Anyone using ALPACA ASCOM 6.5?

[dan_adi]

45 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I don't need anything particular - as long as I define / discover device.

I can't do that from SGP because of the way it was written. There is ASCOM device chooser dialog, and SGP does not use that, but instead asks ASCOM to list defined devices. ALPACA device that uses dynamic drivers can only be created from ASCOM dialog.

Once you create / add device - it stays there and you can subsequently choose it in SGP and use it normally.

This is small deviation from normal workflow people are used to and someone trying to do it for the first time - will get lost.

I first started off with idea of using INDIGO alone for portable setup, and controlling it from my phone via web browser. Some time passed from that point and I changed the way I look at things. I'd rather now have remote setup as I moved to dark location in the mean time and don't have the need for portable setup any more (I won't be traveling to the dark site as I'm already at dark(ish) site). Since winter is about and my observatory is not yet complete - I'd rather sit in my study in warm and image with equipment in the back yard - hence remote setup.

 

I understand, it's how SGP was written.

Remote setups a really nice, but it takes a little bit of testing to see what works best. The issues I had were related to USB cables and ports. So I made the transition to ethernet cables and LAN communication. Now I have 2 cables running to the gear on top the scope, a power cable and a ethernet cable. I still have a mini PC mounted on the scope, but in the near future I plan to get rid of that too. 

As an example of a network controlled setup might look like:

• Mount connection: Every mount with a RS232 communications serial port can be hooked up to a Serial Device Server, that can broadcast the serial signal to a local area network. This off course depends on the mount. With such a connection you don't need a USB cable from mount to mini PC.
• Cameras: there are 2 possible solutions. 1. A USB Device Server, that broadcasts the USB signal to a local area network. 2. Some camera makers like Moravian Instruments have a dedicated Ethernet adapter for their CMOS/CCD cameras with FWs, and also provide a separate driver for TCP/IP connection 
• Focuser: Optec Focusers have a built in network connection in their FocusLynx Hub. They also have WiFi option and USB port. I've tried all types of connections, and the ethernet cable one was always stable. Wifi didn't always work, USB didn't always work.

So in the end, what you end up with on top the scope is: a 12V power distribution unit, a 12V Ethernet switch (industrial ones have 12V connections), a USB device server, and a 12V Focuser Hub.

[whipdry]

Slightly of topic but maybe a less complicated alternative! 

I have two (similar in the way they work) setups, I use off the mount NUC running SGPro for each with a single cable to industrial USB hubs on the mounts along with 12v cable supply to a fused distributor, one NUC is observatory based in the warmish room & the other in the kitchen both use though the wall USB connections to the mount hubs. 

LAN cables connect to my WiFi routers one in house & other in the observatory with the latter set as access point, with this setup I can RDT to both setups from my laptop or mobile phone... simultaneously on the phone! 

 

Peter