LLLOD – Lunatico Last Line of Defence, It will take control in case of need!
Lunatico Last Line of Defence is, as its name implies, the last element in the safety of your observatory. 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“. It does not need any additional Lunatico product – although it is a great partner to our Good Night System.
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.
Lunatico Last Line of Defence (LLLOD) is your ultimate observatory protection.
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.
UP TO YOU WARE?
We want you to use the program. You can keep it forever. If however, you use and find it useful, you should pay for it, and we hope you’ll be inclined to so. It’s a little smart program contributing to protecting your precious equipment. Maybe you’ll consider sending us as little as $1/1€ each time the program saves the day… er night? Or a one-time payment somewhat higher? Or nothing at all. That’s what we call it “Up to you ware“.
GNS, Good Night System? (Optional with LLLOD)
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.
This, as all our products, is a live one – we gladly accept suggestions for improvement.
| Supporting our work 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. | 
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LLLOD documentation:
