Ok, so the AuRiCo wasn't utterly painless to get running. I built out the new battery pack for it this evening, and gave it a go just by moving my servos over to the new controller. No dice. For starters it rotates the shutter servo the opposite direction, the tilt servo kept losing position, and things generally went to pot.
My guess is the 3xAAA battery pack is simply too skimpy for driving a PIC microcontroller and three servos. SHOOT! So now I'm considering whether I roll my own using an AVR (I don't really do PICs) or whether I get another BBKK from Brooks and build out an AutoKAP rig from scratch.
More and more I'm thinking my best bet is to build out one of Ben Peoples's controllers, which uses an AVR at the KAP end, and a second one on the controller. XBee or XBee Pro radios connect the two, allowing remote operation of the rig. If the ground-side controller is turned off, the rig goes into AutoKAP mode and drives the rig itself. No second rig, no reconfigure, just turn off the ground-side unit and away you go.
So Mauna Kea aerial photography waits. But meanwhile I'm planning on taking my rokkaku to Waipi`o Valley tomorrow to try my luck. Hoping for fair winds and good photography!
Tom
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