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LLLOD
Lunatico Last Line of Defence

It will take control in case of need

Lunatico Last Line of Defence (LLLOD)

As its name implies, the last element

in the safety of your observatory.

Lunatico Last Line of Defence (LLLOD) is your ultimate observatory protection.

In a nutshell, it will monitor certain elements, periodically, and take control of and close the observatory if the circumstances become unsafe.

The software is distributed in a new fashion we like to call “Up To You Ware“. 

GNS sample screem

It does not need any additional Lunatico product – although it is a great partner to our Good Night System. (Attached GNS sample screen image)

What can it monitor:

  • the roof (via ASCOM)
  • internet connectivity
  • certain program running (your automation software, typically)
  • weather (via ASCOM Safety Monitor)
  • the mount (ASCOM telescope) – to make sure it does not point downwards

It will monitor and, if something goes wrong, after waiting a little bit, it’ll take control and close the session in an orderly fashion.

  • WHY? – You may ask, if you have your great automation program, with session control and weather monitoring, and recovery, emergency… well, if that works for you, great, indeed you don’t need LLLOD.  Me, on the other hand, I have tried most of the automation programs out there; most are great, quite reliable, and excellent value for money. However, with all I’ve tried (and that’s 5 of them), at some point, things have not ended as well as they should have. The thing is, those programs are extremely complex, they control many many things and situations.  LLLOD, on the other hand, is extremely simple, just does a simple job, but does it solidly. Period.  
  • GNS?  (Optional with LLLOD)

GNS (Good Night System) is our first observatory monitoring program. Worth mentioning here is it is passive.

As with LLLOD, it does one thing, but in an extremely solid way.

GNS will keep you updated on things and, most importantly, will wake you up in case of trouble.

GNS + LLLOD means, fundamentally, if the closing session (parking the mount, closing the roof, etc) process fails, you’ll be warned immediately.

 

An additional benefit, if your automation program does not support the GNS (many of them do), LLLOD can send you some useful information during the night. And if the internet connection to the observatory fails, or the PC crashes, you’ll be warned too.

We had considered adding the LLLOD functionality to the GNS, but decided against it. GNS is simple, extremely stable and reliable, and has been working for many years now in many places around the world.

LLLOD has to be as reliable as GNS – it is not as simple, as it has to interact with external elements (mount, roof, safety monitor…), but the simpler the better. Also being separated enables using one and not the other.

We’ve decided to offer this software for free – but we’ll indeed appreciate if you decided to donate some amount, depending on how useful you find the program.

We’re calling this “Up To You – ware”. At the end of each session, you’ll have a summary window offering you the chance to donate something – if and how much, is up to you

Donate by Stripe (for USD)

Donate by Paypal (for €)

Smartphone apps and permissions


Lunatico's smartphone apps (GNS, GNSFree, Dragonfly and the pocket CloudWatcher, and any future ones) do not require nor use any sensitive data or permission. None at all.
Bluetooth apps request location information - this is an android requirement since BlueTooth 4.0. We don't want that location information, won't use it, but cannot avoid the system asking for it. And it has to be granted to have bluetooth connectivity. Not only that, but: • the apps will only use your Smartphone storage to save its own settings • they won't access your calls, contacts, identity... nothing at all • the only data they'll know about you is what you configure in the settings • ... and even that won't be shared with anyone. Ever.