From: Milton Aupperle <milton@outcastsoft.com>

Date: November 9, 2005 10:31:45 AM MST

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Re: Camera for guiding

Larry;

On 9-Nov-05, at 12:49 AM, Larry Arnold wrote:

I'm interested in this thread because, as far as I know, Astro_IIDC is the only Mac software

that makes any attempt at autoguiding. I'd like to see if I can make it work with my Sidereal

Technologies-Mel Bartels dual-servo driven CG5 mount for some DSLR astrophotography.

The Sidereal Technologies module features a Meade LX compatible wireless handpad unit

that I can plug into from a KeySpan dual port adapter on an iBook. A guide scope with

firewire camera attached for autoguiding and that should do it.

Does it closely follow the LX200 protocols or not? If it does it should work okay - but it depends on how closely it follows it.

For an Alpha Astro IIDC version I'm working on I just went through a 2 week exercise of adding support for Vixen mounts with the SkySensor PC 2000 "hacked" controls. They are also supposed to be "LX200" compatible and they weren't and it took weeks of my and the owners effort to get the ##%^$&^%^& working properly. The end result is a lot better, but it was a significant amount of work to get it working properly.

The other alternative is to by an ActiveWire USB IsoOptical board, create the wire interface for it and then wire it into the Mount's AutoGuide Camera port. That would work with basically any mount, however your goign to have to wire it all up yourself.

If that works then the only thing missing is a robust Mac stacking software that can handle 8

megapixel camera-RAW files.

Astro IIDC already stacks 8 bit per pixel (Mono 8, ARGB32) and 16 bit per pixel (ARGB64, RGB48, Alpha Mono 32 and Mono 16) movies. Processing 2k by 2k pixel images is not an issue, it just takes more time to process them. But your big problem is that Apple doesn't support 16 bit per pixel for creating movies and that has to be addressed. And no I will never support importing frames into Astro IIDC, they are either as movies or they are not supported.

Maybe Milton could find a bigger Mac market if he spun off the autoguiding portion of his

code to a separate application, whatcha think?

That really makes zero sense. The entire "Mac Astro Guiding Market" isn't more than 100 users and your proposing I split the guiding code off for them? Is $50 USD such an "onerous" price that it prevents you from buying it?

Milton J. Aupperle

President

ASC - Aupperle Services and Contracting

Mac Software (Drivers, Components and Application) Specialist

#1005 - 815 14th Avenue. S.W.

Calgary Alberta Canada T2R0N5

1-(403)-229-9456

milton@outcastsoft.com