Hi John,

I observed some unusual guiding issues tonight. I'm using a Starfish guider.....and while the recent updates have reduced the number of failures of MacIm to start the guider - they have not gone away. I also saw several instances where the exposure started while the guider was still settling down and was well outside the "Max Error" limit that was set on the guider tab (max set at .7 pixels and image started while the guider was at 1.5 on X ans 2.4 on Y. CCDAP recorded 0.0 and 0.4 started the image. This error occured after MaxIM failed to start the guider, and then the guider started. This happened several times.....I stumble on it because I was getting elongated stars and the log idin't show a problem - then I noticed that the log didn't match the MaxIm graph. Can you help or is there more information that you need?

Thanks

Mike

Hi Mike,

My last communication from Bob Piatek of FishCamp on 12/12 was that he thought he had a handle on the "guider not starting" problem and would be forwarding some new firmware for the StarFish to test. (I have some simple test scripts that demonstrate the problem and have given them to him as well.) I still have a loaner Starfish here to test when he has a fix.

I'll drop him a line to see where he is with the solution.

Thanks John, I have a note in to Bob as well. The bigger issue for me - and I'm sorry for addressing two issues in one post - is that CCDAP launched the expousure with guiding well out of "Max Error" limit. What CCDAP recorded as the guiding error in the status log was a small fraction of what MaxIm was indicating. I don't know if this will makes sense - but it almost appeared like the guider read the guide star and identified the error in the position based on the settings at the end of the last subframe, CCDAP thought everything was okay and started the current exposure, and then the dither change was applied and guider started to move the scope several pixels.

That is the issue that I'm concerned about. the problem results in elongated stars in the image, but the log says the guider started with everything right on. Only when I watch the MaxIm guide tab do I see the 1-3 pixel error at the start of the image. Everything guide fine once the guide star gets centered again. Unfortunately I don't think I asked MaxIm to log the guide data.

Mike,

Please post the log of this session.

Hi John,

I did get a tracking record from last night. The two that I noticed were the last two subframes of the evening. I had a few others where the guider didn't start and I started it manually. Here is the tracking log.

Mike

Track.log (174 KB, 63 downloads) Tracking Record

Here is the CCDAP Log

ccdap20080101_190804.log (33 KB, 58 downloads) CCDAP Log

Mike,

Thanks for posting the logs.

AFAIK, the guide error reporting and control works with most other guide cameras without incident. I believe the failure of the guider to start and the reported guide error are related. I don't know what Maxim reports for guide error if the guider doesn't start - perhaps the last error from the last guide cycle as you suggest. Unfortunately the Maxim automation interface is the only access CCDAP has to guide errors - it believes what Maxim tells it

Once Bob fixes the starfish f/w, I suspect the problem will be a non-issue. He tells me he expects to release a build this week. Let's see how that impacts things.

I agree John....I'll just have to wait and see when the Starfish driver fix is released. A true cure for the problem is always better than a Band-Aid anyway.

Does CCDSoft automation work the same way - I don't know if the same Starfish problem pops up with CCDSoft. I just got the Filter Wheel driver for CCDSOft last night, so if I can get that all working (and is wasn't last night) - I may have an option. Wuith the weather the way it is this weekend - it is not going to matter much.

Thanks for your help!

Hi Mike,

While I don't have direct knowledge of the inner workings of Maxim or CCDSoft, it is highly probable that they handle errors differently. For example, if CCCDSoft were to retry a "failure to start guider" or abort the current exposure, etc., then it might indeed work better.

Certainly worth a try...

Hi Mike,

I've been working with Bob Piatek on this issue. He has made some changes to his firmware - see the 1/7/2008 update on his web site. I have also made a small change to CCDAP as well. Please use the attached exe when you test. I was not able to make it fail here with both changes. Let me know how you make out.

ccdap3421test.zip (326 KB, 11 downloads) StarFish test build

Excellent John!

I've downloaded all the new Fishcamp Drivers and Firmware, as well as your CCDAP test software. I'm ready to go when (and if) the skies clear up a bit. Thanks so much for your help!

Mike

I forgot to mention that I have CCDSoft up and running with the Apogee camera/filter wheel as well (although I don't think the CCDSoft Starfish driver is as mature as MaxIm yet). So I also have a back-up plan.

Thanks again!!

Mike

Hi John,

I wanted to let you know that last night I had a moment of clear skies, and I was able to grab 21 subexposures of M34 and 6 or 7 of M1 before the fog shut me down. The software changes - yours and Bob's at Fishcamp - worked flawlessly on every exposure. I only used MaxIm last night - I'll try CCDSoft soon........maybe tonight.

Thanks!

Great! Thanks for the report, Mike.