astrophotography with the raspberry pi — AMATEUR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY= Home
Printed Parts.
I have taken a needle file to the top surfaces of all the printed parts, except for the final layer. This will take off any high-spots and ensure an even and flat fitment when stacking the layers together.
Raspberry Pi Zero Wiring.
We require four wires to be soldered to the Pi, two power cables and two USB cables. I have recycled the wires from an old USB cable. Using Chris Robinson’s guide for adding a low profile WiFi dongle to the Raspberry Pi Zero we can select the correct solder pads.
In Chris’s guide he uses the solder pads on the underside for the power in, however we will be using the GPIO to feed 5v into the RPi. Using this Guide to the RPi GPIO And Pins we know we want to connect +5v (red wire) to pin 2 and GND (black wire) to pin 6.
Layers 1 – 3.
Attach the four 20mm Brass Hex spacers to the first printed part with 4 x M3 10mm Socket Cap Screws. Place the part down. Fit the FFC to the RPi and place it into the printed part. Don’t forget to fit the MicroSD Card!
Fit layer two over the top making sure to feed the cable and FFC through the holes.
Place layer 3 onto the stack, again take cable with the cables.
Layer 4.
Using the Pinout Reference from Chris’s guide we can solder power cables to the WiFi Dongle.
Place layer 4 onto the stack taking care with the wires.
Solder the two cable from the RPi’s USB pads to the WiFi Dongle. Put the dongle into the stack along with the Powerboost 1000.
Cut the four power wires to length and solder to the Powerboost. Double check the connections against Adafruit’s Pinouts Guide.
The power switch needs three connections. I have soldered a length of 3-way ribbon cable to the switch before fitting it into layer 4. Route the wires round to the Powerboost and solder in. Double check the connections against Adafruit’s ON/OFF Guide.
The Battery.
The wires on the battery are too long and ideally should be shortened.
This is a potentially dangerous step and should only be attempted if you are comfortable with your abilities to do it safely.
Begin by removing the Kapton tape covering the battery’s PCB and solder terminals. If you don’t have your own roll of tape keep the removed tape for when the pack is reassembled.
Unsolder the wires from the PCB and fit the connector to the Powerboost.
Feed the wires through the hole in layer 5 and approximate the required length before cutting off the excess. It is safe to leave a little more wire than you think you will need.
Resolder the wires to the battery and wrap up the PCB in Kaptop tape.
Layer 5.
I have added two foam pads to the underside of layer 5 to help keep the Powerboost from moving around.
Pass the battery plug through the hole in layer 5 and plug it into the Powerboost.
Feed the FFC through the hole in layer 5 and put it onto the stack.
Place the battery in the space in the layer.
Test.
Now is a good time to check everything works. Briefly connect the camera to the FFC and flick the switch. The light on the Powerboost should come on (there is a small hole in layer 3 through which you should be able to see the blue power LED).
Wait a few moments and using your phone, or mobile, or other WiFi device, scan for the Telescope ssid. You should be able to connect and by pointing your browser to 127.24.1.1 you should be presented with the RPi-Cam-Web-Interface.
If all is well shutdown the system, turn off the switch, remove the camera and carry on with the build. If you find things didn’t go to plan check back through the instructions and fix your issues.
Layer 6.
If you haven’t already done so please remove the lens from the camera module. Refer to the Raspberry Torte Wiki for instructions.
Place layer 6 onto the stack, feed through the FFC and attach the camera to the FFC.
Layer 7.
While holding down the camera into layer 6, add layer 7 to the stack.
Layer 8.
Hold layer 7 in position and placer layer 8 on top. Allow the camera to align to the opening in layer 8.
Secure layer 8 using 4 x M3 10mm Socket Cap Screws.
Camera Cap.
As soon as everything has been assembled fit the Cap to the camera. This will help keep dust and other detritus off the sensitive CCD.
