Is it better to use the native or ASCOM driver?

[Paul Luckas]

When using an Apogee camera with MaxIM DL I have a choice of the native driver in MaxIM, or an ASCOM choice which takes me to the chooser where I can select the ASCOM Apogee driver (presuming I've downloaded and installed it).

I know this is probably a vendor question, but in general these days, is it better to go with the ASCOM drivers, or is it wiser to stick with a native driver for the application (if one exists). Is it naive to suggest that one should go with the most recent of the two?

Also, am I right in that in order for two applications to have simultaneous access to a device you must use the ASCOM driver (or am I confused with some other aspect of the platform).

Thanks,

Paul

[Bob Denny]

Paul --

It is a vendor question, though if I were a vendor I would not make one driver inferior to the other on purpose. In fact I would try to make the MaxIm and ASCOM drivers share as much common code as possible. This is probably the case for Apogee because (a) Diffraction (Doug George) did the initial design of the ASCOM standard, and (b) Apogee and Diffraction have worked closely for years.

Sharing a device between two programs is not a function of the ASCOM Platform (which is a set of libraries and support tools). It is a function of the driver. Some provide this and some don't. I doubt that any camera drivers (MaxIM or ASCOM) woujdl let two programs have low-level control over one camera. May I ask what you have in mind?

[Paul Luckas]

Thanks Bob, your answer makes sense.

The 'sharing' question was really just a generic one. I note from past experience that it has been possible to share telescope and dome control across two programs when using an ASCOM driver. Thanks for clarifying that it is a driver capability, not the ASCOM platform itself.

Cheers,

Paul