FocusMax Error

[Robert Capon]

Hi All-

I posted this on the FocusMax bulletin board, and am also posting here in case anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks,

Rob

Re-posted message:


I've been plagued with an unresolved problem for over a year. The problem is the failure of FocusMax to connect to Maxim with an error code, with the problem being usually resolved by restarting the computer. I've gotten in the habit of restarting my Win7 computer before every automation run, but last Friday was very frustrating when FocusMax failed during the beginning of an automated run (after I had used my ritual of starting the ACP run after a clean restart), and I had to restart the computer twice to get it going (each time shutting down scope, dome, camera, etc. to restart the machine.)


The general thought was that I had a memory problem, so I updated software to insure I didn't have a memory leak and I upgraded my physical memory. I usually am using 2GB of memory with 8GB available (the limit of my computer.) So memory can be ruled out.


So the last suggestion was to update my FocusMax software. I had been using 3.7.xxx (not sure which), but updated last night to 3.8.0.8. Unfortunately I had the same problem. So I restarted my computer twice, and I still couldn't get autofocus to work. Then I simply quit out of FocusMax and restarted the program and it finally worked. Once it started working, FocusMax always works great. I ran V-curves and autofocused with great precision.


So, in a nutshell, I'm getting an error code that seems to be fixed by restarting the computer and/or restarting FocusMax, which is not a memory problem, which makes it very difficult to start an unattended ACP run.


A representative run log is shown below. (They all look the same from last night). I'm wondering if you have other ideas that I can try, or perhaps is there some diagnostic software or other tools that will help troubleshoot the problem?


Thanks for any help,


Rob

21:37:49 Focuser: RoboFocus is connected
21:37:49 Focuser: RoboFocus is an Absolute Focuser
21:37:49 Temp. compensation available = False
21:38:13
21:38:13 ** Beginning Focus Run **
21:38:13 FocusMax Version: 3.8.0.8
21:38:13 System: NP101 Focuser
21:38:13 Camera: SBIG Universal
21:38:13 LS: -0.163914 RS: 0.163915 PID: 0.11
21:38:13 Min/Max flux setting = 100/1000K
21:38:13 Min/Max exp. setting = 0.10/5.00
21:38:13 Flux target = 316228
21:38:13 Using arithmetic mean
21:38:13 Move direction: In
21:38:13 Filter = Luminance (slot 3)
21:38:13 Current position = 4711
21:38:13 NearFocus HFD: 10
21:38:13 Focus Start HFD: 20
21:38:13 Find star binning = 2x2
21:38:13 Initial exposure = 0.5
21:38:15 FocusMax Error 9: Subscript out of range
Module modComponents Sub GetCCDImage
21:38:15 Halting - error in module getTargetStar
21:38:15 Could not get CCDImage
21:38:15 Can not measure HFD for this image
21:38:15 Moving to previous focus position of 4711

[Joel Hatfield]

Paul I've seen this exact error myself in the last couple of weeks. No rhyme or reason and restarts work sometimes and sometimes not. I have had Fmax problems not connecting before that seemed to be solved by leaving it running but here lately I've had the same issue at times as I see in your log.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dick Berg]

Hi Rob,

The error message:
FocusMax Error 9: Subscript out of range
is often a filter identification problem (out of order, missing one among the list, an open (unnamed) slot in the MaxIm table, too many...). You've undoubtedly been over this already, but you should make sure the MaxIm table and the filterInfo.txt file are congruent.

You also had the same error message here a while back: http://forums.dc3.com/showthread.php...or+9#post33957
and again recently (http://forums.dc3.com/showthread.php...or+9#post43312) , so I'm sure it's frustrating.

(I really suspect this is an operator error...)

[Robert Capon]

Dick-

Yes, I've been plagued with this problem for a long time. I re-posted it because the suggested fix (updating FMax) didn't work.

The filter idea seems unlikely, since restarting the computer (or the program?) clears it up, and the problem occurs with both of my cameras. But I'll double check the filter setup.

Thanks,

Rob

[Robert Capon]

Dick-

I double-checked the filter setup and re-read the Maxim user's guide and it looks ok. I have an SBIG STL11000M and an ST8300. In Maxim, the filter wheel is SBIG Universal and the filter is Standard. There are 10 slots in the filter setup list, and I've used the first 5, and left the others blank. Once you connect, the blank ones don't show up in the pull-down list.

Also, I would think a setup problem would never connect until fixed, rather than being fixed by a restart and having this random quality.

As for the possibility of operator error, I always tell my wife that the weakest link in the observatory is me.

Any other ideas?

Best,

Rob

[Dick Berg]

Nope. Sorry, no other ideas. And sorry, i should have known better than to independently affirm your wife's opinion! . I was wrong.