OnStep Configuration Generator

One of the obstacles in using OnStep is the process of configuring it. A user should start with a spreadsheet that calculates certain parameters. The user is supposed to check that they lie between acceptable ranges mentioned in the spreadsheet.

Then the user has to edit a Config.x.h file specific to their board. There are too many parameters, and most of them are in the format of PARAM_X_OFF, rather than PARAM_X 123. The user is supposed to replace _OFF by _ON (or sometimes _VAL1, depending on the parameter specific use. Some values are bit settings in binary, which can be used in either binary or the equivalent decimals. This is non intuitive, although it is changing slowly within OnStep.

In order to make things easier for myself and for others, I wrote an OnStep Configuration Generator which works for both the Alpha and Beta branches of OnStep, starting with 1.1.f and later.

You input all the required parameters from the spreadsheet, and a few others (mount type: Equatorial, Alt-Az; stepper driver model). It defaults some parameters to force them to enabled, and leaves a lot of the rest unconfigured, for manual editing, if needed.

The configuration generator is now hosted online, and does not need to be downloaded, hence installing Python is no longer needed.

All you have to do is enter the parameters right into the web page and the configuration file is generated on the spot for you. You then copy the result and paste it into your Config.x.h file.

Here is the link again: OnStep Configuration Generator.

And here is a video on how to use the spreadsheet, and the generator together: no parameter editing needed!

Test it and let me know in the comments below.