![]() ![]() IRF520 N Channel MOSFET: This is a small electronic component that switches the power to the LED panel on and off in response to signals from the Arduino Nano: Either type is fine, just make sure you have the right sort of USB cable to hook it up. It has a micro USB connector, but note that official Arduino Nano board and most clones have a mini USB connector instead. I used this £5 Arduino Nano board from eBay.Imaging software such as Sequence Generator Pro does not do this, and won’t be able to talk to the microcontroller. The problem with 32u4 boards is that the computer software must set and control DTR and RTS in order to communicate with the board. Important: Avoid using Atmega32u4 boards such as the Arduino Leonardo or the Pro Micro boards. The board should be based on the Atmel 328 microcontroller, often described as an ATMega328, ATmega328P, etc.Note that many Arduino boards come in both 5V (16MHz) and 3.3V (8MHz) variants, and it is the former you require. Whilst you could use a different board, it is beyond the scope of this post to explain how to change wiring and power supplies for 3.3V and 12V Arduino board and clones. The board must be a 5 volt board powered via the USB port.You don’t have to use a Nano, any Arduino board that meets the following specifications will do: The panel I used was £15 from Amazon but since models come and go quickly, you will need to read the reviews to ascertain the quality of illumination.Īrduino Nano (or compatible clone): The Arduino Nano is a microcontroller board that will provide the interface between the computer and the LED tracing pad.The panel should be large enough for your scope’s diameter an A4 tracing pad is fine for an 80mm refractor, but you may need an A3 model for a larger telescope.The illumination of this latter type tends be much more even. The best type have two strips of LEDs (often 60 in total) arranged along two edges of a transparent acrylic sheet sandwiched between a layer of white reflective material and white diffusing material. The next have a strip of LEDs along one edge – these tend to create gradients from one side of the panel to the other. This type is not generally suitable as there will be brighter and dimmer spots across the whole panel. Some have a grid of white LEDs arranged behind a diffuser screen. LED tracing panels tend to be constructed in one of three ways. The panel should provide even illumination across the entire surface.This ensures that our controller can adjust the brightness to suit different filters as required. Typically panels offer 3 (or more) levels of brightness controlled by a touch-sensitive button. Whilst it is entirely possible to use a panel powered by its own 12 volt power supply, it is beyond the scope of this post to explain the differences in wiring, etc. The panel should be powered via USB (i.e.These are readily available from Amazon and other retailers, but do vary significantly in quality which makes it hard to recommend an exact model. LED Tracing Pad: The most important element of this build is an LED tracing pad. The parts list for this build is relatively short: In this post, I’ll explain how to build a remote controllable flat panel for less than £25 that will enable you to automate another aspect of your observatory without breaking the bank. Commercially made light boxes that can be remote controlled by imaging software such as Sequence Generator Pro are available but cost anywhere from £170 and upwards depending on size and features. ![]() A manual light box or panel is easy to make using foam board and white LEDs, but must be placed on the end of the telescope each time it is to be used. This corrects for any differences in illumination caused by vignetting (drop off in brightness at the edges and corners of the image), shadows caused by dust on the sensor and differences in the response of individual camera pixels to incoming light.įlat frames can be made by taking images of the twilight or dawn sky and processing them properly, but the most convenient method is to use a light box or flat panel as the source of illumination. images of the night sky) are divided by the flat frame. When processing the images, the light frames (i.e. A flat frame is just an image of a uniformly illuminated, featureless surface that essentially creates a “map” of how light travels through the telescope, filters and camera. When astro-imaging, taking flat frames is essential to calibrate your images. ![]()
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