SCOPEDOME 2M - Scopedome forum

2m Scopedome rotation angle issue

jybeninger — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 08:33:12 +0000

Good day.

I have used a Scopedome 2m without much problems for 6 months - I just changed the controlling laptop and thought I entered exactly the same values as before - The old computer is dead ... I cannot check those values now.

An issue just appeared where the dome rotates more than it should: I visualise the rotation with a webcam to see what happens.

When just testing it, running with the ScopeDome Arduino Dome v10f13, shutter closed so as not to confuse it:

Goto 90 degrees, goes more than that

Goto 180 degrees, goes more than that

Goto 316 degrees will bring it approximately to the starting point (359 degrees is home)

Goto FindHome just moves slightly, 1 degree or less then Home reached and reading shows 359 degrees (Home).

I repeated exactly the same 3 times.
I switched off and on, same issue.

The values entered in Config/Card are: Encoder value for 360 degrees = 3681 clk (should I change this?) and in Config/Dome Home sensor set at 360 deg and Max rotate 360 deg.

Please advise.

Thank you very much

Jean-Yves

Dome randomly resetting encoder count and rotating dome

Chrosbahr — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 08:52:51 +0000

Hi

I am seeing 2 issues happening what seems to be at random.

Earlier this week I moved the dome to a position of 345 degrees. The encoder showed 135 steps.

A couple of days later, where there has been absolutely no activity in the observatory, the encoder shows 0 steps. I don't see anything in the logs - and the dome is still pointing at 345 degrees, but obviously reports as pointing north (encoder = 0).

Today, after yet a couple of days also without activity, the dome has physically rotated itself and now points at approx. 205 degrees. The encoder still shows 0. The logs show no sign of a "move" command.

The only suspicious thing I see in the log is an "Arduino command error" entry, which I don't know exactly what means.

What can cause this, and how do I troubleshoot it further? It is bad enough that the encoder resets itself, but I really don't like that it physically rotates the dome without any command to do so.

Thanks,

Christian

Power plug type

Chrosbahr — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 18:21:35 +0000

Hi
What kind of plugs are these, that are used to connect the 230V wires going from the dome box to the slip ring system?

Manually moving shutter

Klaus Conrad — Mon, 19 May 2025 21:36:16 +0000

Hi - my site is remote, and i do not have physical access to it quickly. Tonight when shutter opened, it refused to close as the 'isclose' sensor seems to have gotten stuck in closed position. Thankfully i hope we will have good weather and no rain tonight, but if something like this happens, is there a low level override to run the motor directly and ignore 'isclose' or 'isopen' switches?

Weak shutter link and UPS question

Klaus Conrad — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 13:17:51 +0000

Hi Scopedome team

on my 2M dome, i often get issues with a weak signal error to the shutter. I am connecting the dome to driver via ethernet, and the connection to the dome itself seems solid. But i get errors when trying to open/close the shutter - there is often a 'bad link' error in the driver window. Command window shows message 'arduino error' and 'connect to card' messages. How can i troubleshoot this? Often when I powercycle a few times, the problem is solved, but always seems to come back. Sometimes i have to rotate the dome a few times before the shutter reacts - could this be an issue with the slip ring power?

Second question: i have a UPS inline with recommendations (600VA pure sine etc). How can i hook this up to the dome so it knows when power fails? Is this a function of the driver? I saw that there is an analog input pin (i think 14) on the card , but I am not sure how this is meant to be used to enable the dome to shut shutter if the power fails.

Thank you

Klaus

2M reconfigured as clamshell

Chrosbahr — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 19:24:57 +0000

I just had a strange experience: My shutter was not displayed as "At Home", even though it clearly was. Find Home failed, and even a simple goto also failed. I then connected with the Arduino Test App, and did a "getStatus" - here I noticed that it reported as Clamshell, not Master. Connecting with USB and setting Preset as Master restored everything to normal working conditions.

So the problem is solved, but this is actually the second time I experience that without my intervention it has suddenly re-configured as Clamshell (last time was in august 2024). There are no signs in the logs of any re-configuration either. Do you have any idea what can cause this - and how to avoid it?

Shutter motor trying to close already closed shutter

Chrosbahr — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 07:53:44 +0000

Hi,
I experienced a serious issue with my 2M dome last night. As part of normal operation, the bad weather configuration closed the shutter. However, the shutter motor did not stop, even after the shutter was closed, causing really loud banging noises (waking up the neighbors!) as the motor tried to still move the shutter!

Last night I simply cut the power, but now I am trying to investigate what happened, and again, turning on power leads to the shutter motor trying to close an already closed shutter - even though it is already registered as closed (see screenshot).

Right now I have power on the dome, but have disconnected the plug for power to the motor itself, so that it cannot activate.

I would really appreciate some help on what might be happening here, and what can lead to the motor being activated even if the shutter is reported as "closed"

How to clean and lubricate the slip ring in the 2M dome

admin — Mon, 20 May 2024 12:23:49 +0000

How to clean and lubricate the slip ring in the 2M dome

- turn off the power
- remove the motor
- dismantle the inner covers
- clean the slip ring (vertical and horizontal plate) with solvent or extraction gasoline
- clean all sipring rollers with solvent or extraction gasoline
- adjust the horizontal rollers so that they are well pressed against the slip ring plate and the dome rotates freely and does not rub against anything
- Grease the rollers and slip ring plate
- Reinstall the covers and motor
- check if the motor pinion fits tightly to the gear strip around the whole dome circumference

Basic data

Przemysław Rudź — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 09:20:09 +0000

Dome dimentions

diameter of the dome: 2000 mm
shutter width: 590 mm
dome height: 1400 mm
diameter of the base: 1940 mm
diameter of the outer base ring: 1940 mm
diameter of the inner base ring: 1820 mm
weight (with pallet): ~ 250 kg

Height with dedicated tower

tower H80 : 2340 mm
tower H120 : 2615 mm

The main advantages of 2M dome

simple and fast installation of the dome,
dome will be delivered to you assembled and tested, its installation does not require more work than a typical installation of the telescope,
the dome is ready for operation immediately after unpacking,
the ability to automatically open the shutter on any azimuth using the built-in power ring rotating mechanism (slip ring),
all the shutter rolls and rotating mechanism are hidden inside the dome to protect it from weather,
tightness better then in larger domes, design and production in 3D and CNC technology allowed us to minimize the space between the rotating parts of the dome.

Note: from August 2022 the domes will be delivered with 230V Ac motors