Lens for sensor analysis test 3.1

[edgar619]

robin

I am a 3.1 Pro user. I want to use the sensor analysis feature for my Toupcam GPCMOSO1200KPC. SW Message says it cant do it

I think if I buy this lens the analysis can happen... correct?............https://www.ebay.com/itm/Television-TV- ... 2410589024

thanks

Bruce

[edgar619]

Robin

I am a 3.1 Pro user. I want to use the sensor analysis feature for my Toupcam GPCMOSO1200KPC. SW Message says it cant do it

I think if I buy this lens the analysis can happen... correct?............https://www.ebay.com/itm/Television-TV- ... 2410589024

thanks

Bruce

[admin]

Hi,

you *may* be able to get the sensor analysis to run using the ToupTek ASCOM driver. Sensor analysis cannot work using DirectShow (webcam) drivers, because they only allow SharpCap to adjust the exposure by factors of two.

That lens is a good one for testing because it has an aperture control to adjust brightness, but you will still need to work with the ASCOM driver. If sensor analysis is going to work you should be able to do it with *no lens* - a translucent 1.25" dust cap if you have one to keep the dust off and let light in is usually sufficient. You can adjust the light level by moving the camera around, shading it, putting it under the desk, etc.

cheers,

Robin

[edgar619]

Robin thanks

The Touptek documentation says the camera uses ASCOM drivers to interface with 3rd party SW.

"Native/ASCOM/WDM driver for easy connection with 3rd party astrophotography softwares"

I see the two ASCOM icons on my desk top that appeared after I installed the Touptek SW. In Sharpcap, under cameras, I see ASCOM cameras in the scroll down...but it is not highlighted nor can I get it to do so.

So Sharpcap must not be recognizing the drivers? Any suggestions as to how I can make this happen?

Bruce

[admin]

If I recall correctly you need to run a separate install called 'ASCOMToupCamSetup.exe' to get the ASCOM driver installed. There is a version here - http://www.touptek.com/download/showdow ... ng=en&id=2 - but I think it is incredibly old and there must be newer versions. You will also need to install the ASCOM 6.3 platform from https://ascom-standards.org/Downloads/Index.htm . Once both of those are installed you should see an entry for the camera below the 'ASCOM Cameras' item in the menu (which is just a heading, so always stays grey).

cheers,

Robin

[edgar619]

thank you!

[edgar619]

robin

thank you for investing your time in trying to fit my round peg into the Sharpcap hole. I did as you suggested. The ASCOM Toupcam did show up where you predicted it would

however, when I click on it...................... i get this error message

reason for failure

object reference not set to an instance of an object

unless you have an obvious and immediate suggestion ........ for me to "do this" to solve the error

I suggest we let this drop and allow you to spend time on the important tasks on your to do list

I will just keep on with histogram and other setting trial and adjust as I have been doing in the past

and thank you for this splendid piece of 3.1 SW

[admin]

Hi,

I can see 3 bug reports in my uploaded report archive that match your description ('Object Reference not set to an Instance of an Object' on the ToupCam ASCOM driver). None of them are in the last day or so, so not a report from you, but in all cases the problem occurs when SharpCap tries to first connect to the camera.

You may find that you can get it to work by connecting using the 'Setup' button in another application to configure the ASCOM driver and then try connecting in SharpCap, although I think it is also possible that this is just a bug in the ASCOM driver for the toupcam camera.

cheers,

Robin

[edgar619]

Robin...at the risk of beating a dead horse or doing my setup more harm than good

By chance, I ran into this on a cloudy nights thread that was discussing solutions to a problem similar to my interface problem...wonder if I should try this or if the risk to great and after accessing the ALTAIR camera drivers link http://cameras.altairastro.com/
it is not clear what driver SW he actually downloaded

and I wonder how hard it would be to uninstall the toup drivers I have downloaded

I am quite keen on trying to use the sensor analysis feature in 3.1

ToupCam 1200 Adventure w/SharpCap Win7
I am happy to report that I got the ToupCam 1200 working, finally. The ToupTech website is very flakey and the driver downloads would fail any time I tried to download them. So I did some more research and found this thread. It turns out that this camera is the exact same as the ALTAIR GPCAM AR0130C. https://www.altairas...uto-Guider.html Here is the link for software downloads that works http://cameras.altairastro.com/ . Your antivirus may go off because this file is pretty new and does not have high usage. You may need to add an exception for it. Then install this driver package. Plug the camera in. Then go to Control Panel, Device Manager Select the Camera under Imaging Devices. Then Update driver, Then Browse My computer… The file will be somewhere like this C:\ProgramFiles\AltairAstro\AltairAstroDshow\divers\x64. Select that file. Then select from the list the GPCAM AR0130C this will manually point the ToupCam HW at this driver. It should now show up and work with SharpCap. Win 8/10 will be similar, Go to Device Manager to make these changes.

thanks for looking

[admin]

Hi,

I haven't tried this so can't comment on whether it will work or not, sorry.

Robin