Alnitak Flip-Flat

[sonata31]

Hello
Is it possible to consider the management of Alnitak Flip-Flat?
https://optecinc.us/products/19050?vari ... 7213330567
Louis

[admin]

Hi,

do you have one already or are you thinking of purchasing one? I was thinking of building something similar for myself (3d printer + arduino control), but haven't got around to it yet.

It's a shame they haven't implemented it as an ASCOM Switch Device driver - it would work pretty well with 3 switches - open/close, on/off and brightness... SharpCap already has support for switch devices, so it would work straight away if that driver existed.

I'm unlikely to add support without having one to test with (or at the very least someone who has one who is prepared to test for me). However, it looks like the existing software for the device could be integrated into the SharpCap sequencer, since there is an 'AACMD' command line tool and the sequencer can be set up to run command line programs as steps. You could create two saved sequences to 'close and turn on' and 'open and turn off' - those could then be easily available via the 'Run Recent' option in the Sequencer menu, which is fairly easy to get at.

cheers,

Robin

[sonata31]

Hello
I have an Alnitak Flip-Flat, if SharpCap could manage it, it would completely automate image capture by including the creation of flats at the end of the capture
And I would be willing to test an implementation
Louis

[admin]

Hi Louis,

OK, brilliant

I can't seem to find any SDK or library that would let me control the device directly from within SharpCap, so I think the approach we will take is going via the 'AACMD' command line application.

In order to use that you need to

* know what folder it is installed in on the computer
* know the COM port number
* have the Windows application that controls the device closed

You can then run the aacmd application - the documentation is here : https://optecinc.com/astronomy/catalog/ ... _rev10.pdf

For instance if the device is COM5 then a command like

Code: Select all

<folder containing aacmd>\aacmd.exe 6 C L B128

might well be enough to close the flap, turn on the light and set the brightness to about 50% (128 out of 255). The documentation hints that you can do multiple commands on one run - it might need 3 separate runs of AACMD to do these 3 changes though.

If you could test the command line approach first from the windows command prompt and then from the SharpCap sequencer 'Run <program to run>...' step, and let me know the results, it would be great.

cheers,

Robin

[sonata31]

Hello
I tested AACmd.exe, there is a problem
All the controls work except the one which activates the lighting, it lights up briefly then goes off
I sent a support request to Optec
For the command that activates the lighting to work, you must first connect Altinak Flip-Flat with the Windows application which must remain open
Louis

[admin]

Oh dear, that's a little sad isn't it... Let's hope that they fix it, otherwise the command line appliacation isn't much use!

cheers,

Robin

[sonata31]

Hello
Optec's answer is to use Aniltak's Windows control application, connect it, from then on it works fine with AACmd.exe
What I don't understand is that SGP integrates Aniltak without having to go through AACmd.exe
Louis

[admin]

Hi,

I suspect that SGP has added direct support - it looks like the command set for the serial link to the device is documented here : https://condorarraytelescope.org/static ... T-0102.pdf

It would be so much more elegant if they had made an ASCOM driver for the device

I presume the AACMD option works fine using with the Windows app open?

cheers,

Robin

[sonata31]

Hi,

I suspect that SGP has added direct support - it looks like the command set for the serial link to the device is documented here : https://condorarraytelescope.org/static ... T-0102.pdf

It would be so much more elegant if they had made an ASCOM driver for the device

I presume the AACMD option works fine using with the Windows app open?

cheers,

Robin

Yes, it works fine
The problem is that there is no command that forces the connection to remain active.
However, the Open and Close commands work.
Louis
Louis

[sonata31]

Hello
I created some sequences to handle Alnitak Flip-Flat
Louis

FlipFlat_Off
Eteint et ouvre Alnitak Flip-Flat afin de permettre la capture d'images
SEQUENCE
#Eteint et Alnitak Flip=Flat
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 d s" WAIT False
END SEQUENCE

FlipFlat_On
SEQUENCE
#Ferme et allume Alnitak Flip=Flat
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 l s" WAIT False
END SEQUENCE

FlipFlat_Open
Eteint et ouvre Alnitak Flip-Flat afin de permettre la capture d'images
SEQUENCE
#Eteint et ouvre Alnitak Flip=Flat
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 d s" WAIT False
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 o s" WAIT False
END SEQUENCE

FlipFlat_Close
Ferme et allume Alnitak Flip-Flat pour réaliser les Flats
SEQUENCE
#Ferme et allume Alnitak Flip=Flat
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 l s" WAIT False
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 c s" WAIT False
END SEQUENCE

FlipFlat_Brightness
Règle l'intensité de Alnitak Flip-Flat (ici à 127)
SEQUENCE
#Régle l'intensité de Alnitak Flip=Flat
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 l s" WAIT False
RUN "C:\Program Files (x86)\Optec\Alnitak Astrosystems Controller\AACmd.exe" WITH PARAMS "2 b127 s" WAIT False
END SEQUENCE