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Corpze

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Posts posted by Corpze

  1. Yes, like Mac said: just tell it to park west and it will do the opposite ... problem solved!

    unfortunately it looks like this doens´t work, or maybe I have done something wrong.

     

    i set the new park positions at 189 degree az and 1 degree alt and the counterweight bar fazing east - That didn't work, it wan't to slew so that the counterweight bar is facing west.

     

    I then choosed to autoslew to set the counterweight bar to west... that didn't work either... well it worked in that way that autoslew actually did flip the mount so the coutnerweight bar pointed at west.

     

    Do i have to save and re-open the program to make this take effect or something?

     

    /Daniel

  2. Hi Thomas,

     

    I ran into the same problem with the Microtouch/FocusMax set-up on my refractor.

     

    I found that it was necessary to trick Sequence into moving the focus by the right distances.

    I measured how many steps the Microtouch needed to move 1mm. In my case it moved 72mm for 20,000 steps, ie 0.36mm per 100steps.

    I then established that Sequence thinks 100 Microtouch steps is 0.1mm, so that I had to set the coarse and fine AF steps in Sequence to 1/3.6 times the actual value I wanted.

     

    Using this as a starting point, I then altered the steps until I got the right HFD shifts for coarse and fine shifts.

     

    This has given satisfactory AF performance during Sequence runs.

     

    With the focus offsets, I just used what Sequence AF measured, and it worked OK.

     

    Hope this helps!

     

    Mark

    Hi, I have a similar problem;

    My scope is a f3,4 which have a critical focus zone (CFZ) of 27 microns.

    My sesto senso / Starlight feather touch combo has a resulotion of 0,0007423mm per step  (should be 0,7 microns right?)

    32000 steps is a full rotation of the starlight focuser, which is 23,7536mm

    So, in that case, 1mm should be 1347 steps (32000 steps divided with 23,7536mm)

     

    What values for Fine and Coarse do i have to have for the auto focus routine to runs optimal?

    Is Sequence set to assume 100 steps is 1mm?

  3. Hi, I am trying to find the best settings for the autofocus routine in Sequence.

    My scope is a f3,4 which have a critical focus zone (CFZ) of 27 microns.
    My sesto senso / Starlight feather touch combo has a resulotion of 0,0007423mm per step  (should be 0,7 microns right?)

    in the Autofocus "tab" in sequence, when i measure the V-slope, i get a value of 0,83mm in the coarse focus box and half that value in the fine focus box.
    Isn't theese values far to high to be able to pin-point the focus?

    What is your typical value for a telescope this fast?

     

  4. Hi.
    I am having problems with my no.2 park position.
    No 1 (zenith) works fine, but the second one, which i have set to -1.0 degree Alt and 178 degree Az should be pointing south with the counterweight bar towards east. 
    When i slew, it will flip and point south with the counterweight bar pointing west. 

    Has the setting which i can choose how many degrees over the meridian i can track something to do with this?

    /Daniel

  5. To bad this site got hacked, it was a gold mine!
    I do not have time to participate to much i am afriad, but i have some videos on my Youtube channel which i can post along with my workflows if someone will revive the site.

    /Daniel

  6. Thanks for all tips and tricks.
    I think my new computer is set to serve me well.

    1. Windows update was run a couple of times before i started to install all the softwares (Ascom, Autoslew, Sequence, Maxim DL, drivers etc.) and after all sofware was installed, i turned Windows update off
       
    2. USB Sleep disabled
       
    3. Energy settings set to not turn off hdd, hibernate pc and such settings.

    Anything else i might have missed?

  7. Hi.
    I have been running my DDM 85 for almost three years now and I am really starting to enjoy this mount more and more for every day (Night) I am using it..
    The MBTF is now over 90%.

    I am running a 100% automated roll off roof observatory - and I am wondering over a few things.

    1. - The Ascom Safety monitor.
          If i have setup a imaging sequence, and press "start @ time" - sequence will start the sequence IF the Safety monitor says "SAFE" - If it            declares "NOT SAFE" - the sequence will be terminated ("Stop" or "Close All"?) - And it will not give it any more try to run the sequence            until i manually terminates the sequence and setup another sequence and press "Start @ time" again?

          It would be awesome if the safety monitor in sequence could listen if the ASCOM driver says "SAFE" and then starts the sequence.

    2. - Script, IFTTT or similar.
          Can sequence output any string, be scripted or similar to trigger an IFTTT?
          I Have a home automation system (Vera) for my garden lights and it woul'd be great if I could turn off the lights when sequence starts it's            imaging session.

  8. Did you fix this problem? Could it be an autoslew bug 5.2.2.3?

     

    Max

     sience i rolled back to win7, i am not sure what was wrong, either my pc who didn't support win10 (dell optiplex 960) or just a huge asa driver flaw.

    How ever, i installed win7 and haven't got any problems at all sience.

    Besides from that my Atik 460 died on me a few days ago  :angry:

  9. Hi, i just stumbled upon a one hour presentation of Prism on the Astro Imaging Channel on youtube.

    At one moment in the presentation given by the authour of the program he sais "i was running a direct drive mount in Chile with this program"

    To me it sounds worth investigate, i can't find anything on the Internet though.

     

    The program is complete, i mean everything. Sky chart, object chooser, weather, dome control, sequencer, editing... 499USD

     

    Anyone know more if this supports DDMs?

     

    /Daniel

  10. I have been looking into it a bit and the .xls file that you can export is HUGE - i can't even insert it as code on this forum.

    There is how ever a script example in AStro planner for running a export script to CCD commander, maybe we can start out from that?
    I have never scripted before but it shouldn't be that difficult?

    Here is the script code for CCDc;

     

    
    
    //- Paul Rodman, Jan 2010
    //- 
    //- V1.0  25 Jan 2010
    //-   Initial Release
    //- V1.1  25 Jan 2010
    //-   Minor changes (Juan Gonzalez)
    //- V1.2  8 Feb 2010
    //-   Modified for V2
    //- V1.3  15 Oct 2012
    //-   Added ability to choose ID, Name, or Both as object identifier
     
    //# Name: CCD Commander Export
    //# URL: 
    //# Author: Paul Rodman
    //# E-Mail: paul@ilanga.com
    //# Category: Export|Imaging
    //# MinVersion: 2.0
    //# Keywords: Export, Imaging, CCD Commander
     
    function FormatCoordinate(v as double) as string
      dim s as string
      s = format(abs(v),"00.000000")
      s = left(s,2)+"."+mid(s,4) // Force decimal period (.)
      while left(s,1)="0" and left(s,2)"0."
        s=mid(s,2)
      wend
      if v
      return s
    end function
     
    sub main()
      dim tf as APTextFile
      dim i as integer
      dim id,sra,sdec as string
      dim ob as APPlanObject
      
      dim nid as integer = Plan().RestoreValue("nid",0)
      
      dim dlg as new Dialog
      dlg.ChoiceParameter("Object Identifier",nid,"ID","Name","Both (ID_Name)")
      if not dlg.Show("CCD Commander Export") then return
      nid = dlg.ChoiceParameter("Object Identifier")
      
      Plan().SaveValue("nid",nid)
      
      // Create output file
      tf = APTextFile.WriteFile ("export.txt")
      if tf=nil then return
      
      // Output a line for each object
      for i = 1 to Plan().nObjects
        ob = Plan().Obj(i)
        select case nid
        case 0
        id = ob.ID
        case 1
        id = ob.Name
        else
        if ob.Name="" then
        id=ob.ID
        elseif ob.ID="" then
        id=ob.Name
        else
        id = ob.ID+"_"+ob.Name
        end if
        end select
        id = ReplaceAll(id,",","-") // Replace any commas with hyphens
        id = ReplaceAll(id,"/","")     // Remove the slash sign
        id = ReplaceAll(id," ","_")    // Replace spaces
        
        tf.Write id+","+FormatCoordinate(ob.RA)+","+FormatCoordinate(ob.Dec)+chr(13)+chr(10)
      next
        
      tf.Close
    end sub
     

    The .trg file is quite simple and only uses a few lines - i do not know how to write this script though :/
    And we have to get the nearby focus star as well... 
    Hmpf

    /Daniel

  11. Hi, i am looking for a program that helps me choose what object to image. I have been looking into Astro Planner (maybe you have a better suggestion?)

    One feature of Astro Planner is that you can export your list - but can it export to Sequence? 

     

    The target file in sequence uses a .trg fiel extension and contains this;
     

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <clsTarget xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
      <Name />
      <ObjRa>00h53m45,6s</ObjRa>
      <ObjDe>+56d42m26s</ObjDe>
      <FocRa>00h25m42,0s</FocRa>
      <FocDe>+61d55m26s</FocDe>
      <Comment />
    </clsTarget>

    This should not be that hard to script if possible in Astro Planner right?
     

    /Daniel

  12. I am following this interesting discussion.

    I made a 5 itteration PA following the new tutorial, works very well. I have made a shortlist of all the steps for new beginners;

     

    How to Polar align your telescope setup with DDM85 (60?) with incremental encoders.

     

    Start Autoslew

    Motor ON

    Clear config

    Homefind

    Start CdC (or other planetarium)

    Synch on Star

    Set new home pos

     

    Start Sequence

    Chose autopoint - 3star east PA

     

    Load pointingfile in Autoslew

    Calculate - choose for Polar Align

     

    Center a star near meridian (DO NOT SYNCH)

    Choose Polar adjust

    Adjust Alt/AZ screws on your mount

     

    Repeat this until you are satisfied with your Polar Align

     

    After this, you have to reset the config, synch a star, set a new home position and you are good to go to do a pointingfile in sequence. (or manually)

     

     

    - i have also wondered (don't find this info in the manuals) what "save parameter" actually saves in AS? Is it motor parameters and such?

    Does it save the home position?

     

    - the button "view configuration" does not work, maybe not the right part of the forum to discuss, but what is it for?

     

    /Daniel

  13. Just a quick update... Seemed to be win 10 that made all fall apart... No problem what so ever with win 7.

    Same settings, 5 itteration PA and the last one down to 1,2 arcminute in RA and 0,2 arcminute in Dec :-)

    Running a 45 star pointing file right now.

    I have documented all for the wiki.

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