Nomenclature of the focuser buttons in Scope Control panel and Reverse checkbox

[KenHarpster]

I never thought of CW/CCW as again it's relationship to the actual movement of the scope's focuser (not the focus motor shaft) is dependent upon how the focus motor is mounted to the focusing knob on the scope, this is also true with SCT's and MAK's (front facing/back facing motor shaft).

There are two things we are dealing with, the driver, and the focus motor, and how they interact with one another and the telescope. To keep it simple and relevant to the software we are using (SharpCap) we should pay attention to the panel that indicates the focus motors current numeric position value (that displayed value seems to be consistent regardless of the application being used), and how we affect that number. If I press a "button" and it increases that value, it is a positive action, whereas if I press a "button" and it decreases that value it is a negative action.

Due to the nature of the beast and that a motor can be mounted in two different directions onto practically any telescope. What positive (increasing the displayed position value) or negative (decreasing the displayed position value) will actually do physically will be dependent upon the motor and how it is mounted, and the user will have to determine how it affects the focus of their setup.

With regard to +ve/-ve, while the terminology is not widely used, I think most people will quickly grasp (Pos/Neg) and that Pos increases the displayed position value and vice versa.

[kaymann]

...
There are two things we are dealing with, the driver, and the focus motor. To keep it simple and relevant to the software we are using (SharpCap) we should pay attention to the panel that indicates the focus motors current numeric position value (that displayed value seems to be consistent regardless of the application being used), and how we affect that number. If I press a "button" and it increases that value, it is a positive action, whereas if I press a "button" and it decreases that value it is a negative action.

Due to the nature of the beast and that a motor can be mounted in two different directions onto practically any telescope. What positive (increasing the displayed position value) or negative (decreasing the displayed position value) will actually do physically will be dependent upon the motor and how it is mounted, and the user will have to determine how it affects the focus of their setup.

With regard to +ve/-ve, while the terminology is not widely used, I think most people will quickly grasp (Pos/Neg) and that Pos increases the displayed position value and vice versa.

OK so the POS NEG is in regards to numbers listed in dashboard. I can certainly grasp that concept and no reversal button is necessary at all.

Ken that is an excellent point!

[KenHarpster]

By applying the KISS principle you could in all actuality just use the symbols + and - to replace In and Out. You would only have to press any of them once for it to become clear as to what they do...

image.png (32.45 KiB) Viewed 6127 times

[admin]

Hi,

I'm liking the simple +/- option - I can put a tooltip on the buttons so that it will have 'Move focuser in positive direction' or similar when you hover for clarification.

thanks everyone for contributing to this discussion

cheers,

Robin

[KenHarpster]

It looks like I mixed up the + and - in the image I provided, as pressing the existing (In) buttons subtracts from the displayed position value and the (Out) buttons add to the displayed position value. Sorry for the mix up...

[admin]

Hi,

just sat down to try this out and the swapping of + and - is actually important. With the - at the top and the + at the bottom (which matches the positioning of in and out), it looks badly wrong It makes sense that increasing should be up, but with In/Out on the buttons it doesn't seem so bad.

With the + at the top, I think it looks fine

Capture.JPG (20.12 KiB) Viewed 5821 times

However, I'm not 100% happy about changing both the button labelling and swapping them over too - that will confuse everyone (those who will look at the text on the button and find it has changed and those who will click the button they always have and find it does something different).

This one needs (yet) more thought...

cheers,

Robin

[admin]

Hmm,

how about

Capture.JPG (21.52 KiB) Viewed 5820 times

Using 'Negative' and 'Positive' is accurate and doesn't look as glaringly wrong as having '-' at the top and '+' at the bottom. On the flip side, the buttons look a little 'busy' - perhaps compared to the simplicit of 'In' and 'Out'.

cheers,

Robin

[KenHarpster]

The joy of having to change a UI, after which comes the fallout for doing so... You could really make it fun and store the values for the button text in globals and allow the user to select from a drop down as to what the button text will be (+ In Positive : - Out Negative). Just kidding
I agree that the + should be on top and personally Positive and Negative may require translation in another language, + and - are pretty "universal". And no matter what you do, it is up to the user to RTFM especially during manually requested software updates. On the bright side, pressing the wrong button won't start a war, maybe just inspire a few choice mumbled words...

[admin]

Well, I'm going to go with the positive at the bottom option, even though 'wrong', since it keeps the usage patterns of existing users in place. Fortunately translation is automated, so takes very little time to update, although what you get from online translation APIs can be a bit odd for single words sometimes...

cheers,

Robin

[KenHarpster]

You're right, leaving the button's positions the same is the best option, particularly for those who have used the software for a longer period of time.

I just tested version 4.1.11294.0-64bit and it looks okay, glad to see reverse checkbox gone...

I thought of this as I looked at the changes: Position- and Position+

Thank you for being willing to make changes based upon user input!