Smart Hand Controller

The SHC handles all user interface, as well as the databases for deep-sky objects, and the solar system computations. It is currently implemented on a Wemos processor that includes a Wifi interface. The peripherals are 7 buttons, a screen controlled by I2C, and a UART connected to the Main Unit. All commands and response follow the LX200 standard, with proprietary additions.

Catalogs

There are currently 9 catalogs:

File	Description
ta_stars_vc	408 brightest stars
ta_stf_select_c	Struve STF - 595 double stars
ta_stt_select_c	Struve STT - 114 double stars
ta_gvcs_select_c	621 variable stars
ta_messier_c	109 Messier objects
ta_caldwell_c	109 Caldwell objects
ta_herschel_c	400 best NGC objects
ta_ngc_select_c	~ 2000 DSO objects of mag<16
ta_ic_select_c	~ 500 DSO objects of mag<16

Process for creating the catalogs

The original scripts (no longer available) worked as follows:

Databases --??????--> intermediate C files ---- Visual Basic scripts -----> C files included in TeenAstroCatalog

New Scripts

The simplified python script (currently for NGC objects only, should be easy to port for other objects) has only one step:

OpenNGC database --- convertNGC.py -------> C files included in TeenAstroCatalog

It uses the Python interface to ONGC to retrieve the data and the Jinja templating engine to create the C files.