lukepower Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Hi guys, playing around with ACP and Autoslew I am missing MLPT in this combination. Damnit, 5 minutes exposures of last night were completely trailed, but that's another story. What I am wondering is if Autoslew could build his pointing model on the fly. I mean, ACP is doing a solve and sync after every image taken. If Autoslew could integrate this data in its current model, wouldn't that refine it over time? Maybe it's not doable or I am on the wrong road here, but I miss the accuracy of Sequence when using other imaging setups. Sequence on the other side is not flexible enough for my taste. It would be awesome if it would be somehow scriptable from ACP (or well, any other program). Maybe Sequence could offer a simple API, with a function like doMLPT, with a few simple arguments (like RA/Dec of the target and the duration of the imaging run). Shouldn't be too hard to implement and would offer a whole new world of possiblities I am curios on what you guys think about this Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si6pack Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Hi Lukas, Thank you for sharing the ACP/Autoslew (AS)/Sequence (SEQ) information - I was wondering all the time whether or not it would make sense to switch to such a combination... I personally would prefer the integration of AS and SEQ in ONE software package (not to forget the focuser software) including an interface to PinPoint/MaximDL... I completely agree, that SEQ is not sufficiently flexible - I my case my Xpress CCD with the Sony 694 chip can NOT be used with SEQ. Furthermore, I have the impression, that the development of the software (SEQ and AS) is not progressing at all, making me more and more unhappy... From my point of view, I would support any step forward or development, if there is any... Best, Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Hi Christian, well, I am sure Dr. Keller is still working on the software, but I feel like they are building a new ecosystem around Autoslew/Sequence, where there are enough good options around there (CCDCOmmander and such). I would prefer to be able to use ASA's unique features from any program I wish, especially MLPT. There are other mounts, like the Ascension from Planewave, where ACP adds points to its model night after night and improves the modeling automatically. This is what I mean: Use the software and workflow you want, not what you have to use. Sequence gives brillant images, but it simply has too many bugs and lacks features, which you can find in ACP or others readily available... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 ALright, here a small update:Frustrated by the lack of MLPT for other applications, I programmed a small console application which basically clicks the "Start" button in Sequence for MLPT. It can also change the Total exposure time. I still have to test it under real circumstances - especially I need to find out when the MLPT run has completed. I can then integrate a call to this app from UserActions (ACP) just before one target aquisition begins. This would be quite an extreme way of getting it to work, but it's still better than nothing... Ah, and beta testers are welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Hi folks, probabily somebody will kill me now, but hey, I simply got upset waiting for new versions. I have been able to reverse-engineer part of Sequence (actually the part making the LPT stuff) and putting it ina small console application. When called, this app basically connects to Autoslew and Maxim, takes LPT images and sends the LPT data to Autoslew. Okay, this all sounds stupid to you? Well, it probabily is, but now I can call this small console app from ACP every time a new target got selected, creating a MLPT for that target and loading it in Autoslew... Doesn't sound too bad to me, heh Edit: I am aware that this may not be completely legal, so I won't give away any code or executable without the explicit permission from ASA. Of course I can also delete everything if requested, but I would be very happy if this solution would at least be considered by ASA as useful for their users. Edited June 24, 2014 by lukepower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john32712 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Lukepower, somebody may want to kill you, but the rest of us will put you up on a pedestal!!!! I have to say this whole situation is absolutely f-in ridiculous, that is, the horrible communication, the lack of software updates, the lack of manual updates, what else? I have remained quiet for a very long time and now it is getting old....really old! You know what's even more ridiculous? That an end user like yourself is so tired of waiting, that you are trying to correct the software yourself. I think Dr. Keller is a great guy and may have his hands full, however, how long has it been since we have seen an update? When is the last time any of us have even received official communication about the progress being made. Not even one official communication in months/years? I would like to think that I made a wise investment with my ASA mount. It is worthless without a good support.... Do any of you feel like you have good support? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w0mbat Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Hi, I have to say that I am feeling pretty much the same. Particularly as I posted 7 months ago asking ASA about manual updates and, despite receiving a lot of support from members for what I had to say, there has been no response from ASA. We are all human beings, we understand that things go wrong, unexpected issues arise and, who knows, maybe the delays are even related to health issues. BUT the point is communication!!! It is the deafening silence that irritates me! Please speak to us ASA! Let us know about progress! Or if there are problems tell us about them! I notice that there is a lot of non-member traffic on this forum. It cannot be helping ASA's future sales prospects for non-members to be seeing posts like this. I think all of us have deep admiration for the ASA hardware. I would like to be able to say the same for software updates, up to date manuals and, above all, open and regular communication between ASA and its customers through this forum. Come on ASA! Talk to us! You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Best regards, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Guys, I completely agree, but on the other side there has been some progress with the beta versions of both Autoslew and Sequence. In my opinion it still goes on too slowly, ASA should consider to add a software developer to their team (or rent an outsourced one), or even put the stuff open source. Damn, it's written in Visual Basic, it's a mess of a code, but that's not the point. For a mount where the software does most of its magic it would be crucial to have the best possible software. Autoslew works well but is not perfect... Btw, I am checking with Bob Denny from DC3 how to integrate my hack into ACP's workflow. If it works out, we could use MLPT in ACP plans! So the best of both worlds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john32712 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Who knows of this progress? A limited amount of beta testers? I am starting to believe I should sell my DDM85XL and get a more practical solution. All the technology is worthless without good documentation and solid controlling software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 John, well, even among the beta testers the versions are not really flowing... I got at some point a slightly newer version of Sequence supporting Weather Safety, but that was all in 6+ months. Autoslew has a long list of found bugs, but we still wait an official "current" beta version (not even talking about the normal version). So, what does the new Sequence has to offer? A focus routine which seems to work nice, but not with every setup, and often is not at par with FocusMax. An imaging system where you set the targets and it takes the images, using LPT, but has to mess with various bugs. The "new" Autoslew has at least the atPark bug corrected which was causing trouble with ACP and similar software. But again, we are not talking about leaps and jumps. I would prefer that Sequence would do its job (Pointings, LPT) well and would be usable from other applications, it is quite stupid in my opinion to reinvent the wheel here as we have enough applications doing this job well (like ACP;, CCDCommander, CCD Autopilot etc). SO thats why I tried to extract the code I need and integrated it into ACP. As for the documentation (or lack of), we "the users" could open a WIki on Wikia or similar and combine what we found out. At least we help ourselves. It is funny spending 15000+ bucks on a piece of hardware and getting no decent documentation. I have to add, on the other side, that I had good support from ASA when I needed it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si6pack Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 (edited) I would very much appreciate some feed back from ASA...what are their thoughts to the user feed back? Do they want to change something? What is their issue? In a way I share the opinion of john32712...it is a nice piece of hardware, but the software is way behind. I do not want to spend my limited observing time in traceing down errors without getting something back - software which takes care for the identified problems... just my two pence... Christian Edited June 26, 2014 by si6pack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Indeed the lack of feedback from ASA is not a good sign... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john32712 Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Christian, Luke, & Ian, There is no doubt in my mind, that the technology of this mount had great potential! But it is obvious to now me now, the entire project has been abandoned. Sales are non-existent here in the states. Look at this user's group, few people comment and post pictures. The reality here is evident. How many times have you all looked to see if a new version of software has been uploaded? Even the "list" of software updates is outdated. I have easily looked over a hundred times with the hopes that the software would be updated to the point of making my mount purchase - a purchase that put me on the cutting edge. It is a pipe dream! Nothing, I mean nothing has been advanced in months/years. They (ASA) don't care! If they did, they would have provided some type of explanation, any explanation at all.... I think we have all been extremely understanding and patient. I can't do it anymore! It hit me the other day, I keep looking and hoping, but the reality is....I was sold on a gearless drive system which was totally silent and that got me really excited. In fact, I was so excited that I overlooked the absolute importance of the controlling software and my future dependence on those who design/develop it. For all of us, we are basically screwed. Realize we will never unlock the true potential of this mount without cutting edge software and highly detailed documentation. An expensive lesson learned the hard way.... Thanks for listening guys!!! John Nemcik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john32712 Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Lukas, Commenting further on your statements... 1. I don't need another piece of focusing software, your right, I use FocusMax too, it works brilliantly. I use several pieces of software which all perform perfectly (without bugs). The Sky X, Maxim DL, CCD Autopilot, CCD Navigator, FocusMax all work perfectly. No improvement needed there! 2. I need Autoslew to do two things and two things only, efficiently handle all controlling functions of the mount and interface well with the other software....that's it! You right! No need to reinvent the wheel here. Just fix two problems...An integrated software package to control the mount and damn good documentation! Call it "Autoslew Complete" and lets all move on/forward. When and only when they accomplish this, will this mount achieve the status it deserves. Thanks Lukas, John Nemcik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w0mbat Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 I have tried something different. I have just sent an email to the Manager/Owner of ASA. If we still get no response I will be very concerned indeed! Here's hoping! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 John, personally I think that the latest (well, at least known to me) beta version (5.2.0.7 I guess) is working fine, both controlling the mount well and also interfacing well with other programs (via ASCOM). Even the AtPark issue has been fixed. What I miss here is the possibility of using the advanced functions (local pointing files for example) from other applications. I really couldn't believe it when I made a LPT for the first time and took a 20 minute sub (at 3500mm focal): round stars and perfect guiding, this was like a new world for me. Sadly, I had to work with Sequence to do this, and no way to integrate it in ACP. Hopefully my hack will work so this is fixed. If we were all crazy enough, we could even simply reverse-engineer the communication protocol between Autoslew and the mount and create our own Autoslew. But I am not a professional software developer, so no idea if this would have a good end Ian, usually the gys at ASA are quite quick to answer my mails, but no answer came in the last 10 days. So either they are all on vacation (quite possible now in Austria), or they are all on some exhibiion withu mail access (phew!), or they died in a catastrophic astronomic mount accident... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldemar Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Hi Luke, You mention 5.2.0.7 ... I can not find that version anywhere. Please tell me where to find it. Best regards, Waldemar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 (edited) Waldemar, it's like this: The "current" beta version of Autoslew is 5.2.0.4, but it still has this annoying AtPark bug, so it was not usable with ACP. Another beta tester got from Philipp Keller the newer 5.2.0.7 version, and while I sent a mail to Philipp asking for it, I never got an answer. So I got the version from another beta tester. I have no idea if I am allowed to post it here publicly... Edited June 27, 2014 by lukepower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si6pack Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Hi Lukas, to my knowledge, the latest AS version was 5.2.0.5. When I switched to MaximV6 I encountered lots of blue screens...rolling back to 5.2.0.4 solved this. However, I would like to keep the "pace" and support the development of AS using the latest version... if you don't mind could you plaese forward the 0.7 version via PN top me? Or: ASA, please make the latest AS version available for the beta testers in order to move something here! Best, Christian P.S.: I think it will become even worse with the feed back - summer holidays are approaching in Austria, starting beginning of July... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Hi Christian, done. I actually wonder why there are so many versions being around. How the heck should this development process work out? Ahrg, after all those bug reports I really cannot understand why they are not organizing this better. A bugtracker was proposed but somehow never realized. Let's see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si6pack Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Got your link, thank you very much! Yes, all these circulating versions do not facilitate the bugtracking...I still hope that there is some movement @ASA Hope fades last... Best, Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldemar Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 My experiences with ASA have always been very positive, so I don't understand why nobody from ASA steps in and explains what is happening. It would be such a shame of this incredible hardware, if the software turns out to be a killer... My set-up is very simple and I do not use ACP or Sequence, so I don't encounter the problems you guys have. At the moment I can't use anything because of health problems, only in virtual mode, but I do hope everything is solved by the time I am good to go again Waldemar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Actually for most uses Autoslew seems to be fine, but there are some minor bugs for certain configurations it seems. Sequence honestly is a mess And needs real bugfixes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldemar Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 I feel compelled to make some comments here: Sequence is an automation program, it is not a "must" to control the mount or any other equipment used for astro-photography. That can all be done by third party software. So, correct me if I am wrong, but the discussion about “bad” ASA software seems to be over the top and it surely gives the wrong impression to potential buyers of this great piece of equipment. Just don’t use Sequence if it does not work for you. I have no problems without it, but I have a simple set up... I use AutoSlew, MaxIm DL, Pinpoint, FocusMax and a few planetarium programs like C2A, SkyTools3 Pro and SkyMapPro11. I have not decided yet, which one is best for me. So I am very pleased with my DDM60Pro, carrying my TEC 140 and all necessary imaging equipment running silently without guiding or problems, at least without me noticing them... There were some glitches in AutoSlew, but they seem to be solved, so... I count my blessings. Most of the “problems” I encountered with my set up, were easily traced back to my own ignorance and stupidity, not realising the importance of perfect balance and PID settings. As soon as the balance and PID tool were added to AutoSlew, these “problems” dispeared like snow before the sun. Of course I too like to use the latest version of all software, but that is “normal” I guess J Again: I am very happy with my DDM60Pro and I am sure most users feel the same. Just my 2 € cents. Waldemar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted June 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Waldemar, you're right, Autoslew is working quite well, it's maybe a bit difficult for first time users to get it to work well (lack of documentation...), but it's doing his job. The problem I see is that the advanced features, mostly provided by Sequence, are not getting evovled, and they are not usable by other automation programs. I have a complex setup and want it to run unattended (I like to sleep at night ), so right now I get crazy to get a good tracking without Sequence taking the images with MLPT... But hey, my hacked solution might prove useful on monday (next possible clear night) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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