RoboFocus -- help

[Octane (Humayun)]

One for the RoboFocus gurus.

Was wondering if anyone could help me with a snag I've hit which is driving me up the wall. The first night I go to use it, a problem rears its head and it's something that I, for the life of me, can't figure out.

A Google search of the error message that I received (see below) yields just two hits on the web. One which didn't address my issue, and, the other in French (which I translated back to English via Google) that also seemed a bit off the mark... I hope.

I followed the manual calibration procedure on page 17 of the documentation:

1. move focuser out as far as you want;
2. power on RoboFocus, wait until focuser moves in as far as you want it to go;
3. press a button to stop movement;

All this went fine. I fired up FocusMax, was nearing the completion of my very first V-curve, when all of a sudden, RoboFocus decided to start moving the focuser all the way out.

Now, everytime I turn it on, it moves all the way in one direction. I can't make a connection from the computer anymore, either; I even uninstalled and reinstalled the software. I get an obscure "No response from RoboFocus/port closed" message when attempting a connection. The interesting thing here is that in the RoboFocus Control Program, for the brief moment that it attempts to make a connection to the control box, because the focuser is ramping in and out of its own volition, I see the absolute/relative position changing, just before it throws the error message.

I changed serial-to-USB adapters, thinking I may have had a dodgy one (both were able to make connections to Gemini, so, I know they're working). I also tried reassigning available ports through Device Manager. The other point of significance is that this in/out behaviour exhibits itself whether the serial cable is connected to the computer, or not. That is, the behaviour occurs when just the DB9 cable from the control box to the motor is in place, and the power is switched on.

I even installed RoboFocus on Frank's (spearo's) laptop and tried connecting to it as well, no luck. It just wants to move in and out each time I turn it on.

Is RoboFocus supposed to move in and out upon turning it on? I didn't think that's how it worked -- unless you pressed buttons on the control box when powering it on.

I'm just wondering if I have a dodgy serial control cable (control box to motor). But, I'm not sure how or why a cable would stop working half-way through a V-curve?

Any and all help would be appreciated before I just give up and sell all my gear.

H

[Hagar (Doug)]

My unit certainly doesn't do this. All I can think of is short on one of the buttons on the front of the unit.

[OzRob (Rob)]

Mine doesn't move unless I or FocusMax tells it to. I would send an email to Jeremy.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Hmm, I don't remember running any calibration for mine, only the focus software such as ccdsoft and focusmax doing that. Mine never moves a micron unless I tell it to (Via focusmax). Your problem makes me wonder if the control box has a memory that can be reset.

[Hagar (Doug)]

The controller can certainly do other things such as switch on relay contacts etc. and frrom memory there is some sequence of button pushes which will change what it actually does. It should appear in the manual somewhere,... From memory it is a sequence of button pushes which allerts it's current status by the number of beeps it emitts, you may have it in the wrong mode.

[Exfso (Peter)]

I have found that emailing them directly has worked a treat, they have always responded very quickly and been most helpful. They even have a skype phone number which I used the other night when my controller died as a result of me being stupid and mis connecting it whilst half asleep.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Thanks for the messages guys, and, thanks Hans, for your offer, too.

I managed a console connection to the control box today, and, it looks like it's fubar'ed. All I see is a never-ending string of 0's being sent back over the console.

I'm unable to send any commands back to the control box due to the flood of zeros. Every now and then an FDXXXXXX message is sent back, reporting the value of the duty cycle, but, it's just not right.

When holding both buttons and entering the RoboFocus menu system, the zeros halt, but, understandably, I am unable to send any commands to the system.

I will be sending Jerry an email, and, I think I'll be booking a first class return ticket for the unit back to the US.

Cheers, all.

H

[Octane (Humayun)]

Update:

Jeremy from RoboFocus has got back in touch with me and has asked me to return the unit "and we'll either repair or replace it at no extra cost."

+1 for RoboFocus customer service. : )

H