Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

Discussions, Bug Reports and Issues related to Beta versions of SharpCap
Moorefam
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Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#1

Post by Moorefam »

I am having trouble enabling MGEN-3 from from my Win10 laptop using Sharpcap 3.3. I communicate with my Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 GT mount using EQMOD and a FTDI cable on COM4 OK and the latest FTDI drivers are installed. I have installed the MGEN drivers and after opening Sharpcap if I attempt to open the MGEN camera and I get the attached error message below. With the previous firmware I did manage to operate the MGEN in Sharpcap but I can't say for certain the problem came with the new firmware. I have gone back to the previous firmware but get the same error message. I am able to operate MGEN in PHD-2 however.
I currently use Cartes du Ciel to point the scope with a DSLR attached and MGEN for guiding and dithering but I can't currently dither my CCD camera without Sharpcap and MGEN incorporated successfully. I understand that MGEN dithering isn't incorporated into Sharpcap yet but being able to get MGEN working in Sharpcap would be a good start. I had the same problem with Sharpcap 3.2 but the error message was much shorter. Any suggestions welcome.
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Error message in Sharpcap 3.3
Error message in Sharpcap 3.3
ShRPCp-fail.jpg (210.05 KiB) Viewed 2179 times
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admin
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

this one is odd - I now have an MGEN3 here to test with (a big thanks to 365 Astronomy for helping with this). Most of the time I get the same result as you. Sometimes it just freezes up completely. Now and again it seems to work.

I think there is a bug in the MGEN.APP that SharpCap may somehow be making worse. Is there any way to contact the author of the MGEN.APP Ascom driver (I couldn't find one) - I think that they will be the most likely to be able to fix this particular problem.

cheers,

Robin
tommy_nawratil
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#3

Post by tommy_nawratil »

hi,

this is Tommy from Lacerta, thanks for reporting this problem we will look at it instantly
we have many Sharpcap users it must work!
Dear Robin, our dev will contact you if needed

best regards
Tommy Nawratil
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#4

Post by admin »

Hi Tommy,

good to hear from you - I will look out for an email from your developer and will be happy to work with you to try to fix this.

SharpCap 4.0 now has direct support for the MGEN3 (it will talk to that via the USB cable in the same way that it talks to PHD2), so you don't need to use MGEN.APP in 4.0.

Note that SharpCap 4.0 is currently still in beta testing : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3121

Robin
tommy_nawratil
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#5

Post by tommy_nawratil »

hi Robin,

thank you, I asked him to look at it and he will read this, check out what happens and talk to you

great that you provide direct support - I'll drop you a mail to connect us
we are working on the API, too - have you got the newest API v1.05?
https://support.mgen-autoguider.com/upl ... PI0105.zip

best regards
Tommy
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#6

Post by admin »

Thanks to Tommy who put me in touch with Walter (the developer of MGEN.APP).

Walter has found and fixed the issues causing problems in SharpCap and there is a new version available : https://mgen.app/downloads/ASCOM.MGEN.APP_v1.0.0.32.zip (This will be the default download shortly on the mgen.app site). A big thank you also to Walter for fixing this :)

I was able to use this version with both SharpCap 3.2 and 4.0 without any problems, so I hope it will work nicely for others too.

cheers,

Robin
Moorefam
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#7

Post by Moorefam »

Robin,
I have been using dithering with Sharpcap beta latest versions and MGEN3 for some time now. Unless there is something I am not aware of, dithering is always in the same direction by the same amount. It is very clear in DSS data. This means that the area being imaged slowly drifts away from the first frame so the image framing changes. Also I think at times I can see slight noise trails in that direction. Assuming the dithering is the issue please can it be changed from straight line to a random walk distribution? Thanks.
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#8

Post by admin »

Hi,

interesting, SharpCap doesn't actually get to tell MGEN which way to dither, just how big the maximum move should be and 'do it now'. One thing I can try is to change the code - currently it sends the details about maximum move size with every dither request - maybe that resets any randomness in the MGEN every time leading to the straight line effect. I will try only sending the move size if it needs updating and we can see if that helps.

cheers,

Robin
Moorefam
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#9

Post by Moorefam »

Robin,
Proper random dithering is important to me in MGEN3.
I tried downloading their App again and it still doesn't work in Sharpcap which is a shame. Ideally I would like it to work so that I could see the MGEN screen when working remotely so I know guiding is working well as sometimes it isn't. I also need random walk dithering not this one direction dithering as I can see the result in the stacked images.
Why is the dithering set up so that it occurs every 1,6 or 10 light frames? I would like to make it every 2 or 3. If I take say 60 lights would dithering every 6 frames be OK?
If and when you manage to enable random walk guiding I can test it and let you know the results as I don't think you have MGEN.
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Re: Accessing MGEN-3 in Sharpcap 3.3 and dithering

#10

Post by admin »

Hi,

I do have an mgen here, although I tend not to connect it to the telescope as I have a standard finder guider for most purposes. The last time I tested the MGEN.App worked in SharpCap, although I don't personally think it is the best option.

The very latest SharpCap contains the change that may improve the random walk behaviour - if you do get a chance to test that please let me know if it helps.

thanks,

Robin
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