Get the AltAz coordinates for a given object using astropy and output on a OLED screen. Please note: OLED screen is optional.
As a very very newcomer to the astronomy scene and living in a area with a bit higher light pollution I find it's necessary to get the AltAz coordinates for an object to help me find it.
My understanding is the the Alt is a degree point on a 360 degree circle where 0 is True North. and Az is a degree of elevation or tilt the telescope has within a range of -90 to 90 degrees. Where as other from 0 to 90 is visible, although based on my elevation anything from 30 to 90 is more likely.
Also be sure that you have enabled GPIO and I2C using sudo raspi-config if you intend to use an OLED display.
If Not you can follow some simple instructions to update your Raspberry Pi.
sudo apt-get install git python3-pip libatlas3-base libopenjp2-7 i2c-tools
sudo pip3 install luma.oled astropy numpy
cd /home/pi/
git clone https://github.com/ccmehil/star_coords.git
To determine the address for your OLED screen
sudo i2cdetect -y 1
You will need to possibly modify server.py lines: 229-230
serial = i2c(port=1, address=0x3C)
device = sh1106(serial)
If you are getting odd errors related to numpy you may need to do the following.
pip3 uninstall numpy
sudo apt-get remove python3-numpy
sudo pip3 install numpy
Don't do this unless you are sure it's running properly with your information saved and taken care.
sudo nano /etc/profile
Scroll to the bottom and add the following line
sudo python /home/pi/star_coords/server.py -d TRUE -s 10.0.0.1 -p 8080
This will start the server on boot/reboot.
To understand about using the server please see Usage
For details about the hardware and wiring see Hardware
This is a project by a hobby newbie, I've had a telescope for less than a month when I created this project and I'm still learning, lingo and other associations. All feedback, contribution and engagement is welcome! Python is also relatively new to me.