2 ccd cameras on one computer

[astro mick]

Hi.

Is it possible to operate two different ccd cameras,that have different drivers,bearing in mind that some of these drivers will be in the windows directory,on one computer.

If yes,how would you set it up.

Appeciate any help.

Mick.

[Davey-T]

You can have PHD and Artemis capture running at the same time which is two ccd on one laptop.

It may be possible to have two instances of Artemis running with a camera on each but I guess it could be a problem if they both download at the same time.

Dave

[Physopto]

Hi.

Is it possible to operate two different ccd cameras,that have different drivers,bearing in mind that some of these drivers will be in the windows directory,on one computer.

If yes,how would you set it up.

Appeciate any help.

Mick.

Hi Mick,

Not sure what the problem is, but I a I presume many do, is to operate two or more ccd cameras on one computer.

I use Maxim DL and it can control both at the same time. One is the main ccd the other is the guiding ccd. But it is possible to run two instances of Maxim at the same time to control more ccds, or use the two instances to control two main imaging cameras. It's your choice. Setup is just to install the required software as you would usually do, Maxim  does the rest. I admit as yet not done two main imaging ccds. The only problem I can see is when the ccd downloads to the computer. It freezes the interface during the download. For some reason Maxim does not allow control of the second ccd during the download. I just updated to Maxim DL 6 as it said that it allowed "Multithreaded equipment control for smoother operation", well it does not do what I expected, it still freezes the computer during the download.  Guiding ceases during the download, the instructions state this to be a fact! So I felt a bit cheated there. Still you can separate your ccds between instances of Maxim.

Hope this is of some help to you.

Regards,

Derek

[NickK]

It's very possible - I've had 7 cameras running on a single machine, taking images in parallel without any issues.. (naturally using my own drivers and app )

Normally it's down to the assumptions from application and the driver developers that cause the problem.

Technically there is nothing stopping multiple cameras being used by one or more applications - however using the same camera from multiple applications is not normally supported for obvious reasons!

[astro mick]

Thanks guys.

Mick.

[Spikey]

Hi.

Is it possible to operate two different ccd cameras,that have different drivers,bearing in mind that some of these drivers will be in the windows directory,on one computer.

If yes,how would you set it up.

Appeciate any help.

Mick.

Certainly is, I routinely operate a 3 camera system. Had two identical Atik cameras taking subs with another Atik camera guiding. 2 CCD's, one DSLR etc..