Hello,
New to this discussion...
I thought I had previously hooked up the Nano to the RPI4 using Ekos and tried the unit, and it seemed to work fine. Last night I finished the unit and mounted it to the telescope. Ekos/Indi found the Moonlight focuser and did not report an error (at first). The 28BYJ-48 motor/gearbox moves the fine focuser knob on my Orion 10" Astrograph just fine, albeit way too slowly. Found out it takes 10,000 steps to move the focuser 5mm.
Indi is reporting a serial error, that it cannot read the temperature probe. Good reason, for there is no probe installed, nor enabled in the firmware. Ordered some probes and changed the firmware to accept a probe.
But, I commanded the focuser to set it's position to 20,000 and it's max to 36,000 steps. It did not give me an error, but did not do it either! It said something to the effect of 'moving to position 20,000' and some seconds later, it said it was done. Did not move. Oh, BTW, the buttons move the focuser, but Indi does NOT report the new position indicated on the lcd.
I have two units, and have one with ASCOM driver firmware. I use it here at the computer with APT (AstroPhotography Tools) and it works perfectly.
I am hoping that the probe removes the serial errors and allows everything else to work.
Any thoughts on this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Cudos to Mr. Brown and all the Myfocuser folks, one great project so far.
Glen K4KV
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Thanks for the report, I will try to answer as much as I can,
Moonlight focuser - is applicable to myFP, not to myFP2
myfp = moonlite driver , v1xx firmware and v1xxx windows app and v1xxx ascom drivers
myfp also known as myfocuserpro and has its own site
*The 28BYJ-48 motor/gearbox moves the fine focuser knob on my Orion 10" Astrograph just fine, albeit way too slowly. *
That motor has a maximum speed of 48rpm, but in reality, less. There is no easy way to control speed of motor in myfp using moonlite driver, as all the settings are in firmware and cannot be changed.
mfp2 = INDI myfocuserpro2 driver. v2xxx or v3xx firmware, v2xx ascom driver, v2xx windows app
temperature probe
if not fitted then for myfp2, in focuserconfig.h it should be disabled
//#define TEMPERATUREPROBE 1
even if it is defined, and a probe not connected. then a probe will not be found and all temp options get disabled.
I am only supporting v325+ of the firmware, so you would need to get the latest - for myfp2 uln2003 it is myFP2_ULN2003_325_2
*The 28BYJ-48 motor/gearbox moves the fine focuser knob on my Orion 10" Astrograph just fine, albeit way too slowly. *
That motor has a maximum speed of 48rpm, but in reality, less. In myfp2, the settings can be changed on the fly, one does not need to reprogram the firmware.
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5wK81s87Lg
Motor moving isses with myfp2
Any firmware version that is from about 312 to 324 has issues moving the motor and timing out. Nina issues. ASCOM issues. INDI issues.
When using INDI, enable logs and set the polling rate as indicated in the pdf (on the options tab) - see attached
if you experience issues with the INDI driver, you will need to provide me with the logs and an explanation of what happened, or what you were trying to do at the time
Hello,
New to this discussion...
I thought I had previously hooked up the Nano to the RPI4 using Ekos and tried the unit, and it seemed to work fine. Last night I finished the unit and mounted it to the telescope. Ekos/Indi found the Moonlight focuser and did not report an error (at first). The 28BYJ-48 motor/gearbox moves the fine focuser knob on my Orion 10" Astrograph just fine, albeit way too slowly. Found out it takes 10,000 steps to move the focuser 5mm.
Indi is reporting a serial error, that it cannot read the temperature probe. Good reason, for there is no probe installed, nor enabled in the firmware. Ordered some probes and changed the firmware to accept a probe.
But, I commanded the focuser to set it's position to 20,000 and it's max to 36,000 steps. It did not give me an error, but did not do it either! It said something to the effect of 'moving to position 20,000' and some seconds later, it said it was done. Did not move. Oh, BTW, the buttons move the focuser, but Indi does NOT report the new position indicated on the lcd.
I have two units, and have one with ASCOM driver firmware. I use it here at the computer with APT (AstroPhotography Tools) and it works perfectly.
I am hoping that the probe removes the serial errors and allows everything else to work.
Any thoughts on this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Cudos to Mr. Brown and all the Myfocuser folks, one great project so far.
Glen K4KV
Hi Glen
Thanks for the report, I will try to answer as much as I can,
Moonlight focuser - is applicable to myFP, not to myFP2
myfp = moonlite driver , v1xx firmware and v1xxx windows app and v1xxx ascom drivers
myfp also known as myfocuserpro and has its own site
https://sourceforge.net/projects/arduinofocuscontrollerpro/
If you are using myFP, 1xxx with Moonlite driver, yes you will have issues using values greater than about 32000 for position or maxstep.
*The 28BYJ-48 motor/gearbox moves the fine focuser knob on my Orion 10" Astrograph just fine, albeit way too slowly. *
That motor has a maximum speed of 48rpm, but in reality, less. There is no easy way to control speed of motor in myfp using moonlite driver, as all the settings are in firmware and cannot be changed.
mfp2 = INDI myfocuserpro2 driver. v2xxx or v3xx firmware, v2xx ascom driver, v2xx windows app
temperature probe
if not fitted then for myfp2, in focuserconfig.h it should be disabled
//#define TEMPERATUREPROBE 1
even if it is defined, and a probe not connected. then a probe will not be found and all temp options get disabled.
I am only supporting v325+ of the firmware, so you would need to get the latest - for myfp2 uln2003 it is myFP2_ULN2003_325_2
*The 28BYJ-48 motor/gearbox moves the fine focuser knob on my Orion 10" Astrograph just fine, albeit way too slowly. *
That motor has a maximum speed of 48rpm, but in reality, less. In myfp2, the settings can be changed on the fly, one does not need to reprogram the firmware.
see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5wK81s87Lg
Motor moving isses with myfp2
Any firmware version that is from about 312 to 324 has issues moving the motor and timing out. Nina issues. ASCOM issues. INDI issues.
Suggestions
1. What is the name of the firmware file you are using (myFP2_ULN2003_325_2) ?? It has to be the latest. If not the latest, then download the latest firmware and use the latest release 325-03
https://sourceforge.net/projects/arduinoascomfocuserpro2diy/files/ARDUINO%20FIRMWARE/myFP2_Firmware_325-3.zip/download
When using INDI, enable logs and set the polling rate as indicated in the pdf (on the options tab) - see attached
if you experience issues with the INDI driver, you will need to provide me with the logs and an explanation of what happened, or what you were trying to do at the time
Let me know the progress
regards
Robert
Last edit: brownrb 2023-03-29