Altair 183C ascom driver

[TrevorAustin]

Just got a 183c pro and it works fine in Nina and Sharpcap using a native driver.

But should I use that or the ascom driver.

I’ve downloaded the ascom driver zip file, but that just gives a file without an extension so can’t do anything with it.

The Altair website and faq says nothing Except download the Altair capture and install to enable drivers then download the ascom driver. But no indication of what to do with it.

[admin]

Hi,

always prefer the native driver if it works fine - the ASCOM driver is really there for use in applications that don't have native driver support (or in the rare cases that the native driver misbehaves).

cheers,

Robin

[TrevorAustin]

Hi,

always prefer the native driver if it works fine - the ASCOM driver is really there for use in applications that don't have native driver support (or in the rare cases that the native driver misbehaves).

cheers,

Robin

Thanks, having real problems with the native driver.

I ran the sensor analysis fine. And then first time I tried to use it tonight I did the brain analysis for exposure. It suggest 7.9s and 375 gain.

All fine. However it started taking the exposures in a live stack then when it got to 2 seconds left it took the picture and started the next frame so only 5 seconds, but recorded 7.9s of exposure time.

So I restarted it and got the histogram to choose another exposure. It suggested 10.2 seconds and a gain of 4999.

I ignored it and chose to do 60 second exposures at 400 gain.
However it took the frames at about 30 seconds and recorded them as 60 seconds of exposure even though it wasn’t.

Whatever exposure I choose it only actually gets to 50-70% of the countdown before recording and starting the next exposure.

Is it possible this is down to the usb cable in use or…..

[admin]

Hi,

I haven't seen anything like that sort of problem before, so it's difficult to know what to suggest. On the plus side, its something that you can experiment with without needing to wait for a clear night (just plug the camera into the computer - it doesn't matter if the dust cap is on the camera rather than it being connected to a telescope, you can still try things out).

I would certainly give a different USB cable a try (if you have one handy) and also remove any hubs/extension cables which can lead to problems. Also turn down the USB Speed control, which means that you will not hit high frame rates in high speed mode, but gives more stable operation.

Note that if you change the exposure while the camera is taking a long exposure frame, SharpCap will stop the current frame short of its intended length and start a new one with the new exposure - that's a bit like the effect you are seeing, but I don't think its the same.

Finally, the ASCOM driver should be a .msi file when unzipped - if you end up with no extension, try putting .msi on the end, then running it.

cheers,

Robin