It appears the Stickstation ASCOM driver no longer works after the ASCOM 6.3 update. I understand this may not get resolved and that’s fine. The native app for this device was useful to show a graphical representation of the weather parameters over time. Since the serial communications method only supports one connection at a time, the native app cannot be used while the device is connected to SGP. So I’d like to know if it’s possible to add a graphical capability to display the weather information over time, similiar to the guider information graph? I find this information very useful and it would be nice to have that capability if possible.
Oh also I was going to ask about adding gain settings for ASI cameras but it looks like this was just added! So thank you for being the tip of the spear. Looking forward to setting this feature up and using it ASAP!!
Yes I am referring to Per’s app. It used to work with the ASCOM option selected but then it stopped working. I’ll try again… perhaps I did something wrong!
I set up the Stickstation to connect via ASCOM again and it appears to be working normally now. Not sure why it was showing “No Stick” before. It is somewhat confusing the COM port selection still appears when selecting settings from SGP but perhaps that’s a necessary part of making the connection work.
There is a replacement out there for the Blue Astro Stickstation. It was developed by Astromi.ch and is commercially available: Products – Astromi.ch. This is a replacement for the 10U mounts and feeds the atmospheric refraction parameters into the mount. Also has a gps functionality for feeding time data to the mount. Tolga and OPT should be able to provide these units.
You can also build one yourself using Arduino Uno and a Bosch BME 280 sensor. Programming sketches are out there and Per does have a Mountsend Utility for utilization, if you’re into that kind of stuff. I built a weather station for the wife and it works great. This from a guy who is programming language illiterate. I have yet to try it with the mount as wifey won’t let me have it. Per’s SS is based on the Arduino Nano and utilizes the C++ language.
Also, for the 10U mount owners out there, MWORION has developed software for modelling the mount. It is free and written in Python language. Owners are using it to replace/combine with Per’s ModelMaker sotware and it does have some really fantastic features to it. It uses SGP and finally frees you from having to use Maxim version 666. OOHRAH and thanks for that alone!
It is my understanding that the SS is no longer manufactured since Per’s death. This is what was told to me by a US vendor and he stated so on CN. If this is incorrect, then I stand corrected. If not, then this IS a replacement if you want to feed atmospheric refraction information to the 10u mount. The only difference between how the two are used is that Per’s unit does not offer gps capability. The replacement offers that as an option and is more expensive. These weather stations are based on the Bosch bme 280 sensor, which has 3 to 4 functions that can be programmed. They are also used for other applications that are not exclusive to 10u mounts, such as closing the roof of an observatory.
Per the manufacturer’s specs:
"Page 12
Version 0.5
Hardware information
MBox uses a Bosch Sensortec BME280 Sensor that delivers pressure, temperature and
Humidity with very high accuracy. The following is an excerpt from the specifications of the
sensor depicting its tolerances and operating limits: "
Page 13
Version 0.5
Microprocessor
The “heart” of MBox is an Atmel ATmega328P microprocessor that interfaces with the Sensor
over the I
2
C protocol. It features 32KB of flash memory, 1KB of EEPROM and 23 general
purpose I/O lines.
In order to reduce circuit complexity and part count, the ATmega328P is configured to use its
internal oscillator running at 8MHz.
This does not work any differently than the SS, other than gps capability for additional $ and possibly a different microprocessor/board. Sparkfun, Adafruit offer the components to build a similar unit. My unit runs at 16MHZ.
I hope I didn’t appear to be argumentative. You are correct and I now understand where you are coming from. I too own the SS and have been very happy with the operations. When Per died, more than a few were concerned with the fate of SS and ModelMaker. What do you do if SS malfunctions and you need a replacement? I have to admit that I don’t have Mbox. That is why I built my own weather station. Bad news is that the wife commandeered the weather station, so if SS fails, I’m going to buy Mbox. Keep the wife happy, since she got me into this hobby.
By the way, are you a 10U owner? If you are there is a rather exciting development going on with the new modelling software for the mounts. Let me know and I’ll send you some links if you are interested. It is on the 10u forum also.
yep, I’m a 1000HPS owner and I love this mount a lot
unfortunately, I don’t have enough time to use it…
I will follow with big interest the model making via SGP, and also the Mbox deployment
the only little concern I’ve with the Mbox is the lack of PPS for GPS clock. I’m currently using a PI with GPS PPS included.
I’ve to confess I’m maybe to much perfectionist here…
I’m one of those which would like to see an NTP client in the 10u Board…
