Arduino Ascom focuser Mark2

[SnakeyJ]

All the great people on SGL who have built the focuser so far:

Thanks guys :-)

It's us lot that owe you the thanks for the hard work on design and the ascom driver - take a bow

[tekkydave]

It's us lot that owe you the thanks for the hard work on design and the ascom driver - take a bow

Thanks. Is there an emoticon for a bow

Edit:

Hee Hee found this one.

Edited April 17, 2015 by tekkydave

[tekkydave]

Version 2.4.0 is now released on the SF Site https://sourceforge.net/projects/arduinoascomfocuser/files/Mark2/Software/V2.4.0/

I have made a few changes to the sketch and the Driver that I have been promising for a while. I hope it works for everyone but please let me know if you have any issues or comments. Enjoy

Changes in Version 2.4.0
------------------------
Enhancements:
* The Arduino sketch has the following changes:
   - Amended to step the motor in single half-steps not 8 per unit. (One unit is a single step from the driver/application's point of view).
     The number of half-steps to execute per unit of movement is set in #define MOTOR_STEPS_PER_DRIVER_STEP
     Set this to 8 (default) to keep the existing behaviour. If you want finer movement lower it as required (may need some experimentation).

   - Moved user-configurable parameters to a single block at top of code for easier location / modification
   - Reduced number of read/write operations to/from EEPROM. This should lengthen the life of the EEPROM storage.
   - Reduced no of calls to clear the output pins in loop()
   - Some general code and structure tidying

* The Ascom Driver has the following changes:
   - Driver Registration should now work correctly (woohoo). The Setup project has had the correct Registry entries added.

   - The trace files are now created in the AAF2Trace directory which is a sub-directory of the user's Personal Documents Folder.
     Normally this will be at C:\Users\<Username>\Documents but may be different if your system is non-standard. There is usually a
     shortcut in Windows Explorer to 'My Documents' which is the same location. The AAF2Trace sub-directory is created automatically
     during installation so there is no longer a need to create it manually. The location is stored in the Registry so the Driver can
     access it.

   - The 'Trace on' option in the Ascom Chooser dialog is now unset automatically when the Driver exits. If you need to trace the Driver during
     normal use you will need to tick it every time you use the Driver. This is to save the disk filling up if you forget to turn it off.
 

[Davey-T]

Will give it a try forthwith.

Dave

[Gina]

Some really worthwhile improvements there Dave   Well done   I still plan to get round to trying this great app as soon as I can   I already have the hardware built.  I use half-stepping in my sketch and currently 5 motor steps per focus step compared with your 8.  But unlike yours, mine is only manual.

[redtail]

Is there any way to add code to tell when movement is finished?

[tekkydave]

Is there any way to add code to tell when movement is finished?

The arduino has a command to detect when it is moving (M# command) which is called by the IsMoving() method of the ASCOM driver. I suppose it is down to the client application to determine if it is moving and act accordingly. If you want something adding in the FocusAAF2 test application I could look to put some kind of indication on the form next time I make some changes.

[sloz1664]

It's us lot that owe you the thanks for the hard work on design and the ascom driver - take a bow

+1 from me.

I'm on my 3rd focuser now for my trusted Tal 200k     

Steve

[Davey-T]

Hi Dave, just installed latest version on a Win7 pro laptop, didn't have a previous version on it so nothing to delete.

It says installed OK  but nothing appears in program files x86 and no driver is found.

The previous version installed on another laptop shows a AAF2 folder in x86 program files.

Probably me doing something wrong

Dave 

[tekkydave]

Hi Dave, just installed latest version on a Win7 pro laptop, didn't have a previous version on it so nothing to delete.

It says installed OK  but nothing appears in program files x86 and no driver is found.

The previous version installed on another laptop shows a AAF2 folder in x86 program files.

Probably me doing something wrong

Dave 

By default it installs in C:\Program Files\ASCOM\AAF2.focuser or C:\Program Files (x86)\ASCOM\AAF2.focuser depending on architecture. Are there any icons on your desktop or an AAF2 folder at Start Menu --> All Programs?

[Davey-T]

Yes have icons and AAF2 folder. Found AAF2 folder under x86 ASCOM, just confused as on the other laptop it's got its own folder in X86 program files.

In device manager it shows no driver, I remember having to register it manually originally do I still need to do this ?

Dave

[tekkydave]

Yes have icons and AAF2 folder. Found AAF2 folder under x86 ASCOM, just confused as on the other laptop it's got its own folder in X86 program files.

In device manager it shows no driver, I remember having to register it manually originally do I still need to do this ?

Dave

You shouldn't have to. The installer now creates the correct registry entries. I have tested it on a clean install of Windows 7 Pro 64-bit and it registers fine. It will be interesting to see if anyone else has the same problem. B***y Windoze

[Davey-T]

Device manager reports no driver error 28 ?

Dave

[tekkydave]

Device manager reports no driver error 28 ?

Dave

Is the user you are installing from an Administrator?

[Davey-T]

Yes I'm the only user with full privileges .

Dave

[tekkydave]

Yes I'm the only user with full privileges .

Dave

It's very strange. I have just rolled my test VM on Virtualbox back to have just a clean Win7 plus Ascom Platform 6.1 and tried again. I downloaded the msi from SF directly to the test machine and installed it with no issues.

I'll be interested to see if anyone else has the same problem.

[redtail]

Installed no problem thanks.I have just started my third focuser.One on my rc one on my mak and one on my ts 65q.Many thanks Dave.

It would be nice if you could add the movement on the next update---this would excellent when you are using it via remote from the house or warm room.

[tekkydave]

Yes I'm the only user with full privileges .

Dave

Can you try the manual registration and see what happens. Cheers.

[Davey-T]

Will do.

Dave

[tekkydave]

Installed no problem thanks.I have just started my third focuser.One on my rc one on my mak and one on my ts 65q.Many thanks Dave.

It would be nice if you could add the movement on the next update---this would excellent when you are using it via remote from the house or warm room.

Thats a bit of good news. What version of Windows are you using and is it 64-bit? Have you done the manual registration on your PC in the past for the previous versions?

[tekkydave]

Installed no problem thanks.I have just started my third focuser.One on my rc one on my mak and one on my ts 65q.Many thanks Dave.

It would be nice if you could add the movement on the next update---this would excellent when you are using it via remote from the house or warm room.

Do you mean you want an indication of some sort in the FocusAAF2 program so you can tell if the focuser is moving when you can't see it.

I have added a link to the Wiki section of the SF site http://sourceforge.net/p/arduinoascomfocuser/wiki/To-Do%20List/ to keep track of any requests - I've added yours to it.

Edited April 19, 2015 by tekkydave

[tekkydave]

It would be great to know if anyone else has tried to install the V2.4.0 software. I really need to work out if the issue Davey-T has is only on fresh installs or also on PCs where the driver has previously been manually registered. Thanks.

[Gina]

I could try a fresh install on a Windows 7 64 bit laptop if that would help.

[Davey-T]

Hi Dave, been trying to manually install the same as before but can't get past getting the cmd prompt to recognise NET Framework, get a message "The system cannot find the specified path"

This is on a Bootcamp partition on a Macbook Pro if that makes any difference, the only difference it's making to me is it hasn't got a "print screen" key so I can't post a screen shot.

Running command prompt window as administrator.

If I type "C\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319 regasm" I get the above message.

Also tried browsing to the driver in device manager to set it but it doesn't recognise it

Dave

[Mick J]

I may find some time tomorrow to try on win7pro64 laptop that already has earlier version working, would I need to uninstall or just install V2.4.0 over ?

Davey-T, if I look in C\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\    I have a RegAsm.exe ( I also have C\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\   folder with I presume a 64 bit version of RegAsm.exe )

laters Mick