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Pulsar dome user guide is devoid any detail concerning the operation of the dome controllers relay installed in my control box.
There are two settings to set the polarity as either NC or NO and the e general census is NO. Another factor to consider the output from the relay switch could be either power in or power out but I have no idea which one applies and this could determine the setting.
Lunatico cloud sensor is wired from the positions on a post now to Lunatic’s Solo having upgraded from using their software installed on my dome-based lap top.
Currently if I set auto open and polarity as NO the dome the shutter opens. Switch polarity NC in day light and the shutter closes trying later at night brings the same result. Maybe going to the control box under setting use test relay with NC a longish black line appears. Switch to NO nothing is displayed.
My plan once I have cleared the back of the garage is to run an ethernet cable from the house to the socket in SOLO. Hopefully this should enable the full suite of software and adjust where necessary.
Wait and seeA Pulsar dome shutter system can be automated to close in response to a rain sensor by utilizing a relay circuit. The rain sensor, when triggered by rain, closes a relay, which in turn completes a circuit that signals the Pulsar dome controller to close the shutter.
Nick,
Attached is a screen-grab of the Pulsar settings I have set for use with a CloudWatcher-SOLO and ACP automation.
For daytime testing the CloudWatcher will normally be signalling “Unsafe”, depending on how you’ve configured the CLoudWatcher-SOLO trigger level for “Brightness”, and so if you manually open the shutter in daylight then after the “Delay” time set in the Pulsar configuration has elapsed the shutter will auto-close.
The same conditions will apply at night if any of the CloudWatcher safety thresholds are exceeded with the CloudWatcher-SOLO signalling “Unsafe” and you try and manually open the shutter then after the “Delay” time you configured in the Pulsar configuration has elapsed the shutter will auto-close.
Both the above statements apply when you have the direct hard-wired connection made between the pair of flying wires that exit the CLoudWatcher connecting cable (usually adjacent to the SOLO DB9 input socket) and the safety switch input connector on the bottom of the Pulsar control console.
If you are only using your observatory control application to open and close the shutter according to the CloudWatcher-SOLO’s ASCOM safety driver and don’t use the hardwired connection between the CLoudWatcher-SOLO and the Pulsar control console then in the Pulsar configuration, under Relay Settings, Polarity should be set to “NO” and nothing is plugged into the safety switch socket on the bottom of the Pulsar control console, but this is not a recommended operating setup because you are totally reliant on the observatory management application to tell the Pulsar dome controller to close the shutter and any issues with the management app, or Windows, might prevent that happening therefore it’s vital to use the provided hard-wired safety switch connection between the CloudWatcher-SOLO and the safety switch input on the bottom of the Pulsar control console as a minimum back-up provision in the event that your observatory management app’ or the PC has stopped responding.
HTH
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