TimeIsMotion Project

Information on the 'TimeIsMotion' software project which parses scripted serial commands to Meade DS DSM DS-2000 telescope heads (aka the 'milapse head') via the Autostar #497 handset.

WARNING! it has come to light that Meade has updated it's chipset on the #497 (now known as #497EG: http://tinyurl.com/y8nkz78) The new model will NOT work with this firmware.

Background Youtube timelapse enthusiast Milapse introduced the time-lapse community to the use of inexpensive Meade DS telescope heads for motion control in August 2007. In that introduction he alluded to software control of the DS head that was in development. After teaming up with software developer Igor Popovic the timeismotion project was born. Additional help came from Australian astronomer and 497 controller expert Dick Seymour who wrote the important custom firmware that made the timeismotion communication with the Meade system possible. The project died and came back to life many times... Finally in June 2009 it makes it's open source debut here at openmoco.org. The timeismotion program is completely free of charge, and open-source. All software is released under the GPL v3 license. Please let people know what your using when you blow their minds with it!!

What does it do? Currently the software allows for a pre-motion pause, linear acceleration to a set speed in one or two axis and linear deceleration to a stop. timeismotion currently does not control camera functions

Hardware Requirements To use timeismotion you will need the following:
-Laptop running windows OS
-USB to SERIAL connector (if your system does not have a serial port)
-Serial (DB9) to 'small handset' (RJ10) connector (aka the Meade #505 - how to make your own
-Meade 497 handset controller and Meade telescope head

Directions -Attach the 497 handset to the head and laptop via serial connection. Power up the head/handset -:only needed once: load/run 'autostar updater' (ASU.exe) and update the 497 firmware to the custom 43gg10.rom version. (Hint: copy/move 43gg10.rom file to folder \Program Files\Meade\AutostarSuite\Updater\Ephemerides before launching ASU) -Launch timeismotion.exe (standalone program) and use the configure functioun to scan the COM ports and connect to the handset by selecting the correct COM port. -Enter the desired settings for the pan and click 'update' to see the results -Start camera intervalometer at interval specified in timeismotion (for accurate results) -Click the '>' (play) button in timeismotion and monitor the progress via the counter. (BUG: at release the TOTAL time is off by about -20% for unknown reasons... so plan on the calculated time +20% for the total script duration)

How does it work? The custom 497 handbox 43gg ver.10 firmware adds two important abilities to the Meade system. First it adds simple speed and direction commands and second it allows these commands to be sent 'on the fly'. You'll notice the generated script structure on the right side of the timeismotion program and the 'horizontal and vertical base speed'. The base speed represents 1 deg/minute which is based on the core unit sidereal (approximately 360 degrees/24 hours or .25 degrees/minute). Meade has set the sidereal speed value around 5000 so therefor if you want a degree in travel over a minute you'll need to muliply that by 4 = about 20000 (=1 deg/minute). The meade command structure starts with a : and ends with a #. Ea(value) sets the pan speed; Ee sets the tilt speed. Mw is 'move west or clockwise', Me is 'move east or CCW', Mn is 'move north or up' and Ms is 'move south or down'. So a sample script would look like this:
:Sw3# // set maximum speed below MAX
:Ea17686# // set pan speed
:Ee8843# // set tilt speed
:Mw# // start pan moving clockwise (:Me# is CCW)
:Mn# // start tilt moving up (:Ms# moves down)
,30000 // wait 30 seconds (in milliseconds)
:Ea26259# // set new pan speed
:Mw# // the M command makes the speed change take effect
,30000 // wait 30 seconds (in milliseconds)
:Ea35372# // add to pan speed
:Ee9727# // add to tilt speed
:Mw# // make pan change happen
:Mn# // make tilt change happen
,30000 // and so on and so forth....

Related info Meade Telescope Serial Command Protocal