Looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labor !
It would be fantastic to have a 'one size fits all' bracket but alas this seems to be unachievable due to the range and diversity of different focusers on the market. The closest I could get was making the bracket adjustable in length. Personally, I found fitting the bracket much more straight forward with this length adjustment.
I will be very interested to see how you get on. Never ceases to amaze me how ingenious guys get coupling the motor to their particular setup
I have just had an email from the developers at SGP. The have been looking into the reason why SGP disables the option to open a setup window when a focuser (or other ASCOM hardware) is connected. This was raised by Phil earlier in the thread. I also noticed the feature during SharpSky testing and raised it with the SGP guys.
Being the proactive sort of chaps they are ... they have come to the conclusion there is no real reason and so have removed the restriction. This modification is due for release in V2.2.11
Dave has, after my suggestion, again modded the sharpsky client allowing positions to be saved against profiles, which in my case allows me to save and go to the focus positions for my SSAG and 5D when swapping for polar alignment. (or different cameras for example)
With the new Laptop up and running, I've also got the Sharpsky running without issues on Win8 pro64 and on USB3 ports.
A couple of notes.
With W8 there seems to be a quirk with the Ascom chooser in that the first time you choose connect to the focuser nothing happens until you check the properties of the focuser (which you can access from the chooser window).
You can select the Sharpsky focuser, but until the properties option is entered then OK'd you can't connect. This appears to be a problem with Ascom and W8 and has been passed on to the Ascom team. (The same thing happens if you choose the focus simulator)
It's no real problem as once the properties have been selected for the first time subsequent connections occur without issues and without having to revisit the properties.
SGP also runs the Sharpsky without issues on W8.
Last edited by acropolite; 29-09-2013 at 12:08 AM.
Here's my sahrpsky pro installed. Did a lot of cutting, drilling, tapping and painting this week-end. Now I can move the motor from my newt to the C11 really quick and easy. Next I have to do my refractor. Then learn how to use it.
Neat job Marc, I'm waiting on some longer brass standoffs for mine, Dave supplies additional motors BTW, from memory they're £80 (around $140 at current exchange rates) including shipping. I was thinking some sort quick release would be useful if swapping.
There's really nothing to learn, if you download Dave's client, it's dead easy to use.
Last edited by acropolite; 29-09-2013 at 07:21 PM.
That's what I did. I have two screws to take off to swap it over to the newt back and forth. So I actually tapped the thin plates. No more nuts and bolts. My fingers are too thick (or maybe it's me)for all this small stuff + washers. Drives me nuts.
Excellent job Marc, really looks the business with your bracket assembly. Yes indeed I can source additional motors that's not a problem but if you have a swap mechanism that works then happy days. Generally I tend to find I use one scope for several weeks if not an entire season so swapping would not be an issue in reality.
Many thanks for the positive feedback on Win8 Phil. I have a machine set up here now and have been running SharpSky through its paces without an issue.
It's always really nice to see photographs of the design being used in anger so thumbs up for the postings
Yes indeed I can source additional motors that's not a problem but if you have a swap mechanism that works then happy days. Generally I tend to find I use one scope for several weeks if not an entire season so swapping would not be an issue in reality.
Unless you image with two telescopes at the same time it's more efficient to move the motor around I reckon.
Yeah it works great. I tested the temperature compensation. Cool stuff. Software/drivers, all run as advertised. HP notebook Win7 home 64bit 8GB RAM. No problem at all.
IS the max travel (start pos'n, end pos'n} automatically calculated for your drawtube, or?
I haven't used this. Don't think so. I reckon you'd set that explicitly. The motor records an absolute position. So first time you get focus you lock it in. It knows temperature at the time of focus and will save this as the focus point at T temperature. When you start again a T+/-n temperature it will move the motor and refocus based on your temperature compensation and motor steps. I don't think you'll ever go near the limit. This is just a fail safe. I haven't read the doc that far. David might chip in or you can download and read the PDF manual. Then you tell me
IS the max travel (start pos'n, end pos'n} automatically calculated for your drawtube, or?
You can set the "Zero" position from Dave's tool, You can also save presets, Dave incorporated that feature in the app, very handy when polar aligning, if you're like me your guidecam will have vastly different focus points to your main camera.
The log can be used to save focus position against time and Temp, from that you can calculate (and enter) any necessary offset.
Apologies for not chipping in - for some reason I wasn't getting emails from the thread so didn't realise things were being posted until logging in .... software
SharpSky defaults to an arbitrary position of 25000 out of the box. In the driver you can set a minimum & maximum step value that the driver prevents you from exceeding in either direction - defaults min/max are 0 & 150,000 respectively which is a lot of travel. If you want to change to another position but not physically move the focuser you can use the 'Initial focuser position' and 'set position' feature on the setup window.
Temperature compensation has a 'Compensation resume' feature. Say you are imaging one night using temperature compensation to track. The last temperature & position used before disconnection is stored by the driver. On a subsequent night one may wish to continue with the same target but the temperature may be very different. By using the resume feature the focuser will automatically make a step movement to the new temperature based position getting you very close to focus before you start the second session.
If have attempted to explain this in the manual but if there are questions or ambiguities please fire away and I will try and clarify
Hi David, the initial focusing is done by hand. In the future would the SharpSky client support a FWHM detection from a looped imager or can it work with a program that would already do it. I'm thinking to get the best focus by the number like RoboFocus. Nebulosity detects FWHM. I assume Maxim DL would too?
SharpSky works really well with MaxIm and FocusMax. Several chaps have used FocusMax (which is free) with MaxIm and have achieved really good repeatable results. Other chaps have also used FocusMax with CCDSoft but the general opinion seems to be that the MaxIm interface is better. MaxIm can also perform autofocus itself but again I think the reference seems to be FocusMax - at the end of the day it a personal choice I think the end result will be much the same whichever route is taken, maybe some routes a bit faster than others.
I hadn't planned on enhancing the client. The client was really something I designed up for myself and to have a crack at writing a client application to compliment the driver. Also it allows anyone who purchases a SharpSky focuser to get up and running immediately without having to spend any more money on software. Then once you get into remote focusing and get a feel for it the decision on more sophisticated software becomes clearer IMO.
I have found with many pieces of expensive commercial software there is a software 'arms race' going on with dozens of features being included to differentiate one product from the next. This then pushes up the price and makes the software much more difficult to test. You then end up paying money for many features that are nice but not really essential - my opinion obviously. That was my motivation for writing the client to just include a few features I thought were useful to me.
However, including a camera capture option which could work in conjunction with FocusMax is a nice idea I am surprised FocusMax can't capture it's own images making it stand alone ?
I don't have any plans to support Mac at the moment. To be honest only one or two people have mentioned Mac so it is a bit difficult to justify the time without the demand.
