standards.org/downloads/scopedrivers.htm * driver must be download separatelyu from the ascom platform * some of mount divers are not on the website - manufacturers should provide the ascom driver Almost all of the mounts with goto system have the ascom drivers. After selecting the telescope and savings settings we now can start to synchronize with the dome. Synchronizing : it means to transform the coordinates system for the mopunt into the coordinates system for the dome - its so called coordinates transformation * when making synchronization mount must be aligned on stars * when clicking synchronize dome must be in home position * when telescope is not pointing exactly in the center of the dome some tests are required : - change home value by +or- 5 deg. - do not apply offset in the menu : telescope GEM -r yet, first we must check if the center of the DEC axis point exactly to the center of the window
To choose telescope we must click the : Select telescope : main window will appear : Ascom telescope driver can be downloaded from this link : http://ascom-standards.org/downloads/scopedrivers.htm * driver must be download separatelyu from the ascom platform * some of mount divers are not on the website - manufacturers should provide the ascom driver Almost all of the mounts with goto system have the ascom drivers. After selecting the telescope and savings settings we now can start to synchronize with the dome. Synchronizing : it means to transform the coordinates system for the mopunt into the coordinates system for the dome - its so called coordinates transformation * when making synchronization mount must be aligned on stars * when clicking synchronize dome must be in home position * when telescope is not pointing exactly to the center of the dome some tests are required : - change home value by + or - 5 deg. - do not apply offset in the menu : telescope GEM -r yet, first we must check if the center of the DEC axis point exactly to the center of the window * once we will get the most proper home position vaule now we can start to apply the offset for the telescope
- next step is finding the offset for the telescope Telescope offset is the distance between center of the dome and the center of the OTA ( optical tube ). When pier or tripod is in the center of the dome than values for the XYZ is 0. When measuring the offset than we try to establish distance between middle of the dome and center of the OTA ( like on the picture above - parameter r - in our program in mm). * please not that this is not from the floor but from the level where dome ring is rotating
- example : equipment : Skywatcher Eq6 goto, newton 200 mm, 3.2m dome - dome diameter: 3110 mm - home position of the dome: 30 deg - dome placement : Zywiec - grid: 1620 imp - precision: 2 deg - ascom driver: celestron 6.2.6 - ascom telescope select : SW mount - X Y Z : 0 - CGEM -r : about 250mm * on this picture we can see sample how dome is cooperating with telescope - after we set the parameter and click synchronize telescope will point to the center of the window but it can tak a quite few excercises to find the proper parameters for the dome - but its only once that we look for the parameters