USB Filter wheel issues

[Mattjohnson1978]

Hi fellow stargazers, back again for some valuable assistance!

I am now the proud owner of an Atik 314L+ but think I have fallen into a little bit of a trap. The filter wheel bundle I got was the Xagyl 5 position filter wheel instead of the official Atik one, mainly to do with it being £200 cheaper, but have immediately discovered that the software that comes with the camera (Artemis Capture) doesn't communicate with it.

Is there a patch or fix for this that anyone knows of, or can anyone offer suggestions on what software is available that will sort this and still have full control of settings like temperature and image sequencing. The free-er the better but all suggestions welcome.

Many thanks in advance,

Matt

[Stephen]

You could consider APT (assuming the FW has an ASCOM driver,) or you could run two pieces of software - one for the camera (Artemis,) one for the FW (presume it came with one) 

To the best of my knowledge the Artemis software is for Atik devices only, there won't be a patch for it

[Zakalwe]

The Xagyl has an ASCOM driver, so it can be controlled from any ASCOM compatible software.

Personally I use Nebulosity for capture with my Atik. It can control both my Xagyl and my Starlight Xpress from Nebulosity.

[ChrisLX200]

I use Sequence Generator Pro (SGPro) for capture and used the ASCOM driver for the Xagyl. I found the Xagyl FW reliable but it makes an irritating rattling noise when it operates!  Make sure to use a lubricant on the connecting extensions (nosepiece, M42 adapter or whatever) because mine were tight fitting and very likely to sieze without some sort of lube.

ChrisH

[Zakalwe]

I use Sequence Generator Pro (SGPro) for capture and used the ASCOM driver for the Xagyl. I found the Xagyl FW reliable but it makes an irritating rattling noise when it operates!  Make sure to use a lubricant on the connecting extensions (nosepiece, M42 adapter or whatever) because mine were tight fitting and very likely to sieze without some sort of lube.

ChrisH

Its the motor and drive system that they use. They use a tiny motor driving a worm and wheel. it's noisy, but it works well.

[rwg]

If you install the Xagyl ASCOM driver there should be a little standalone program tucked away somewhere in the start menu that will control the filter wheel for you. (I know this because I wrote the ASCOM driver for Xagyl )

Not much good if you are trying to run an automated sequence, but otherwise you could run both the capture app and the wheel control program and switch between them as needed.

From other posts, it looks like the Artemis Capture program cannot talk to ASCOM filter wheel drivers (which is a bit sad, really, as pretty much everything else does).

Robin

[Zakalwe]

From other posts, it looks like the Artemis Capture program cannot talk to ASCOM filter wheel drivers (which is a bit sad, really, as pretty much everything else does).

Robin

Nice work on the driver Robin

The Artemis piece is to be expected, I guess. They will only write the code for their own kit. My old QHY capture software was the same...it'd control a QHY filterwheel but not a third-party one.

[Stephen]

From other posts, it looks like the Artemis Capture program cannot talk to ASCOM filter wheel drivers (which is a bit sad, really, as pretty much everything else does).

Artemis doesn't try to be a software suite for all users - it's for Atik software for Atik gear

[Mattjohnson1978]

Thank you for your responses. I can drive the filter wheel independently with no problem using the Ascom driver. In time, however, I would like it all to be controlled off one piece of software. I can easily see myself getting distracted and end up with a couple of frames in LRG and 20 frames in B! 

I've just downloaded trial versions of Nebulosity and Maxim DL5 just to see how they look but from a quick glance, the camera control isn't obvious to me. Will have a better look tomorrow on site.

[lensman57]

Hi fellow stargazers, back again for some valuable assistance!

I am now the proud owner of an Atik 314L+ but think I have fallen into a little bit of a trap. The filter wheel bundle I got was the Xagyl 5 position filter wheel instead of the official Atik one, mainly to do with it being £200 cheaper, but have immediately discovered that the software that comes with the camera (Artemis Capture) doesn't communicate with it.

Is there a patch or fix for this that anyone knows of, or can anyone offer suggestions on what software is available that will sort this and still have full control of settings like temperature and image sequencing. The free-er the better but all suggestions welcome.

Many thanks in advance,

Matt

Any software that is Ascom compliant , will be able to communicate with the Xagyl. I use the same filter wheel with my Atik 314L+ through Nubulasity 3. The Xagyl also has its own software that can rotate the wheel for you but you can not have it doing it automaticaly through Artemis capture,  believe it or not this is not a bad thing as I found out that my Parfocal Astronomik Type IIc filters need to be tweaked for focus after a filter change in particular the Blue filter even with an Apo triplet. If you are lucky enough to have a closed loop  automated focusing system you could leave the focusing  to the computer and run a script in Nebulasity for Auto filter change, I believe APT can also communicate with the wheel through Ascom drivers.

A.G

PS: Personally I much prefer the focusing and fine focusing routine of the Neb3 to Artemis capture, I just didn't get used to the Artemis routine but it doehave a better auto Stretch in the preview mode than NEB3 which is a bit fiddly at times.

[Mattjohnson1978]

Thanks A.G.

Had a bit of a disastrous debut session with my new Atik. Naively thought I could just plug everything in and figure out how it works as I go...in a field...with no internet connection...no help! Struggled to figure out even the basic of functions and came home with my tail between my legs. I have now picked up the instructions and decided it's probably best to find out how the thing works before worrying about syncing my filter!

In my defence tho, I did only get the camera last Wednesday and only had time to make sure they connected with my computer ok before dragging it to the middle of nowhere! The excitement of a new toy got to me I think.

Back to sqaure 1 for me!

Thanks again!

[lensman57]

Thanks A.G.

Had a bit of a disastrous debut session with my new Atik. Naively thought I could just plug everything in and figure out how it works as I go...in a field...with no internet connection...no help! Struggled to figure out even the basic of functions and came home with my tail between my legs. I have now picked up the instructions and decided it's probably best to find out how the thing works before worrying about syncing my filter!

In my defence tho, I did only get the camera last Wednesday and only had time to make sure they connected with my computer ok before dragging it to the middle of nowhere! The excitement of a new toy got to me I think.

Back to sqaure 1 for me!

Thanks again!

I can assure you that u r not alone.

A.G

[sloz1664]

I can assure you that u r not alone.

A.G

+1