Hi,
I am considering buying CCDAutoPilot and would like to know if TheSky 6 is required or optional. I do have TheSky 6 and usually (but not always) have it running. The Pro version required? Does CCDAutoPilot work with TheSky X? I use a one shot color camera (SXV-H9C). Will CCDAutoPilot calculate color ratios for this camera? CCDAutoPilot Pro required for this feature?
Thanks.
Larry Leitch
Severna Park, Md.

Hi Larry,

Since CCDAutoPilot is used to control the mount among other things, some form of telescope control program is required. The Sky6 Professional does that. (TheSky6 Pro is required.) If there is an ASCOM driver available for your mount, then you can use ASCOM for telescope control but you lose the very powerful target selection capability.

If you go to the CCDAutoPilot product page and click where it says "CLICK HERE FOR DEMO", you can see this feature among others in action.

TheSkyX Professional has not been released yet so it is impossible to say it will work with it. That being said, I have assurances from Software Bisque that it will.

Color ratios are calculated based on filters. This is a CCDAutoPilot Professional feature. There is no provision to calculate the color ratio for one-shot color cameras. I suspect this is easily done taking an image of a G2V star, by de-Bayering the color image into separate components and measuring the star flux for each component frame. See the edition comparison page to see the capabilities of each edition.

Please note there is a free, fully functional 60-day trial period available to make sure CCDAutoPilot meets your needs.

Hi,
I downloaded CCDAutoPilot 4 and started the setup. I got a dialog stating that I need a PinPoint license. If I read some of the past emails correctly then this will cost me ~$200 in addition to the cost of CCDAutoPilot. I already have TheSky 6 Pro and Maxim. My original reason for considering CCDAutoPilot was to be able to automatically refocus every hour. Is the license required? Does CCDWare provide cheaper methods to achieve automatic refocus?

Thanks.

Larry Leitch

You only need the PinPoint license if you are going to use PinPoint for plate solving. BTW, the PinPoint license costs $150, not $200 (download only). If you have CCDSoft and TheSky, you can use that combination for plate solving, even though you use Maxim for camera control.

CCDAutoPilot is intended for and most used for unattended image acquisition. Without plate solving, you can manually calibrate your guider, manually frame a target and focus on a star in the FOV. However, you can not precisely slew to a target, calibrate once and be good to go anywhere in the sky, automatically cross the meridian and resume imaging on the other side and focus on a star that is not in the FOV.