myFOCUSER AND MOONLITETM COMPATIBILITY

Author Robert Brown

Date October 2014
Email brown_rb@yahoo.com
v1.02 (27 January 2017)

MoonliteTM is a registered trademark.

Using MoonliteTM Focuser Drivers with a myFocuser Controller

It is highly recommended to use the myFocuser ASCOM driver and the myFocuser Windows application.

The myFocuser protocol can emulate the MoonliteTM protocol, and to a certain extent, most of the focuser
functions can be controlled using the MoonliteTM drivers and application software.

SOME FUNCTIONS HAVE NOT BEEN IMPLEMENTED (such as Backlight, Step delay, Temperature
compensation, Temperature co-efficient etc). But it works!

MoonLite_FocuserNA_v1.07 Windows Application

Connected to a myFocuser DRV8825 Minimal focus controller.

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Moonlite ASCOM 6.03 Drivers
Connected to a myFocuser DRV8825 Minimal focus controller.

Moonlite ASCOM DRO Drivers (Jan 2015)

Connected to a myFocuser DRV8825 Minimal focus controller.

NOTE:
In normal operation, wire a 47uF electrolytic capacitor across the RESET and 5V Pins of the Arduino
controller. The negative lead of the capacitor is wired to RESET and the positive lead to 5V.

On my controller, I have soldered the capacitor to a 2pin Dupont header connector. I then mounted a 2pin
2.54mm header pins on the external case and wired these pins internally to the RESET and 5V pins on the
controller.

This allows me to plug in the capacitor for normal operation. When I need to upload new firmware, I simply
unplug the capacitor. You will not be able to upload new firmware releases to the controller if the capacitor
is connected.

Another way is to wire the capacitor in series with a mini-slide ON OFF switch that is mounted on the
controller case.
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WHAT ABOUT USING A MOONLITE MOTOR WITH THE MYFOCUSER CONTROLLER
Can I use a MoonliteTM focuser motor with the myFocuser controller.

YES.

BUT NOT WITH ALL CONTROLLERS

Only a small modification is required. Pins 1-4 are compatible with a MoonliteTM focuser motor. Pin5 of the
RS232 connector needs to be connected to 12V DC supply.

Please note that Moonlite uses a Unipolar Hurst stepper motor, so cannot be used with a
DRV8825/L298N/etc driver.

However, the UNO+L293D Shield option does support a unipolar motor and thus could be used to drive a
moonlite stepper motor.

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