How do I connect a Pegasus motor focuser?

[StuartT]

Usually in NINA I connect my focuser via the Ultimate Powerbox. So in the Setting > Hardware tab I selected "Device Hub Focuser"

Now, it appears to be connected under the Scope Controls, but when I press the In and Out buttons, the focuser is not moving

[admin]

Hi,

some things to check:

1) Check the 'setup' of the device hub focuser to make sure it's still setup the way you expect to talk to the real ASCOM driver for your focuser. Also use the 'choose' button in the device hub focuser setup and check the actual device properties to make sure that *they* are what you think they should be

2) Check for any mechanical issues - if something is stuck then the focuser may be trying to move and not managing it. Missing or poor 12V power can also cause this sort of thing (low or no movement power)

3) Make sure the device hub gets reset by closing all applications using it and then re-opening. If an application is still using it then it will stay open and not fully reset

4) Try from another application to see if this is a SharpCap thing or a more general problem..

cheers,

Robin

[StuartT]

Thanks Robin

Sorry, I should have said that the focuser is working normally both from NINA and also from the Ultimate Powerbox Control app. Just not from SharpCap. It does seem to 'think' it's operating the focuser though, because the Coarse In and Coarse Out buttons grey out temporarily after being pressed (as if it's waiting for the command to execute)

Stuart

[admin]

Hi Stuart,

are you running some of your apps 'as administrator'? The way that the device hub works, if you start one 'as administrator' then non-admin programs cannot talk to it, so will start a second one, which could give the sort of behaviour you are seeing.

You can also turn on extra logging of focuser commands in SharpCap - that will record all the communication between SharpCap and the ASCOM driver, which might tell us something.

cheers,

Robin

[StuartT]

No I don't run stuff in Administrator mode. But even when no other apps are running i still can't get SharpCap to control my focuser.

I switched on extra focuser logging, so see if you can figure out what I'm doing wrong. Thanks

[admin]

Hi Stuart,

so in that log the focuser starts at position 25000. There is one movement command sent to the focuser for it to move to position 24950, which it does (after a few seconds). That all seems normal, but the movement of 50 units will hardly be noticeable.

SharpCap's UI is set up about having two movement steps - coarse and fine - maybe the fine is 50 units and the coarse might be 500 or 1000, which would give a bigger move. You can adjust the size of both coarse and fine movements. You can also type a new value into the box that shows the position (say 23000) and then press return - that should get a noticeable movement.

cheers,

Robin

[StuartT]

It definitely doesn't seem to be moving the focuser.

I just autofocused in NINA, then closed it down and pressed "Coarse" several times in SHarpCap and the focus remained (i.e. it didn't defocus). That would amount to several thousand steps, so would definitely have defocused it

One thing I do notice is that when I start SharpCap, I get this little ASCOM window popping up. Could that be the problem?

[admin]

Hi,

yep, that's it... You have configured SharpCap somehow to talk to the ASCOM focuser simulator driver rather than the device hub or your pegasus focuser. The simulator is just that - a pretend, software only, focuser that lets you mess around with focusing when you don't have hardware handy. Go into the SharpCap hardware settings and check what you have selected there.

cheers,

Robin

[StuartT]

this is what I have in settings. Is that wrong?

[admin]

Hi,

you need to go to the properties of the Device Hub Focuser (click the Properties button) and check that it is set up to talk to your Pegasus focuser as shown below - if not, use the 'Choose' button to select the pegasus.

Capture.JPG (36.26 KiB) Viewed 900 times

cheers,

Robin