RCOS 16 Focusing in NINA

[Paul Haese]

I have been using NINA for a while now and not come across this problem until now.

The problem is this. The secondary focuser for the RCOS 16" connects to NINA via the TCC ASCOM driver. The focuser moves fine but it always either over shoots or undershoots by 1-3 steps. That is miniscule in the movement of the focuser but it causes an error that NINA reports as the focuser failed to move to target position. That in turn stops autofocus occurring in NINA.

The TCC software is reporting that the focuser is moving and it does move physically.

I am using the plug in Hocus Focus within NINA also.

Is there a work around possible? Otherwise I may have to go back to CCDAP which I do not want to do as it does not have many of the features I like in NINA.

[Paul Haese]

For anyone who is vaguely interested in this issue and for the record I found that turning off the dead band in the TCC stopped the focuser from overshooting. That in turn allowed NINA to focus. It also means you need to do that each time you restart the TCC programme, however that is a small price to pay for using the scope with NINA.

[floyd_2]

I like it when people report back to their own threads with the solution. How many threads have you seen when researching a problem where the problem has been solved, yet no solution has been reported? Good on you for documenting a fix here mate.

I guess this solution, whilst seemingly not being able to be automated, can instead form part of the general workflow. Are you able to report this to the developer / manufacturer in the hope of them adding a checkbox in the TCC to leave the dead band off permanently? It would be a simple fix if they're still developing / updating the software.

[floyd_2]

To answer part of my own post, I just saw that the last firmware update was 2009 and the last software update was 2008. I thought the GUI looked pretty dated. I would call that a No for getting this problem fixed properly :(