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Summary of Contents for Diffraction Boltwood Cloud Sensor III
- Page 1 Boltwood Cloud Sensor III User’s Manual Version 0.07 – March 30, 2022 DIFFRACTION LIMITED...
- Page 2 Aluma® are registered trademarks of Diffraction Limited. Boltwood Cloud Sensor, Aluma AC, AFW, StarChaser, SC-2, SC-3, ST-4, STF, STX, STXL, AO-X, MaxIm DL, and MaxIm LT are trademarks of Diffraction Limited. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
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Page 3: Warnings
The sensor should be powered continuously while outdoors, to allow the heaters to prevent moisture accumulation. NOTE: There is no compatibility with prior versions of the Boltwood Cloud Sensor. DIFFRACTION LIMITED... -
Page 4: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents Warnings ......................3 1 – The Boltwood Cloud Sensor III ..............5 A Quick Tour of your Boltwood Cloud Sensor III ..........6 2 – Supplied components .................. 9 3 – Installation....................10 Direct Mounting ..................10 Pole Mounting ..................... -
Page 5: The Boltwood Cloud Sensor Iii
When it detects adverse conditions, the Boltwood Cloud Sensor III will trigger a contact closure (relay) output. When connected to an observatory roof controller such as the MaxDome II system, this will cause the observatory to close. Note that this will not park your telescope or other equipment. -
Page 6: A Quick Tour Of Your Boltwood Cloud Sensor Iii
A Quick Tour of your Boltwood Cloud Sensor III DIFFRACTION LIMITED... - Page 7 Underneath the Sun Shield are power and roof cable connections, plus several additional sensors. The temperature sensor measures ambient temperature. It extends down from the sensor body to ensure it is exposed to freely-flowing air. DIFFRACTION LIMITED...
- Page 8 The left-hand LED shows communications link status. It glows amber when a link is active, and blinks green with a successful message transfer, and red for a failed message transfer (an occasional red is normal depending on WiFi signal strength). DIFFRACTION LIMITED...
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Page 9: Supplied Components
2 – Supplied components Observe proper handling procedures for sensitive electronic equipment and unpack your Boltwood Cloud Sensor III carefully in a clean, dry, static-free area. Inspect the contents to ensure all components are present and in good order. You should find the following: ... -
Page 10: Installation
3 – Installation The Boltwood Cloud Sensor III must have a clear view of the sky overhead, and unobstructed air flow. It can be installed a pole, fence post, etc. It is also possible to install it on a roof soffit, although you should avoid installing over a potentially hot surface such as concrete or in any situation that blocks wind flow. -
Page 11: Quick Mount Bracket
If the AC power supply is not being used, connect the cloud sensor to a 12V power source. Although nominally a 12V input, it will accommodate a voltage range of 10.5V to 24V. The polarity of the connector is not important – it can be connected either way. DIFFRACTION LIMITED... -
Page 12: Roof Close Cable
The contact will also close if power is lost to the cloud sensor, which is useful for shutting down the observatory in the event of a power loss (this assumes your roof system has battery backup). DIFFRACTION LIMITED... -
Page 13: Network Setup
Reset procedure, described below. Access Point When the Boltwood Cloud Sensor III is powered up for the first time, it will default to Access Point mode. The Access Point can be accessed from a smartphone or notebook computer. Go to your network connections and search for networks – the sensor will use its serial number as its SSID (Network ID). -
Page 14: Network Identification
With power applied to the sensor, hold a magnet against this spot for several seconds. The unit will reset the network settings to default Access Point mode with the cloud sensor’s serial number used for both the SSID and the setup page password. DIFFRACTION LIMITED... - Page 15 Master Reset Location DIFFRACTION LIMITED...
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Page 16: Software Operation
Clarity III is included on the supplied Flash Drive. It can also be downloaded from https://diffractionlimited.com – please see the Boltwood Cloud Sensor III product page, Downloads tab. To install, run the installer file and follow the instructions. Clarity III does several things: ... -
Page 17: Ascom Alpaca
ASCOM Alpaca The most common way to operate this sensor is through its ASCOM Alpaca interfaces. For more information on ASCOM please visit: https://ascom-standards.org The Boltwood Cloud Sensor III provides two interfaces: ISafetyMonitor IObservingConditions ISafetyMonitor provides a simple go/no go indication. If any of the sensor channels are outside the thresholds you have set in the Setup screen, the IsSafe property will return False. -
Page 18: Technical Support
7 – Technical Support Technical support for the Boltwood Cloud Sensor III is provided through our support forum at: https://diffractionlimited.com/forum Click the Log in or Sign up button at top right. If you have not created an account already, you will be prompted to create one. Otherwise log in with your username and password. -
Page 19: Specifications
The roof close connector is an isolated contact closure. It may be connected in either polarity. Open indicates safe conditions; closed indicates unsafe. Contacts will close if power is lost. This connection is directly compatible with most observatory roof control systems, including MaxDome II. DIFFRACTION LIMITED... -
Page 20: Drawings
9 – Drawings DIFFRACTION LIMITED... - Page 21 DIFFRACTION LIMITED...
- Page 22 DIFFRACTION LIMITED...
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