Maxim DL 6 - Anyone else trying it?

[ian_bird]

Hi

I just upgraded to Maxim DL 6 (6.06 to be precise).

Seems a bit flaky to me. Multiple crashes. Just shot a 1200 second test image and got nothing - zero - nada. 600 was OK.

I like the Sky Online for Pinpoint Astrometry - but apart from that - a lot less stable than the old version.

Anyone else sharing my pain?

Cheers

Ian

[Sp@ce_d]

Yup battled with it since it came out. Still very flakey with the Atiks locking up all the time. Having to kill it & even reboot to clear issues left over. I've given up with it now & gone back to 5. Can't waste anymore valuable nights. Not had any of those issues with 5 it's solid in comparison & using the same kit. Pretty disappointed its unusable at this stage of development!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ian_bird]

Hi

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like I will be going back to 5 too.

Shame - really liked the Sky Online integration.

Cheers

Ian

[Sp@ce_d]

Hi

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like I will be going back to 5 too.

Shame - really liked the Sky Online integration.

Cheers

Ian

Yes.. me too. I've started using SGP with the local astrometry setup. That works well, so I use that to set up my target now. I used to use Astrotortilla too but after a good 18 month or so run, recently, it's become unreliable & slewing away from the target..all sort of sync problems.. tried a different laptop build too. So given up with that. I haven't yet found one single App that does everything I want. Seems we have to use a bit of this and a bit of that! I've come very close to trying out ACP but even at that cost it will only handle one CCD & I have 3 I want to run..

[ian_bird]

Just out of interest - how did you run 3 CCDs using Maxim?

Cheers

Ian

[Sp@ce_d]

Just out of interest - how did you run 3 CCDs using Maxim?

Cheers

Ian

Oh I didn't in the end. You can run multiple instances but I found it did tend to confuse it a bit with config settings etc.. So I used maxim for primary & guiding, Artemus capture for another and Nebulosity for the third. Theres no way to automate that lot but all I have to do is kick of the sequence for each one.

There's a method Tom How put together here but still requires setting up and kicking off. My dream is to be able automate the lot eventually like ACP does with the scheduler but with multi ccd support.

http://astro.neutral.org/software/multiple-camera-sync-maxim.html

[ian_bird]

Update.

I bought an SSD for my telescope control laptop. Had problems cloning the original drive so went for a clean install of Windows 7 - added SP1 and all recommended updates and drivers (Acer).

Installed Maxim DL5 and DL6 (6.06) and the latest SX drivers.

DL6 used to crash reliably trying to shooting 900 darks for my Lodestar X2. (1 second to 0.1 seconds in tenth of a second increments binned 1, 2 and 4 in case you were wondering what on earth I was shooting 900 darks for).

But since the rebuild - it works perfectly.

Will wait to see how it gets on in real life - but an interesting result.

Cheers

Ian

[snowy911]

Just re-igniting this thread. Having upgraded recently to Maxim DL6 and recently to the current 6.13 version, my system is now crashing with what looks like a default Windows error ,estate stating Maxim DL has stopped working. I have posted on the diffraction support forum and have tested various configurations. I'm running FocusMax 4.1.0.36, The SkyX professional 10.5.0, Maxim DL 6.13, and using a Paramount MX, Lakeside focuser, Atik 383, and SX Lodestar (guider).  I've run various test scenarios using the Atik driver, separate thread on and off, ASCOM driver, and with and without the SX Universal driver for the lodestar setup. Still testing various configurations, but whilst I know there is a problem with the native ATIK driver and Maxim when utilising separate threads (different error message), my current synopsis  is pointing at the SX Universal driver. For reference whilst it crashes most of the time in certain configurations, it is not always 100% repeatable and seems to occur during sequences of multiple long exposures, 8x300s for example.

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has a similar setup working without issue?

thanks

Julian

[Davey-T]

I've got Maxim V5.23 and V6.10 running on various flavours of Windows and have no real problems, occasionally get a "camera not responding " message but just ignore it and it comes back to life and carries on.

Solves OK using Pinpoint.

I have found that Maxim seem to bury their heads in the sand rather than acknowledge problems.

For many years there was a "star faded" message while guiding, even though everybody could see the guide star quite obviously hadn't faded, this was phoe phoed by Maxim, I even got a "star faded" message using the simulator in the tutorial, so never used Maxim for guiding just PHD which I much prefer.

Dave

[ian_bird]

Hi

I'm using 6.11 - it seems fairly stable. Using a Lodestar too.

Occasional lockups - but the exception - not the norm.

Fairly happy with it.

Cheers

Ian

[Skipper Billy]

I am using Maxim 5 with Windows 10 along with PHD2, APT etc and the only thing I use Maxim for is because Focusmax demands it.

The only problem I have had is that a number of Windows updates have required reinstallation of Maxim.

TBH I wouldnt use it at all if it wasnt for Focusmax.

[DaveS]

I've got Maxim 6 and Pinpoint, but only because the Sequence and MLPT software that runs my new DDM60 requires them. TBH all I've been able to do is run various set-up routines because of the weather. Not happy that Maxim tries to connect to various items that I don't have, and initialises the Dell webcam. Any idea how to kill these setups?

I'm just glad that I won't have to guide anymore.

[steppenwolf]

I have found MaxIM DL V 5.24 to be very stable indeed and it needs to be for my automation project for which it is a key program! I have not found V 6 to be as stable and refrain from using it unless for some reason I need to carry out a blind solve. I use MaxIM DL for all the key aspects of an imaging session - plate solve, auto focus, capture, auto-guiding, image calibration and stacking - I love it!

[alan4908]

Hello

I'm using version 6.11 with Windows 7 - the only problem I've had previous to this version was the dreaded "faded guide star" issue - which me drove to upgrade 6.11. On this particular version everything now appears OK and is very stable. I use it for guiding (with a Lodestar X2) and in conjunction with ACP for automated observing. Overall, I'm very impressed with the software.

Alan 

[snowy911]

thanks everyone for their feedback.  I've tested various scenarios and basically since upgrading to 6.13 I've been encountering this crash pretty much regardless of the configuration.  I've reverted back to v5 until someone on the Diffraction (Maxim software) forum responds with something which either identifies or fixes the issue.  Of course it could always be something specific to my setup, but in either case will stay on 5 for now.

Julian

[snowy911]

forgot to add, if anyone has further feedback please keep it coming, interested to hear if anyone on v6.13 is experiencing something similar