Skip to content
You must be logged in to sponsor NameOfTheDragon

Become a sponsor to Tim Long

@NameOfTheDragon

Tim Long

NameOfTheDragon
Canterbury, Kent, UK

Hi, I'm Tim Long and I trade as Tigra Astronomy and Tigra Networks. I'm a freelance .NET developer specializing in ASCOM device drivers and astronomy related software. I love to work with device vendors who need firmware or ASCOM drivers. I work to professional standards and I support my work.

I live in Canterbury UK in the southeast of England. I operate a robotic observatory that I use as a test bed for my work wherever possible. The observatory is located at the University of Kent in Canterbury and is operated in collaboration with them, so that the observatory gets used for research and teaching projects.

I maintain a number of open source projects that directly or indirectly support ASCOM, the Astronomy Component Object Mode. I am also a member of the ASCOM core team that steers future development of the project.

I love to give my software away for free and my work is typically licensed under the Tigra MIT License. I feel strongly that open source software should be given away wholeheartedly and with no strings attached. That said, it takes up a lot of time and energy so I need to be open to support wherever it is available. It is increasingly difficult to find paid work, especially with the 2020 pandemic hurting economies worldwide, so it is becoming harder to justify spending time on free software. Somehow, I still have to find a way to pay my bills and make a living. If you find my work useful and can afford to support my work, then I hope you will consider sponsoring me via one of my sponsor links. Even just a little bit is incredibly helpful.

@NameOfTheDragon

Get a core group of 5 initial sponsors at any level

Featured work

  1. nexdome/ASCOM

    NexDome ASCOM Driver

    C# 6
  2. nexdome/Firmware

    NexDome Dome and Shutter Motor Kit Firmware

    C 3
  3. Tigra-Astronomy/TA.Utilities

    A collection of commonly-used helper utilities

    C#
  4. Tigra-Astronomy/TA.ObjectOrientedAstronomy.Samples

    A sample application that demonstrates the use of the Object Oriented Astronomy library

    C#
  5. Tigra-Astronomy/TA.ReactiveCommunications

    A thread-safe transactional communications methodology for ASCOM drivers

    C# 2

Learn more about sponsoring developers and organizations.

Report abuse

0% towards 5 monthly sponsors goal

Be the first to sponsor this goal!

Select a tier

$ a month

Choose a custom amount.

$1 a month

Select

Every little helps.
A starter tier that'll help me keep the lights on and let me know that my work is appreciated.
There are no special benefits to this tier, it's just a way for subscribers to support me with a baseline monthly amount. You get the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping make the software to help you and others.

$5 a month

Select

Open Source Supporter
A starter tier that'll help me keep the lights on and let me know that my work is appreciated.
Help me to keep doing what I'm doing and give something back to the community.
There are no special benefits to this tier, it's just a way for subscribers to support me with a baseline monthly amount. You get the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping make the software to help you and others.

$20 a month

Select

Open Source Motivator
More focussed support on my open source work. Sponsors at this level get to focus my attention on projects or features. When you create issues or feature requests on GitHub, mention that you are a GitHub Sponsor and your request will be moved to the top of the queue.

$25 a month

Select

3D Printer Support Tier
Sponsors at this level are entitled to one-to-one online support using TeamViewer or equivalent.
I will help you solve a problem you have with your 3D printer. This can include:

  • Compiling and installing Marlin firmware
  • Installing and configuring Klipper firmware
  • Installing and configuring Octoprint and associated plugins
  • Troubleshooting printing problems.
  • Configuring and using a slicer (Cura, Prusa Slicer, Super Slicer, etc)

This tier entitles you to one support incident per month. If you need more than one incident, either wait until the next month, or upgrade to a higher tier. Shooting Star tier gives you 2 incidents per month, Learn to Code tier gives you unlimited incidents.

$50 a month

Select

Shooting Star
A serious tier for those who want to be influencers. I will hold a short monthly online meeting (using Zoom or equivalent) where I'll give an update of what I've been working on, and listen to your ideas or concerns that you'd like me to address. I will also credit you by name (unless you ask me not to) in the About Box (or equivalent) of any software that I produce with your support.

$200 a month

Select

Learn to Code
A great tier for people who are serious about developing their skills as a developer, learning to code from scratch, who want to up their game or get help with a personal project they are working on. As a professional developer with 40 years' experience, I will mentor you one-to-one in a weekly 1-hour online meeting at a mutually convenient time on any code-related subject of your choice. Get up to speed fast and move your skills from Journeyman to Master.

$500 a month

Select

Corporate Retainer
A tier for companies who need a professional .NET developer who can take on development projects or provide software support for your products and end users. I can only take on limited supporters at this level, so please contact me to discuss your requirements before subscribing to this tier.