Winter is coming, so its really about time I got around to building the Dew Heater for my camera lens/telescope, after all Ive had the heater element strap for ages!
I came across this Arduino project for just such a thing http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=144679
so have decided to go with it. After all it seems to do what I require, so ive put in the required orders for the Arduino Nano, the humidity and temperature sensors, the OLED display (ooh, not played with OLED yet!) and the MOSFET driver. If nothing else, at least Sam knows what he's doing with Arduino's! Ive ordered two Nanos, as if one is going to be permenantly part of this project, the other is then spare for other development.
Ive also bitten the bullet and ordered an Arduino Mega. Looking at its dimensions, I think it might just shoehorn in the available space in the PRC-320, and with its 54 digital I/O pins and extra dedicated serial comms pins, its more than capable of handling the required number of connections for the Remote Control VFO project. Again, the easier to use development language and GUI makes it more likely i'll get somewhere with the project than the original idea of using PIC chips. I still think I could make PICs smaller, but the effort with the software would be far greater for a computer thicko like me. Plus the Arduino, being a self contained board, is much easier to prototype on the bench!
Of course, this means also that an Arduino, perhaps a Nano, could be used for the Remote part of the project.
Before I can do much on this though, I will need to sort out that dicky switch contact, or whatever the issue is, that is causing the frequency setting problem. But this is probably just the push I need to do that!
I think Mike Walker might be pleased ive decided to explore this route!
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