Robofocus settings - Attention Jase

[Zuts]

Hi,

I finally got to use my robofocus the other night. It took me about 15 minutes to do about 5 v-curve runs. After that and on a subsequent night it was able to find focus in about 34 seconds.

This is with Focusmax, integrated with CCDSOFT 5. I can highly recommend Focusmax. I have never tried @focus, and probably never will, given that Focusmax is so easy.

Paul

[montewilson (Monte)]

OK I agree it's about time but here is the update on what I am doing and why I am not giving results at the moment.

My daughter turned one on ANZAC day and this Sunday is her birthday party. As Lou Reed says, "there are no stars in a New York sky, they're all on the ground" so all the stars I will be seeing will be much closer to me than normal
I knew this break was coming so I decided to have a big overhaul of my equipment and a number of upgrades.

I have a remote guide head for my camera so I no longer need the STV. I will keep it for public open nights, it's cool for video sky displays.

I am making a plate to move the FS-60c forward about 70mm. This will help with Dec balance and clearance between the two cameras.

This plate will also hold my new guide scope. I bought a cool red dot gun sight for $79 from a gun shop in Sydney - www.magnumsports.com.au - the Nikko is not on their site but the owner Andrew knows me well so if anyone is interested tell him it is the one he sold Monte, he knows which one it is. It is like a much attractive Telrad. See picture. You'll have to gerry-rig a holder for it but it's worth it.

I am installing a new bad-ass pier at the ASNSW dark sky site where I normally image. It is part of a galvanized street light pole that I bought at the tip recycling centre for $10. I will have a better connection between the pole and mount. I will also be burying the wiring to the house for power and cat-5 and installing a water system for camera cooling.

I am going to get a copy of CCD AutoPilot and FocusMax.

I will install a second Robofocus on the FS-60c. I have made a USB operated switch that can change between the two stepper motors so I can use the one Robofocus box from a distance.

All the wiring loom is being re-run so it will be lighter and more flexible.

In all, I am making the best use of this two month break.

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by montewilson

In all, I am making the best use of this two month break.

Except you never mentioned actually taking a photo

Good luck with all your projects, the main one of course being your little girl

Paul

[leinad (Dan)]

Hi Gents,

Loong time no post, and fitting to post in a thread thats so old

I've just returned to setting up my system again, and in an attempt to ensure everything is setup correctly and optimized I was hoping you could check my calcs on autofocus..

I havent had any issues as yet with focusmax with 4 microsteps; but without crunching all the numbers just yet; just checking Im understanding this correctly.

I havent as yet measured the exact draw tube distance and counts to work out the step/microns, so Im assuming what others reported on yahoo forums to be similar.

Going by the previous mentions of steps to microsteps; and ensuring the focusroutine(FcsMax) is running correctly; I believe as Jase mentioned for the FSQ at 3 microsteps or even two gives a +- 3 counts for focusing in the CFZ and accounting for change; though focuxmax magic can mean measure the best HFD anyway as long as the counts(steps/micron) dont overlap the CFZ.

Not sure how critical checking this against diff filter(nm), but will work out after for the satisfaction of knowing nayway..

*gulp, my workings below.

So 3 or 4 microsteps should be fine; 2 may be a waste of time(pun).



4000 steps Focuser draw tube distance

using 1:1 step /microstep
------------------------------

55micron CFZ
Tak106
reported as: 6.7microns/step

55 micron / 6.7 micron = approx. 8 steps(counts in CFZ).

2 microsteps x 6.7 = 13.4 micron 55/13.4 = 4.1(4) tolerance steps(count)
3 ...steps x 6.7 = 20.1 micron 55/20.1 = 2.73(3)
4 ...steps x 6.7 = 26.8 micron 55/26.8 = 2.05(2) <--- +- half 1/2 CFZ
5 ...steps x 6.7 = 33.5 micron 55/33.5 = 1.64(1-2) <--- +- almost 2/3 CFZ

[cfranks (Charles)]

Just 2 quick questions. Those using FocusMax, are you using v4? If not, could you please tell me the actual version number you are using.
Thanks
Charles

[cfranks (Charles)]

I didn't mean to change the subject, it's just that using TheSkyX @Focus2 with my RoboFocus setup always requires a 4 step manual adjustment. I tried to test FocusMax 3.7.0.51 with MaximDL and couldn't get it to work. Lots of 'internal errors' that I didn't take a note of, of course!

Charles