blackdragon72

Does anyone know if FeatherTouch HSM motor is bipolar and unipolar, and the inputout of RJ45?

I managed to get my two channel focuser driver up. It is (including visual studio project) available here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/arduinodualchannelascomfocuser/?source=navbar It uses one Arduino Nano to control two focusers. The protocol is based on Moonlite, and the main difference is that TempComp is handled by Arduino, not the driver (which I believe Moonlite does). I have not tested it fully since I have only one telescope, on which one channel focuser works fine. You should be able to connect the focuser via Moonlite driver directly, but my driver supports more commands than Moonlite so it wont talk to Moonlite focuser (it could be done by removing those additional commands).

Dave, I am thinking to support 2nd focuser with Arduino, but I am stuck with ASCOM driver, do you have any experience with ASCOM local server? I posted a question on ASCOM group but did not receive any reply.

I tightened thumb screw, it did not solve the problem. I am not sure if tightening set screws will help or not.

I think I did not make myself clear. My motor has enough torque to turn fine focus knob, it is the knob which fails to rack focuser in, I guess it just can not handle the load. I need to find another motor to work with coarse focus knob - the current one does not have enough torque. I confirmed with manual focus that coarse focus knob can rack in/out without any issue.

My UNO board and motor shield work perfectly with stepper with motor. But one problem: my motor can not drive coarse focus knob of moonlite CFL focuser (it is quiet stiff), so I hook it to fine focus knob. However my imaging setup is slightly heavier than what it can handle so it does not rack in when the telescope points up. It forces me back to coarse knob. Question is that: is there anyone using CFL moonlite focuser? And what motor do you use to drive coarse focus knob? I need to know so that I can get motor with enough torque.

To support this feature, does the driver need to read temperature periodically and adjust focus accordingly?

I was referring to MOSFET in the first digram (Figure 4). I am not sure if it is needed in our design, from datasheet it seems that it might be required. Since UNO has extra 5V connector pin, I just use Figure 5.

When I connect the focuser in Nebulosity and FocusMax, both grey out temp.compensation option. FocusMax says Temp.compensation available=False. Is it supposed to be supported?

When I looked at DS18B20 datasheet, looks like it either needs a pull up, or needs to connect pin3 to VDD. I am using external VDD which works fine.

Thanks for all suggestions. I am still waiting for my board and motor. Once I receive and get them working, I will order coupler/pulley.

Does anyone know if this pulley will work? http://www.robotdigg.com/product/116/2gt-pulley-40-teeth-5mm-bore I want to get 40 teeth and 16 teeth to get 2.5 reducer, which will give me 1000 steps, fine enough to be used with corse focuser. I wanted to get 3.3x5mm coupler for fine focuser but I could not find any. Is there such coupler on the market?

Thanks! It is working now.

I do, but somehow this file is missing. I think I have 4.5.1, now I will see if I can upgrade to 4.5.2.

Ok, when I run ASCOM diagnostics, it says mscoree.dll not found. Is this file part of installation package? I am using win8.1.

Just got UNO board today and try to test the sketch. I could upload 2.2 nano sketch and my modified UNO sketch, but both failed when I open ASCOM driver. What could be the reason?

I am using this. I usually have auto guide, ccd and usb-serial connected to the hub. It never gives me any issue with external power. http://www.amazon.com/Port-Compact-Black-USB-2-0/dp/B000T9S4CI/ref=sr_1_2/183-2930130-3956353?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1413086575&sr=1-2&keywords=startech+usb+hub

I dont know much about it either. Nebulosity support microtouch focuser in max osx (and of course many more focusers in Win), I hope they will add auto focus function in their future release.

http://www.astrodon.com/Orphan/parfocal_and_critical_focus_zone/ Based on above experiment, step size is definitely critical for the imaging system, that is why I am more concern about step size. I also plan to use the same system for a much faster scope, which demands even finer step.

Yes. I was thinking if it can be used under mac osx. I plan to migrate everything to mac, for me the only thing mac osx does not support is ASCOM.

Good. I thought the board will be reset every time there is a COM communication, eg, every time ASCOM driver is sending a command to the motor. I am thinking if it is possible to mimic another motorized focuser so that we can reuse the app.

so it is still working properly?

You can calculate critical focus zone with this link. http://www.wilmslowastro.com/software/formulae.htm My scope is ~150um, so I have to go with 400 steps (40um/step) if I have to use coarse knob.

Are you facing any issue with auto reset, as mentioned here? http://arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardUno

There ought to be some way (eg, device ID or similar) to tell. I did not mean to ask for support for every system, but for nano and uno only, since these 2 seem the most popular choices. I am thinking that once we have a working version for Uno, we could use the tool to patch the new changes from Nano sketch to Uno so we can release both together.