Struggling with FocusMax (was: Struggling with ACP Installation)

[William Bristow]

Roger.

The option to use Optec with ACP instead of FocusMax for auto focus is for a specific piece of Optec software called FocusLock, which only works with Optec’s special OAG incorporating a cold mirror (ONAG), or with a standard OAG and particular make of guide camera, Starlight Xpress Lodestar in conjunction with Optec’s Lacerta for Lodestar optical insert.

Your current Optec hardware is a standard motorised focuser and won’t work with ACP alone, you need to have either FocusMax installed and running properly or purchase the extra Optec ONAG hardware and software for the FocusLock option.

FocusMax should be a straight forward install that rarely causes any problem but to help resolve this you need to be a bit more specific and describe exactly what the problem is and any Windows error messages or application pop-up messages that appear when the FocusMax install fails.
Note that the FocusMax installer is an online interactive installer and you must have your computer connected to the internet and any firewall open to allow the installer to contact CCDWare FocusMax’s servers to download the software and install it.
You cannot install FocusMax standalone without an active internet connection.

Your ACP Planner issue I can’t help with as I have not needed to install Planner on any of my systems but as you only have a choice of two passwords then try both, it won’t do any harm and if neither work then reply back to the forum and Bob will resolve that one for you.

William.

[Bob Denny]

Hooray!! Thanks Roger.

No Planner is free and may be installed by anyone free of charge. The installer should "just run". If you can't get past this call and I'll help. +1 480 396 9700 x103.

FYI you may not need Planner. The web forms (Use Web Browser" button) are easier to use.

[Roger Baylon]

Dear Bob,
Thanks for the offer to help with my ACP installation. I left a message on the phone number that you kindly provided.
I have most of ACP working but have the following questions:
1 How can I get the RA and DEC to be provided automatically when I provide the Messier number (for example) with an single image request on the web browser. I currenty get a 500 ACP server page error when I try to do this.
2. Where are my imaging files stored? I looked everywhere and tried to follow your careful explanations. I guess I am not good at following clear instructions.
3. With FocusMax should I specify some kind of ACP hub? I think I heard about this somewhere. Currently, I am using the "generic hub" for focusing, and it seems to work so far.
4. How can I download ACP Planner and install it? I have tried everything 75 times. I no longer have the installer on my computer--or maybe I just don't know where to look.
5. When I have ACP slew to M33, the resulting image is a little bit off-center. Maybe this was necessary in order to get a good guide star?
You have a wonderful program. I am looking forward to using it.
Warmly, Roger

[Dick Berg]

Hi Roger,

Maybe some of these suggestions will help you. Bob will also reply and may want to call, I'm sure.

1. Go to this folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ASCOM, and look for the folder called "MiniSAC". MiniSAC is installed with ACP. I was able to reproduce your error by removing the MiniSAC folder. If that folder, or a part in that folder, is missing, the ACP installation did not complete correctly, or the MiniSAC.dll file did not get registered correctly. I would recommend running the ACP installer again to repair. Don't uninstall anything - just reinstall. Or you might want to wait for Bob to confirm this.

2. There are normally only two places where images are stored.

a. If you're sitting at the observatory computer, and running ACP "live observing" from the web UI, your images should be found here: C:\Users\(username)\Documents\ACP Astronomy\Images, your log files here: C:\Users\(your username)\Documents\ACP Astronomy\Logs, and your plans here: C:\Users\(your username)\Documents\ACP Astronomy\Plans.

b. If you're remoting in (over a local area network connection) to the observatory using the web UI (you won't see "live observing" on the Main Menu), your images should be found here: C:\Users\Public\Documents\ACP Web Data\Doc Root\images\(username), and similarly for logs and plans.

3. Go to FocusMax's Open/Preferences menu (System #1). There you will see an ellipsis next to the "Focuser" box. You should probably select the "FocusMax Focuser Hub" instead. That should be an available choice. ACP automatically connects to the focuser through its internal software programming without requiring an ACP hub.

4. Look in the Windows Start Menu, for a folder named "ACP Planner." If that's there, then inside that folder is the link to the Planner executable. If not there, then that's a sign again of the ACP installer not completing correctly. ACP Planner is one of the programs ACP normally installs. Running the ACP installer again to repair might solve this problem. Or you can go here to download the Planner directly: http://acp.dc3.com/planner.html

5. How far is a "little bit?" How did you enter the M33 coordinates? From a plan (a typo)? If you used the live observing single image form and entered "M 33", the coordinates would be picked up from the MiniSAC catalog. (But what about question #1 above?) If coordinates came from an independent catalog, it's possible that one person's notion of the center coordinates might be different from another's. It could also possibly be an issue with your telescope mount. Maybe a little more information here will help diagnose this. Here's a VERY useful website: http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/. Under Queries, click on "by identifier", enter "M33" (no space in this instance), and check the coordinates against the ones you used.


I hope this helps.

[Bob Denny]

Thanks Dick!! Let's see how far Roger gets on your great suggestions, then if still needed I'll call and provide live guidance.

Roger -- one thing, I would strongly suggest you use the "Use Web Browser" button which puts you "in the observatory" as in 2(a). And in Windows 10 you don't have to follow C:\Users\(your name)\Documents ... instead just plain "Documents" under Library is that folder. In earlier Windows versions is was called My Documents (and you'll still see me call it that... old habits die hard :-)). So ACP's goodies (images, logs, plans) are under My Documents\ACP Astronomy.

[Roger Baylon]

Dear Dick,
Thanks for this - I really appreciate your taking so much time to help. No wonder that you are a "super-wizard"--and I definitely vouch for that!
As you suggested, I was able to get MiniSac installed by rerunning the ACP installation. Tonight, I will try it out to see if that solves everything. It doesn't seem to provide the RA and DEC coordinates for me when using the web version of ACP, but that is only a minor convenience issue. And maybe it will start working tonight when I have my system fully connected. Any suggestions on that? Should I re-re-install ACP?

So far, I have not been able to get FocusMax to allow me access to the FocusMax hub. However, I have been able to configure the MaximDl Observatory to use the FocusMax hub. So maybe that will work. I guess I just have to try it out.

I can't easily get ACP planner because I tried to download it too many times. So I am on the bad list. Is ACP planner important? It seems that it would be useful, and it might help me learn.

The RA and DEC coordinates that I used were provided by MaximDL. They were close to center. But not 100%.

Thanks again. I will let you know how I do.
Warmly,
Roger

[Dick Berg]

Hi again Roger,

Thank you for the compliment!! Just quickly...

Should I reinstall ACP? No - if you reran the installer once to solve the MiniSAC problem, I don't think it will help to reinstall again. And i don't think you will get the "500" error again, either. Also, it's not necessary to have the system fully connected to draw coordinates from the catalog. Just start ACP, click on the Use Web Browser button, open the Live Observing Single image form, type in an object name ("M 33" - with space) and click on Get Coordinates.. If you get "?" marks, the object is below the horizon.

...not been able to get FocusMax to allow me access to the FocusMax hub. Don't you see something like this when you click on the ellipsis? That opens up the ASCOM chooser.
FMx.jpg
If you don't see this, we'll have to dig a little deeper.

I don't know what's going on with Planner either. I don't think Bob has a "bad list." Planner is an interesting tool, and it is quite useful, especially at the beginning of your experiences using ACP. Maybe Bob can comment here. I take it you didn't find it in Window's Start menu.

The RA and DEC coordinates... Well, I did mention that people who compile catalogs might choose slightly different "centers." Here's what I retrieved from MaxIm for M33 and from Simbad:
cat (1).jpg
They are slightly different sets of coordinates, but that's not to say one is wrong and the other is right. On occasion there can be a really rare but significant error, but these here are both correct. (I don't know who or how the catalog in MaxIm was compiled.)

Hang in there.

[Roger Baylon]

Dear Dick,
Thanks for the encouragement and the additional advice. I will try ACP in a couple of hours. This afternoon, I did not get the 500 message and there were ?'s and, yes, they indicated below the horizon as you said. So maybe that problem is solved which would be nice.

As to Focusmax, yes, I did see the FocusMax Hub option that you showed in your screenshot after clicking on the ellipsis. BUT after saying OK, I got this: SELECTING FOCUSMAX HUB IS NOT PERMITTED. CLICK OK AND CHOOSE NEW FOCUSER.

No, Planner was not in the start menu and I could not find the installer. I think I deleted the installer after many unsuccessful tries. I can see that I should not have done that. My bad (excuse me, but I have always wanted to use this phrase and never had a chance.)

It is interesting to see the comparison between RA and DEC coordinates. Just over 1 min of difference in RA but about 1 degree in DEC.

As to FocusMax, maybe I should run ACP without FocusMax to get more experience first?

I will keep you posted.

Warmly,
Roger

[Bob Denny]

Roger -- I can see you're struggling on several fronts. I apologize for this experience. Can we set up a time next week for me to log on? My day today (Friday Oct 30) is already jam packed, and we're closed on weekends. Monday and Tuesday are clear.

[Dick Berg]

As to Focusmax, yes, I did see the FocusMax Hub option that you showed in your screenshot after clicking on the ellipsis. BUT after saying OK, I got this: SELECTING FOCUSMAX HUB IS NOT PERMITTED. CLICK OK AND CHOOSE NEW FOCUSER. Don't know what's going on here. Perhaps it's necessary to reinstall FocusMax? Just out of curiosity, what version of FocusMax are you using? In the end, you'll have to be sure you can use FocusMax reliably independently of ACP before you try auto-focus with ACP.

No, Planner was not in the start menu and I could not find the installer. [ACP should have installed Planner in the first place.] I think I deleted the installer after many unsuccessful tries. I can see that I should not have done that. My bad (excuse me, but I have always wanted to use this phrase and never had a chance.) You can go to the DC3 Planner website and download the installer again. There shouldn't be any trouble with that. If there is, Bob can help you through whatever is wrong. Planner is a separate application that generates a "plan" you have to then upload to ACP. The search function for retrieving coordinates in Planner uses the same MiniSAC catalog that ACP uses. You can do without Planner - the web-UI form is easier to use.

It is interesting to see the comparison between RA and DEC coordinates. Just over 1 min of difference in RA but about 1 degree in DEC. No, your arithmetic can't be right. In RA, the difference is only about one second (of time), and so about 15 arcseconds. And the difference in Dec is only about 1 arcsecond. Was your mis-centered image a whole degree off?

As to FocusMax, maybe I should run ACP without FocusMax to get more experience first? Whether you call for a focus or not, ACP has a "trap" in its initialization to ensure FocusMax is running. As long as it starts and is running, you don't have to use it. Open the ACP/Preferences/AutoFocus tab, and in the upper box select "Disable auto-focus". You will have to then find a way to focus the telescope by hand. Eventually you want to get FocusMax going, though - it's an integral part of automating your imaging.

I would recommend setting up a time to have Bob call you, and waiting until then before we go farther trying to install or reinstall things again.

Here's the AutoFocus preference panel:
AF.jpg