Bahtinov Grabber

[petevasey]

I didn't quite know which section to put this in, but this will do for starters!  Several years ago I bought a Lakeside motor focuser for my RC10.  At that time it was sold by Ian King.  Nice piece of kit, but I found that using MaximDL to autofocus was tedious and sometimes failed altogether.  So I ended up controlling it manually.  Then  removed it and went back to full manual.  But I'd been using a Bahtinov mask for some time, and came across the excellent albeit venerable Bahtinov Grabber free software.  I'd downloaded the zip file years ago and forgotten about it.  So started using it, focussing manually.  Anyone who has it knows how accurate and intuitive it is.

I don't know how I didn't notice before, but today  spotted the Autofocus feature - in plain view of course but completely overlooked.  Connected up the Lakeside control box and it was recognised.  So I refitted the focus motor and sure enough the program ran it.  So tonight - fairly clear although thin clouds, I tried out the setup.  It worked beautifully getting to a close focus far quicker and more accurately than Maxim ever did - Joy!  No more waiting for vibrations from manual focusing to die down  OK, not suitable for remote observatories unless there is a remote Bahtinov mask applier.  But suits me fine 😃  So, sorry guys, I was considering selling the Lakeside kit, but now no way 😉

Cheers,

Peter

[Sp@ce_d]

Nice one. I’d forgotten about grabber, used it years ago but don’t remember autofocus on it either!  I know what you mean with Maxim, I’ve used Focusmax for years instead. Works a treat with maxim & ACP.