Pulsar Dome Driver Selection in SG Pro

[Chris Willocks]

Good morning everyone,

I recently had a 2.2m Pulsar dome installed and have been experimenting with different equipment profiles in SG Pro, and am trying to figure out which profile is the most optimal?

So far there are three different equipment profiles that I have been experimenting with, with the Pulsar dome:

 

SG Pro Equipment Profile 1

• Focuser: POTH Hub
• Telescope: POTH Hub
• Observatory: POTH Hub
• Dome geometry and slaving set just in POTH and not in SG Pro. 
• Cartes du Ciel connected to telescope via POTH Hub also.

In this first profile, I used POTH for the focuser, telescope and observatory, with each of these set to their individual drivers in POTH i.e. Lakeside Focuser V2, EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 and Pulsar Dome driver respectively.

A few questions regarding this profile:

• Am I correct in assuming that the dome geometry and slaving options should only be set in POTH for this profile? I assume that POTH overrides any geometry or slaving options selected in SG Pro?
• Should the telescope mount and focuser be controllable via SG Pro when using POTH? For some unknown reason, the mount wouldn't park when I selected the option in SG Pro?
• Should POTH be selected in Cartes du Ciel when using this profile? I read that this can cause a loop and that EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 should be used as the driver?
• Is there any way to have the dome permanently slaved in POTH without selecting the checkbox every time? I assume the slaving options in SG Pro i.e. slave on sequence start don't work, when using POTH?

 

SG Pro Equipment Profile 2

• Focuser: Lakeside Focuser V2
• Telescope: EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6
• Observatory: ASCOM Dome Driver
• Dome geometry and slaving set just in the ASCOM Dome Driver window and not in SG Pro. 
• Cartes du Ciel connected to telescope via the EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 driver.

In this profile, I used the generic ASCOM Dome Driver for the Pulsar dome and the individual drivers for the focuser and telescope.

A few questions regarding this profile:

• I assume that when using the generic ASCOM Dome Driver, which allows you to input dome geometry and slaving options, then it wouldn't be necessary to input these into SG Pro itself, as it would cause conflict between the two?
• Can Cartes du Ciel be connected to the telescope via the EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 if the telescope is also connected to it in SG Pro, or would this cause conflict? I presume that that is the reason for using POTH Hub i.e. to avoid conflict between drivers and programs etc.

 

SG Pro Equipment Profile 3

• Focuser: Lakeside Focuser V2
• Telescope: EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6
• Observatory: Pulsar Dome Driver
• Dome geometry and slaving set just in SG Pro. 
• Cartes du Ciel connected to telescope via the EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 driver.

In this profile, I used the Pulsar Dome Driver instead of the generic ASCOM Dome Driver and set the geometry and slaving options in SG Pro.

A question regarding this profile:

• Same as previously; can Cartes du Ciel be connected to the telescope via the EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 if the telescope is also connected to it in SG Pro without causing conflict?

 

If you could kindly advise which of these profiles is most optimal, then that would be appreciated.

Hopefully this all makes sense. Just to also add; in the very near future I will be implementing the ACP Observatory Control software with the dome, along with MaximDL and FocusMax, which are mandatory with the ACP software. Which dome driver would be best to use with this software i.e. POTH, Pulsar Dome Driver or ASCOM Dome Driver?

Many thanks,

Chris

[Chris Willocks]

Anyone?

[sloz1664]

Hi Chris,

I would go with option 3. The Pulsar driver being the best option, in my opinion. You can connect your mount, via EQMod, in SGPro, Carte du Ciel & PHD2 without any problems.

I presently use the Levesdome driver for my dome functions and connect my mount, via EQMo, in SGPro, PHD2 and occasionally Carte du Ciel without problems.

Hth

Steve

[steppenwolf]

I have the latest Pulsar drive system in my own Pulsar Observatory but I don't use SG Pro = however, I do use MaxIm DL and Carted du Ciel.

I much prefer to make all my connections via POTH as I find this works extremely reliably. Historically, and documented in several threads on SGL, when something goes wrong with dome control, changing to POTH from native has pretty much always resolved the issues and I often wonder why once the original software bug is fixed, people revert back to the native drivers again!!!!

I use CCD Commander which has some basic similarities to ACP although the latter is much more comprehensive and the reason I have chosen this route is that I am a great fan of MaxIm DL.

A few questions regarding this profile:

• Am I correct in assuming that the dome geometry and slaving options should only be set in POTH for this profile? I assume that POTH overrides any geometry or slaving options selected in SG Pro? YES
• Should the telescope mount and focuser be controllable via SG Pro when using POTH? For some unknown reason, the mount wouldn't park when I selected the option in SG Pro? Can't think of any reason why not but then I am not an SG Pro user!
• Should POTH be selected in Cartes du Ciel when using this profile? I read that this can cause a loop and that EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 should be used as the driver? YES POTH should be selected in Cartes du Ciel - it is simply an ASCOM Hub. The 'loop' you mention comes from incorrectly trying to select POTH twice when setting up!
• Is there any way to have the dome permanently slaved in POTH without selecting the checkbox every time? I assume the slaving options in SG Pro i.e. slave on sequence start don't work, when using POTH? Can't help with this one as CCD Commander sets the slaving for me

[Chris Willocks]

Thanks very much for the replies and feedback, both of you. I appreciate it.

I'll take your points onboard and have a play around with the settings accordingly.

Chris