DEVLOG 006
I worked on the code for the controller app. It is very complicated, and it took me some time to understand it and the way that the code functions. I specifically added the slewing and position functions, along with it updating the position right when the webpage is opened, so that if the tracker is running and you exit and come back to the page, it saves it. The slewing function also works, but I also changed the motion system to a much more raw format, which sends signals to each pin correctly, to control each step more accurately. This will allow me to use the adjust speed function on the fly, rather than trying to adjust the microseconds and then reuploading the code many times. I now have to change the slewing function to rotate exactly a certain number of steps, either for 5mm or 1mm, as well as some kind of progress bar, because it only spins at 3x the tracking rate, at roughly 15 rpm. Then, I have to add the position sending values to be able to accurately view the position, as well as a time calculator that sends a warning if it is running out of room, and also stops automatically in a safe zone. Finally, I still have to add the night mode function to change the colors and fix the general html css.

I also did a test run the night that I finished this slewing code, with my Olympus OMD EM10 camera, at roughly 24mm zoom, and using the program called Camera Control, made for Olympus cameras. I was able to fully remotely operate the entire rig with my laptop using the program and my phone for the tracker. I got around 30 minutes of 20-second exposures, with very good tracking and not much error at all. I likely could have gotten up to 30-second subs, but decided to just test it out. I sadly did forget to take dark or bias frames, so the final image has many hot pixels, and bad streaking, but the total image has many stars in it. I hope to also add a wedge that lifts the camera out of the angle, allowing me to aim it better to zenith, and towards the south, where sagitarrius and the milky way core is. After implementing all of these, final features, and completing the whole program, I hope to take the rig out to a nearby park, and get up to an hour of good exposure on the sagitarrius area of the milky way, without any of the house lights, and also take flat frames as well.