DFM Telescope control

[qubmeade]

Hi Bob,
A while back we spoke about controlling my meade via the ACP.Telescope hub from python. I got this to work great (thanks for your help with that).

I have some friends in India with a 1.3m DFM telescope which they can control with the sky. If they download the sky controlled telescope driver (and the ASCOM platform etc) can a similar python program speak with their telescope. I am asking here as the ACP forum always has the best answers.

In my previous program i used the line:

'myScope = win32com.client.Dispatch("ACP.Telescope")'

To connect to my 16'' Lx200 via the ACP hub. Can I use something in place of "ACP.Telescope" to speak with the SCT driver?

Thanks in advance,
James

[Bob Denny]

It's not necessary to use TheSky. DFM has a real ASCOM driver. Have your friends contact DFM, specifically Brian Kelley, and get the DFMTCS ASCOM driver. They can tell you what the ID is, something like "DFM.Telescope".

If you really want to talk through TheSky, you can use the ID "TheSky.Telescope". Be sure though to set things up by calling SetupDialog() on the driver first (once is enough, it remembers settings). You will probably find limits on what you can do compared to using the real DFM ASCOM driver and skipping TheSky.

[qubmeade]

Hi Bob,
Great, thanks for the reply. I mailed DFM asking for the ASCOM driver. Will connecting to the telescope via another program as well as TheSky6 cause some issues? Or should I do this via POTH and the ASCOM driver?

Am I right in thinking POTH is, from an operational side of things, similar to the ACP hub?

i.e. I install the ASCOM driver and POTH then Telescope v2 software and to connect to the scope do,

myScope = win32com.client.Dispatch("POTH.Telescope")'

Will I still need a call to SetupDialog()? If so how should this be done from my win32 environment?

Thanks again for the reply,

James

[Bob Denny]

Many questions... I think you'd be better off playing with the pieces, writing some test scripts, reading the help docs and the info on the ASCOM site. I could answer them all but I would be substituting for the hand-on experience. I think you'll "get it" quickly after you start working with the pieces.

TheSky has its own internal logic for DFM (ACL protocol) and connects to the serial port directly. So while using TheSky you can't use anything else. However, if you install the ASCOM driver plugin (teleapi) for TheSky you can use the POTH hub along with other software, then have POTH talk to the DFMTCS driver. So many possibilities. Have a look at this info from the ASCOM web site FAQ section.

On the SetupDialog() -- all of the drivers I know of remember the settings you make via their setup dialogs. So you don't have to make those settings before every usage. And POTH is like the ACP hub, yes. It even has dome control integrated with the telescope.

[qubmeade]

Hi Bob,
I have been speaking with Mark Kelley at DFM just now and he said they dont have a telescope ASCOM driver ready at the minute, only the focus driver.

He suggested trying the ACL telescope driver for this, what do you think? This is a little more difficult for me to fix by playing around as I am actually helping some friends in India and can not sit down in front of their TCS.

Cheers
James

[Bob Denny]

You know what? He's right!!! I remember now... they fixed a couple of issues with their TCS years ago so that it would work with the ACL driver. My apologies!!

[qubmeade]

Can I still connect via POTH is I install the ACL driver? I have the guys online now and we are trying this but its not going well

They have the Tele API installed and the ACL driver.

Should we be able to connect via the win32 method now?

e.g myscope=win32.client.Dispatch("POTH.Telescope")

Thanks for the replies I really appriciate it

JAmes

[Bob Denny]

James --

Of course you can connect via POTH to the ACP driver. ASCOM drivers are compatible with each other and with lots of software out there. Using TeleAPI and the ACL driver seems a bit strange since TheSky has internal support for the DFM. I can't visualize what the goal is, so...

Your scripts can use the ACL driver directly: "ACL.Telescope" or you can set POTH up to connect to the ACL driver then connect your script to POTH as "POTH.Telescope". With TeleAPI in TheSKy, that can connect to POTH also. SO your scripts and TheSky can share the DFM.

I have no clue what you're trying to accomplish "in the large" and I can't become responsible for engineering expertise in setting up the scope in India. Mark tells me you're trying to pulse-guide it, and he says that his recommendation is relay/TTL signals.

I'm struggling to help you with whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. The docs that come with the Platform 5/5.5, and the ASCOM site itself are full of info much of which relates to the questions you are asking. The ASCOM Yahoo Group has lots of people whose expereinces with interconnecting and other issues are at least as extensive as mine.

[qubmeade]

Hi Bob,

I am also in the dark with this. I have written a program that can analyse fits images and work out guiding corrections. I wrote this for my meade 16'' lx200 and based on the advice you gave me before I can issue pulseguide commands with the pywin32 module with ACP as a HUB.

My colleges in India wanted a copy of my code to run at there telescope so I tailored them a version. We tested it and it worked fine but then they asked ok so how do we move the telescope now. I was like "huh? I have no idea about your telescope." I knew the control it in windows so I thought ok maybe I can do something similar to my meade control.

So I came here asking your advice as it was spot on for my previous ACP/Meade related question, and I couldn't find much on the ASCOM forum about the DFM telescope being ran like this (in any language). I hope I haven't ****ed anyone off. This was a tad frustrating for me too as I am in Spain they are in India and I have never seen/used a DFM telescope.

I think i'll be able to do something similar using your suggestions if they let me on their TCS via VNC.

Again, sorry if this was a pain in the ass and thanks as always for the help!

Cheers
James

[Bob Denny]

James --

No worries, I was just getting frustrated :-)))