[solved] Cannot Take Flats Properly with Optec\Alnitak FlipFlat

[Jerry Yesavage]

Hi I have the Alnitak/Optec FlipFlat and never tried getting Panel flats until I got my new ZWO ASI 6200 CMOS when I wanted to try different ADUs to maximize my flat effectiveness.

I can get panel flats using a laborious semi manual system with Maxim by determining the best durations for the exposures and then auto collect them in series. It does work and the flats at 25,000 look pretty (very) good.

But, when I try to run the enclosed script, you get the enclosed errors but most importantly I am not getting anything like the right ADU values for some very long exposures. The manual exposure length for the S-II is about 17s for 25,000 ADU but this for some reason runs much longer and yet says the source is too dim.

I cannot seem to control the Alnitak either... Bob says the most common error is the Comm Port (4) but I do not know where to change that... there was a "3" in the script brightness commands that I tried changing to a "4" to no avail.

LightCtrlProgram C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe
LightOnCommand 4 C L B#BRT# ; Command string to turn light on and set/change brightness
LightOffCommand 4 O D ; Command string to turn light off
LightOnDelay 60 ; Time needed (sec) for brightness to stabilize

Anyway, I know this must work and would appreciate help...

Happy Holidays....