SharpCap Forums

Hi,

you need to install the ASCOM platform (http://ascom-standards.org/) and the SSAG ASCOM driver (http://www.telescope.com/assets/product ... MSetup.exe) and you should be good.

cheers,

Robin

I've already installed the Orion software and will do the ASCOM later on. There's a few days of clouds coming up, but I figure I can still work out the connectivity in the meantime.

I'm looking to use SharpCap for PA.

Thanks for the response.

Hopefully the ASCOM install should fix it - there are definite messages in your log that show that is missing on your system. It's just possible that the Orion installer may have missed out the ASCOM camera driver because it didn't detect ASCOM, so if you are still having no luck after installing ASCOM then try the other installer I linked to as well.

cheers,

Robin

I installed the ASCOM platform, and the Orion driver you linked to just in case, and worked great! An ASCOM section showed up in the Camera menu, which wasn't there before. I saw the preview (albeit blurry as I was indoors).

Hopefully I'll get a chance to try it out at night soon.

Thanks again!

I FINALLY got an opportunity to have some clear skies to actually get out and try this, and as others have already said, it works just fine.

Robin, I find that if I use either a one or two second exposure, SharpCap keeps telling me that it can't solve the plate, but if I back off to about 4 seconds, it doesn't seem to have any problem. Is that common to all cameras? Is it a computer processing issue (my laptop isn't any super screamin' machine!), or is it that the images are just coming in too fast and are overwhelming the program?

Anyway, I am impressed. Once I figure that out, I was able to get below ten arc seconds of error on a Celestron AVX!

No, it's not your bog standard AVX, I ripped it apart, removed all the gunked up grease, cleaned it thoroughly, and relubbed it with white lithium grease. Now, at least, I know that I can't balance any of my telescopes in Dec, because they are so heavy with the DSLR on the back! LOL

But, SharpCap works as designed, the ASCOM driver appears rock solid now, and I had absolutely no issues with the camera connecting to the program.

Do me a favor, though. I'm not sure where you are in the U.K., but keep your head down over there, too much insanity and people getting dead. Time to re-instate the Crusades, I think! Modern warfare style, this time, though. Be careful, the community needs you!

Hi Gary,

glad to hear that it is all working fine for you now. 4s is not an unreasonable requirement for exposures - I find 2s with maximum exposure on a mono Altair GPCAM works well (same sensor as ZWO120MM etc). Colour cameras will need longer as they are less sensitive. Actually CPU speed should not be the issue as the recent (2.9 and 3.0) polar alignment code is pretty fast once it has spent an initial few seconds building the index it uses.

Have to say there were a *lot* of police visible in London today - mind you - need to keep this in perspective - in spite of recent terrible events, you are still far more likely to be bad driving (your own or someone else's) than terrorist actions.

cheers

Robin

Hi Gary,

Did you use the ASCOM driver from the Orion site? I am having trouble with it, not just in SharpCap, but in PHD2 also. It seems to be an ASCOM driver issue.

I choose the Orion SSAG from the menu in SharpCap, then the ASCOM Gain window opens, I hit OK, I get the Error message that pops up, hit OK, then I get another error, saying I'm missing SSAG_DRV.dll file.
I tried using the ASCOM Diagnostics, and get the same error. So it isn't a SharpCap issue.
I tried in PHD2 using the Orion SSAG Camera (ASCOM) and I get the error too. The regular PHD2 Orion SSAG driver works fine, though.

Wondering if anyone else has seen this before. Looking forward to using it for Polar Alignment.

I too had the DLL error and fixed it by updating the win 10 driver from SSAG website.

Hello, I too am having some difficulty in connecting the Orion SSAG with Sharpcap. I am seeing the camera listed in the camera menu and the Gain and Noise Reduction dialog box appears, but when I hit "OK" I get an error that is apparently non recoverable. The error states, "An error occurs while starting your Orion SSAG". Details of the error include the statement, "Unable to load DLL "SSAG_DRV.DLL" The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT:0x8007007E").

Is this a result of not having the correct Orion driver or maybe it's not in the expected location? I believe I've downloaded all the right elements to make it work (ASCOM Platform and SSAG specific driver, Sharpcap pre-reqs).

Does @Spruce's suggestion help at all - I presume the suggestion is to install the two top downloads from this page https://www.telescope.com/Orion-StarSho ... /99565.uts to make sure you have the latest driver and ASCOM driver.

cheers,

Robin