AcquireSupport does not support PlaneWave PWI2

[Bob Denny]

This thread arose from a ticket that was raised by text message and followed up by phone so I have no record of the original. AcquireSupport was missing the code needed for PlaneWave PWI2 and PWI4. Kevin of Planewave had sent me a modified FocusOffsets script with the needed code to automatically determine which version to use. I failed to incorporate it into AcquireSupport. I added the logic and sent the updated one (which will be part of ACP 8.2.2) to Paul to test at his customer site.

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OK, tell me how the run went last night. I saw several issues and I am concerned that not all of them are due to a lockup of the rotator.

[Paul Gardner]

I got the rotator unlocked last night but it got cloudy by the time I got everything working. I updated the acquire support script today and so far it seems to work. We will see how it goes on sky today. I am going to test the autoflat righ tnow

[Bob Denny]

OK, thanks for the feedback :-) :-)

[Paul Gardner]

Bob,

The acquire support script is not working. It is failing on an undefined variable. See attached log.

[Paul Gardner]

I tried to add in a variable with other variables (shot in the dark here) and avoided the variable error but when ACP went to autofocus it just ran the focuser all the way in and stopped then went on. So PWAutofocus is not defined in the proper place or something (says the non-programmer).

[Paul Gardner]

OK so here is what I discovered last night......the inner hacker in me trying to make things work late at night.

This is the block where the error "Undefined variable, PWAutofocus was coming from

Function MoveFocuser(Value, Absolute)
Dim z, F, wasLink, wasTempComp


If Not c_haveAF Then ' Cannot do with AF disabled, no focuser
Err.Raise vbObjectError, "ACP.AcquireSupport", _
"Internal error: Tried to move focus position with AutoFocus disabled."
End If
If c_usePWI Then
Set PWAutoFocus = CreateObject("PlaneWave.AutoFocus")
If PWAutoFocus.FocusServer = "PWI2" Then
''- Trace "Using PWI2 for focus control"
Set F = CreateObject("ASCOM.PWI_Foc_20.Focuser")
ElseIf PWAutoFocus.FocusServer = "PWI3" Then
''- Trace "Using PWI3 for focus control"
Set F = CreateObject("ASCOM.PWI3.Focuser")
ElseIf PWAutoFocus.FocusServer = "PWI4" Then
''- Trace "Using PWI4 for focus control"
Set F = CreateObject("ASCOM.PWI4.Focuser")
Else
Err.Raise vbObjectError, "ACP.AcquireSupport", _
"PWI: Unsupported PlaneWave focuser server: " & PWAutoFocus.FocusServer
End If



Using some guessing and logic I saw that there was a list of variables listed at the top of the function; Dim z, F, waslink, wasTempComp. I went ahead and added PWAutoFocus to that list of variables and then ran the script again. This time there were no errors and no "undefined variables". The odd thing that happened though was that when it went to autofocus offset it ran the focuser all the way IN. I was thinking about it this morning and I think what it was doing was trying to set an absolute value of -132 instead of a relative change from the current position or position determined by the focus filter.

So I think my variable addition fixed the error but there is something else going on in the way it interprets the focus offset value. I see that the next block of code deals with absolute vs. relative but I have not dived into that code to figure out how it determines what kind of focuser it is dealing with.

[Paul Gardner]

I am guessing this is where the change would be made

Function MoveFocuser(Value, Absolute)

so that it is relative. Currently the code is written so absolute=true


..........this is dangerous when I am diving into code........don't give the ME a code editor.

[Bob Denny]

OK, Bravo!!! You found the undefined variable. I have that change incorporated. That's all that's needed.

With regard to the focuser behaving strangely, don't mess with the rest of the code outside that which creates the "F" used to talk to the focuser. All of that code has been there for years, and it is correct, per the ASCOM Focuser Specification. Also note the function right above that. It computes the offset then calls MoveFocuser() with Absolute = False. In Move Focuser() see that if the focuser itself is absolute (and PWI Focuser should "absolutely" be absolute) yet it is called for Absolute = False, then it computes a delta. If the result of the delta is -133 that means the focuser is currently at 0. Also, at startup, ACP selects the last filter used (even if 2 weeks ago) and sets the focuser for that filter.

The first thing to check is the FilterInfo file. You can attach it here and I'll look. Also, do an Autofocus either with ACP's autofocus script or just do it in PWI. Then try a run again.

This one may need me to become involved live, as it's faintly possible that the PWI2 focuser isn't behaving like it should (from the ASCOM perspective at least)?

[Paul Gardner]

Here is the filter info file

;
; Filter Data for SBIG Filter Wheel
; Fields are offset, relative-to, use for pointing[, min-mag, max-mag]
;
0,3,3,8,4 ; #0 Red, relative to Clear, Pointing w/Clear
0,3,3,8,4 ; #1 Green, relative to Clear, Pointing w/Clear
0,3,3,8,4 ; #2 Blue, relative to Clear, Pointing w/Clear
0,3,3,8,4 ; #3 Luminance, relative to Clear, Pointing w/Clear
-132,3,3,6,3 ; #4 Ha, relative to Clear, Pointing w/Clear, Mag 4-6 focus star
-132,3,3,6,3 ; #5 OIII, relative to Clear, Pointing w/Clear, Mag 4-6 focus star
-132,3,3,6,3 ; #6 SII, relative to Clear, Pointing w/Clear, Mag 4-6 focus star
;


Last night the focuser was at 22054 microns for luminance which is the reference. When it went to run the offset it ran the focuser all the way in to as close to 0 as it could get. It was like 230 microns. It should have run the autofocus through luminance first before doing the offset. So there may be some other oddity.

[Paul Gardner]

I need to get rid of the min/max values since he isn't using focus max.