Great video Logan. This is going to be my go-to video if I decide to purchase this one day. It's crazy just how much detail is in the unsafe and limits sections. I had no idea how much control you can have with this unit. CS Don
Thanks Don. Yes there are a lot of variables you can set but for me the main ones are clouds and rain. Wind would be more needed if the observatory is more remote from home I think. And if I set a limit based on humidity, I'd never image here in Auckland 🤣. CS
Thanks very much Tich. The Cloudwatcher is a nice extra layer of safety since our weather can change in an instant so hopefully I might be able to get a bit more sleep now....hopefully. CS
I’ve definitely got to get one of these! Excellent video Logan, nicely explained! I’ll be coming back to this video when I ‘eventually’ get my arse into gear🤣 Thanks for sharing, looking forward to part 3👍Cs
Thanks Simon. I'd say its a must have device (well at least, that's what I told management 🤣). So far it has been working well so I'm hoping to get more sleep during imaging nights in the future. Part 3 hopefully not too far away. CS Logan
Thanks Stuart. It's a nice piece of kit and I figure if it's good enough for PixelSkies in Spain to use it, it's good enough for me. So far it has worked extremely well and it's currently doing its thing as we speak. But you do need to watch it for a few nights and tweak those settings to fit your setup and conditions. Definitely a must have device (at least that's what you need to tell management 🤣). Clear skies.
Thanks Steve. Hopefully this series of videos will help in your decision whether to use this or another type of safety monitor ( I think there are a few out there to choose from). Clear skies.
Very sophisticated sensors there, Logan. With my humidity values here, it would deem my sessions unsafe a good chunk of the time ... ha. Nonetheless, it is certainly something to look into. It seems to be worth it just as a personal weather station alone.
Thanks Pat. Humidity is a curse that's for sure. And yes, it could work quite well just as a weather station in a non observatory setup to alert you that clouds are arriving/arrived as you can set alarms to warn you, if you are busy doing something else while imaging.
Nice insight in Solo's configuration. Ajusting the parameters for rain/clouds depending on the local conditions seems the trickiest part. I read it also may need some adjustments along the year, depending on the season. Definitely a must have to properly sleep at night 😅 But before that I must address some issues I have controlling my DIY roof gate motor control using an Arduino. May I ask which software/ASCOM driver are you using? (I already saw your video regarding this topic but you didn't go into details regarding automation throw the computer /NINA, AFAIK) PS: Oh, same problem here with humidity. If I shoot just if below 80%, I'll never shoot!
Thanks Aleixandrus. I probably should have mentioned that I am just using the basic CloudWatcher software and the CloudWatcher main unit and I don't actually have the Solo. Unfortunately I ended up taking down my previous video about setting up roof gate control using the Arduino etc as the owner of the Skyroof program that was just available to use when I did the video, is now using it more commercially. As it turns out, you don't need to use that software anyway and I am just using the RRCI Ascom driver to control the roof.
@@LogansAstro yeah, I mean CloudWatcher configuration, not Solo 😅 Regarding the roof control, that's what I though. The Skyroof seems not available unless you buy their products but the RRCI seems just enough, so it confuses me why other people use Skyroof app (well, I understand that it is able to monitor the mount position so it's safe to close the roof when it is safety parked, among other useful features). I'm trying RRCI but I'm concerned it may be a death end if ASCOM or Windows updates.... or whatever, as it has no support at all. I manage to get the source code of RRCI but it uses Visual Basic 6, waaaaaay outdated. I explore the code just a bit and it seems to have a class-object to bridge the arduino serial port with a 'basic' ASCOM driver of Dome-type. Don't know, hard to get Visual Basic 6 working in 2024 for development purposes but I suppose rebuild the Arduino code plus ASCOM driver in .NET and share as an open source may be a cool project for the winter-cloudy-rainy season. But for now, I must finish my obsy, so step by step... 🥵 Oh, by the way, thank you so much for your clarifications, that really helps!
@@aleixandrus not sure about ASCOM updates but my PC out in the obsy has been through multiple Windows updates including going from Windows 10 to 11 and it still works, if that's any comfort.
Great video Logan. This is going to be my go-to video if I decide to purchase this one day. It's crazy just how much detail is in the unsafe and limits sections. I had no idea how much control you can have with this unit.
CS Don
Thanks Don. Yes there are a lot of variables you can set but for me the main ones are clouds and rain. Wind would be more needed if the observatory is more remote from home I think. And if I set a limit based on humidity, I'd never image here in Auckland 🤣. CS
Very well detailed explanation Logan I'd love a fully automated observatory but can't see it happening any time soon, clear skies
Thanks very much Tich. The Cloudwatcher is a nice extra layer of safety since our weather can change in an instant so hopefully I might be able to get a bit more sleep now....hopefully. CS
I’ve definitely got to get one of these! Excellent video Logan, nicely explained! I’ll be coming back to this video when I ‘eventually’ get my arse into gear🤣 Thanks for sharing, looking forward to part 3👍Cs
Thanks Simon. I'd say its a must have device (well at least, that's what I told management 🤣). So far it has been working well so I'm hoping to get more sleep during imaging nights in the future. Part 3 hopefully not too far away.
CS
Logan
Excellent Logan, very useful for anyone with an automated observatory, something else on my list to buy and tinker with..😂👍🏻
Thanks Stuart. It's a nice piece of kit and I figure if it's good enough for PixelSkies in Spain to use it, it's good enough for me. So far it has worked extremely well and it's currently doing its thing as we speak. But you do need to watch it for a few nights and tweak those settings to fit your setup and conditions. Definitely a must have device (at least that's what you need to tell management 🤣). Clear skies.
@@LogansAstro 😂 yes I will have to convince the bank manager as just looked at the prices 😮
Thanks. Looking forward to part 3. I'm trying to decide if this is a good fit for my observatory. Great information!
Thanks Steve. Hopefully this series of videos will help in your decision whether to use this or another type of safety monitor ( I think there are a few out there to choose from). Clear skies.
Very sophisticated sensors there, Logan. With my humidity values here, it would deem my sessions unsafe a good chunk of the time ... ha. Nonetheless, it is certainly something to look into. It seems to be worth it just as a personal weather station alone.
Thanks Pat. Humidity is a curse that's for sure. And yes, it could work quite well just as a weather station in a non observatory setup to alert you that clouds are arriving/arrived as you can set alarms to warn you, if you are busy doing something else while imaging.
Nice insight in Solo's configuration. Ajusting the parameters for rain/clouds depending on the local conditions seems the trickiest part. I read it also may need some adjustments along the year, depending on the season. Definitely a must have to properly sleep at night 😅
But before that I must address some issues I have controlling my DIY roof gate motor control using an Arduino. May I ask which software/ASCOM driver are you using? (I already saw your video regarding this topic but you didn't go into details regarding automation throw the computer /NINA, AFAIK)
PS: Oh, same problem here with humidity. If I shoot just if below 80%, I'll never shoot!
Thanks Aleixandrus. I probably should have mentioned that I am just using the basic CloudWatcher software and the CloudWatcher main unit and I don't actually have the Solo. Unfortunately I ended up taking down my previous video about setting up roof gate control using the Arduino etc as the owner of the Skyroof program that was just available to use when I did the video, is now using it more commercially. As it turns out, you don't need to use that software anyway and I am just using the RRCI Ascom driver to control the roof.
@@LogansAstro yeah, I mean CloudWatcher configuration, not Solo 😅
Regarding the roof control, that's what I though. The Skyroof seems not available unless you buy their products but the RRCI seems just enough, so it confuses me why other people use Skyroof app (well, I understand that it is able to monitor the mount position so it's safe to close the roof when it is safety parked, among other useful features). I'm trying RRCI but I'm concerned it may be a death end if ASCOM or Windows updates.... or whatever, as it has no support at all. I manage to get the source code of RRCI but it uses Visual Basic 6, waaaaaay outdated. I explore the code just a bit and it seems to have a class-object to bridge the arduino serial port with a 'basic' ASCOM driver of Dome-type. Don't know, hard to get Visual Basic 6 working in 2024 for development purposes but I suppose rebuild the Arduino code plus ASCOM driver in .NET and share as an open source may be a cool project for the winter-cloudy-rainy season. But for now, I must finish my obsy, so step by step... 🥵
Oh, by the way, thank you so much for your clarifications, that really helps!
@@aleixandrus not sure about ASCOM updates but my PC out in the obsy has been through multiple Windows updates including going from Windows 10 to 11 and it still works, if that's any comfort.