Overview

Home Assistant (HA) is primarily used for home automation and runs on single-board computers like a Raspberry Pi — no Windows OS required. It provides universal device access, custom GUI creation, and enables powerful custom automations.

This guide was contributed by Kenneth Toliver (Astrobin profile · personal website), who describes his goal:

"I want to have a single source dashboard for all my observatory monitoring, including limited control over equipment so I can open my ROR and turn on fans to cool down without even booting my imaging PC or starting the DF software."

The true automation for imaging runs through dedicated software (such as NINA) with DragonFly integration. Home Assistant serves here as an always-available monitoring dashboard, accessible from any web browser or mobile device — even when the imaging PC is off.

Observatory Setup

The wiring diagram below shows how the DragonFly controller ties into the broader observatory system. Home Assistant reads and controls DragonFly relays and switches for the Roll-Off Roof (ROR), mount power, mini PC power, fans, and connected cloud/weather sensors.

Wiring diagram showing DragonFly integration with Home Assistant, ROR, mount, and sensors

Three dashboard screens cover the main use cases:

  • Screen 1 — System Monitor: an overview of the full observatory system state.
  • Screen 2 — Observatory Control: four control buttons and four monitor points linked directly to DragonFly sensors and relays. Roof open/close logic includes safety checks for mount park status and weather conditions.
  • Screen 3 — Weather Display: real-time weather data pulled from connected sensors.
Home Assistant System Monitor screen showing observatory status overview Home Assistant Observatory Control screen with four buttons and four DragonFly sensor monitor points Home Assistant Weather Display screen showing real-time observatory weather data

HA Configuration Files

Two YAML files are provided for download. They expose DragonFly relays and switches to Home Assistant and contain the roof open/close safety logic. You will need to modify device names and control schemes to match your specific setup.

Note: Mount Power and Mini PC Power buttons require no special script and are configured entirely within Home Assistant. Only the roof operation requires the scripts.yaml logic with its safety interlocks.

After downloading, open each file in a text editor and update the entity names and device identifiers to match your DragonFly and Home Assistant configuration before deploying.

Community contribution by Kenneth Toliver. Have a setup guide or integration to share? Get in touch.