Hi Everybody

I have a 10 Micron mount inside a Baader dome. So far, I have always used the 10 Micron to drive the dome directly, which works fine. But, with Ekos Scheduler I like to open and close the dome automatically. The mount is programmed to close the dome when parked, but it will not open the dome when unparked. The 10 Micron driver does not act as a indi 'dome device'.

What is the best way to proceed? I think there are (at least) 4 options:

• Let the 10 micron driver open the dome when unparked, or
• Extend the 10 micron driver, to act as dome, or
• Attach the dome to the PC directly and use the indi_baader_dome driver, or
• Open the dome with a startup script in the scheduler

The scheduler should also observe weather conditions using the indi_aagcloudwatcher_ng, so it is important to not open the dome without first checking the weather conditions.
If I use the indi_baader_dome driver, will it work at least as good as the 10 micron build-in driver? The scope should be aligned with the opening and the mount has parameters for the relative position of the telescope.

Peter

Why can't schedule just unpark the dome on startup?

If I understand this correctly, then all the dome control UI elements in the observatory panel are grayed out, because no dome driver is loaded.
Ekos does not know that the dome is attached to 10 micron mount and the 10 micron driver does not implement INDI::Dome. So the scheduler cannot open the dome and I fear opening the dome in the startup script might open the dome in bad weather conditions.

I could instead attach the dome to the PC running indilib and use the indi_baader_dome driver, but then the dome would not center the telescope inside the opening, at least not precise enough. The 10 micron mount, on the other hand, takes the exact size and position of the telescope into account. Neither the 10 micron nor the baader dome driver have similar parameters to specify the geometry. Also, using the telescope visually without computer is much easier, if the dome just follows the telescope.

So I wonder what the best solution is. Perhaps to implement INDI::Dome interface in the 10 micron driver will do the trick? I could also control dome flap and shutter with the driver. Above a certain altitude, closing the flap can reduce light from the nearby street. In the long run, I want to open and close it automatically.

The most simple solution for now might be to setup the mount to open the dome when unparked. This would work, as scheduler won't unpark unless weather is not safe.

I wonder how other people have set it up (assuming I am not the only one with both a 10 Micron mount and Baader dome).