Meade pictor software

In pages of the manual they show how to turn off the Ultra and Fast options of the card using the Hardware Manager under Windows. I would start by turning off both of these features of your card and see if that helps. I can't and don't want to speak for the type of SCSI interface that the Pictor line of products provides, and hopefully the manufacturer provides this information in the documentation for their cameras.

All I can say is, match the type of interface that the camera provides 8-bit, bit, Ultra, Ultra-wide, Fast, etc. That should ensure that you get the best performance out of the camera and your laptop.

Is there a communication problem or the wrong driver? With serial connection, all is fine but slow They've added considerable detailed info on their website dealing with getting the SCSI hooked up and operating correctly.

I believe it's available from the pictor software download page. To connect it to a laptop, you'll need the Adaptec Cardbus 32 bit card, and your laptop will need to support the Cardbus interface which most anymore do.

I successfully used that setup for several years, without trouble, on Windows NT 4 and Windows You'll also need the ASPI drivers, but you should already have them on your desktop. Just make sure to install them on your laptop too, if you haven't already. You mean the scope's keypad? That has nothing to do with the camera. The last scope firmware version was 3. There is much info available from the Pictorview download page that will help diagnose SCSI problems.

The latest Pictorview software v. But now I also have to cancel out of the "windows has found new hardware" window in win98 every time I start up the computer with the powered up.

I need to cancel the 'found new hardware window' too and it is reassuring to have the computer tell me that it can see the camera properly sometimes I don't get the message and the Pictor Camera was not properly installed. However, once I do cancel out of the 'found new hardware window' I never have a problem using the camera or running the software but I do use Pictorview Software.

Power up the Pictor. After the beep, go to the Pictor base unit. Press the down arrow key twice to get to Version Info and then press the enter key. The top line shows you the firmware version latest is 3. The second line shows the version for other software I think the load software in the box. This is BV1. I use PictorView 7. The setup works reliably now but it did not work at all when I first started. Many times a seemingly complex problem is really just more-than-one simple thing going wrong.

A good SCSI cable is very important and it should be kept as short as possible. I suggest less than 10' until the errors go away. I use 25' now between my PC and observatory. It can cause communication problems. You can try the demo to help troubleshoot. If it still fails using the MaxIm demo, then focus on getting a simple configuration to work.

After that, it's easy to change one thing at a time to suit your needs. Just make sure you test after each change to make sure it still works. Consider upgrading to WindowsME, it does a much better job of managing memory and devices. I am trying to remote my LX by 20' to be able to work indoors. I am running Windows XP and would like to get something a bit faster than a serial connection. I have read the scary accounts of trying to get the Pictor to work in SCSI mode and would like to do it without a second computer.

Also, not being a computer expert I am wary about doing something wrong and frying the works! The Adaptec converter has driver software. I had a similar problem with my laptop, no serial ports, and a XT camera. The implementation of the SCSI protocol for the Meade cameras I have been told was not done by Meade but an outside supplier who basically wrote to one device and not the SCSI standard, which is why they are rather "difficult". I have had no problems running both of these programs at the same time on the laptop.

I timed the download times to compare between serial , and SCSI. The serial connection at full resolution took 60s. So SCSI is about 3 times faster from frame closed to image on the screen. Most of the time is spent doing the A-D conversion. I took a look at the spec sheet for the Adaptec adapter, its supports USB 2 which is a higher speed version on the former which might make a difference in terms of downloads if your notebook supports that.

Its Auto-terminating so you won't have to hassle with that on the PC side of the SCSI Cable so the only thing to setup is the SCSI address very simple each device must have its own address and you will have to setup the Pictor as well in this regard sorry I don't know this product. I also had big ideas about running two laptops on site, one for tracking and controlling the scope with The Sky and the other for video frame capture and display from my StellaCam but it really turned out to be a hassle - dealing with one Windoze PC is one too many!

And then there is a power requirements in you are in the field as well to worry about. And desktop real estate. I'm positive these results would also apply to the XT, and most likely to the XT but I've never used the This is the number in seconds that we're supposed to enter for each axis.

My experience has shown that these numbers usually work out to '2' for RA, and '1' or '2' for declination. I've used the for 3 years on both a 10" and 12" LX, now I am using the on the 12". My guiding results have never been a whole lot better than mediocre. Ralph suggested starting the calibration procedure from one of the corners, instead of the center, and using larger numbers in place of the '1's and '2s'.

Last month, I tried this out and consistently ended up with the star off the chip, otherwise known as 'Er'. I finally settled on '3' for RA and '2' for dec.

The roll of film I shot after that was a major improvement, but still not perfect. Tried again tonight, and I believe I got it as good as it's going to get. Starting from the '9' and '0' location, using time values of '6' for RA, and '5' for dec, I was finally able to get the to run through a complete calibration, keep the star on the chip, and still end up fairly close to center. Apparently, the longer travel times increase the sensitivity, and accuracy of the guiding corrections.

In this way, no computer was needed. The display provides useful information such as exposure times used in motion calibration and star position as well as manual settings that saturated the detector resulting in a warning: "too bright". The star x,y positions give feedback in motion calibration, for example, the progress or lack of progress. The Video Card Connector and Floppy Disc Drive was never made available to the public to my knowledge and most of the user accessible control box keypad functions were duplicated with software control in the final version of PictorView 2.

PictorView XT 6. X did drop software control of motion calibration, so the control box would be used for that function. I suspect that motion calibration will eventually be included in PictorView XT 6.

The control box serves as a distribution box and power supply for the camera head as well. In this way, only one wire is needed for the camera head and 12 VDC can be applied directly without an additional external power supply and inverter. The jack labeled LX is connected to the jack labeled RS on a LX to allow auto-centering, auto-mosaic and auto-focus, which I have used.

X camera control software. In my discussions with Kodak engineers, I did specifically ask about warm-up. They assured me many imaging applications with this chip using TEC cooling similar to the ST-7 and did not require special warm-up or cool-down procedures to prevent chip damage.

The KAF chip used in both the ST-7 and is very robust and are quite capable of very fast cool-down OR warm-up with no permanent effects to the imaging capabilities of the chip. There may be some stability issues with respect to the data obtained from a chip running at very low temperatures and of course, increased thermal noise at warmer temperatures.

I have way over hours on my where no special warm-up procedures are used-- I just pull the plug. This agrees with Meade's recommendations and specific exclusion of a warm-up algorithm in PV 6. Just in case Kodak has changed their recommendations, I spoke to my Kodak engineering contacts this very day to make certain.

My discussions with them may result in specifications that directly address this issue. No problem Dave, since I don't know if you're currently using a tracker at this time or not, I'll assume from your message that you are and try to explain how I do it much easier then it'll sound.

Normally, the image is nearly focused, but then I fine tune the focus using the main focus knob and repeat step 5 until I'm satisfied with the focus.

Flip the mirror down and check the focus in the guiding eyepiece. If it's not quite right, I adjust the. Center whatever it is I'm going to photograph in the guiding eyepiece, flip the mirror back up and take.

If you're not using the Tracker or equivalent , it sounds like you're trying to image the same way I tried for awhile. Find object, focus using eyepiece, insert camera, guess at focus, take picture. Some of the problems I found was that attaching the camera to the scope cause enough flexure to move the object off the chip.

Using this method, about the only way I had any success was to find a bright star, take bunches of photos adjusting the focus each time until it was good, remove the camera, insert an eyepiece and see what it looked like.

I removed the lens from my barlow to use it as an extension, put the medium power eyepiece in, slide the barlow in back and forth until I found a good focus, locked the tube in place and mark the barrel with tape or something to show how far to slide the tube in to get some where near the focus point for the camera. It'll work in a fashion, but it's not the best way to do it! The TEC stack in a generally works best with a bit of air movement over the fins.

Indoors, it is not unusual for the air to be quite still, slowing typical convection currents. When his happens, the camera's internal temperature will rise with the external temperature, possibly causing an Overheat Warning.

On the scope, my has always has adequate circulation unaided due to natural convection and infrared black body radiation to the cooler surroundings. There may be certain ambient conditions for some that may cause the camera head to produce more heat than can be dissipated to surrounding air. If the TEC setpoint is quite low, this can result in a "Overheat I use a very small slow speed fan powered by the internal electronics mounted across the fins. This assures forced convection that results in about 43 degrees C.

More air flow results in little to no improvement in the delta-t. Most can easily power the fan with external 12 VDC power. Many small fans produce vibrations that can be transmitted to the image when direct mounted. Careful fan selection, testing and mounting is important if a supplementary fan is used. Computer style fans are usually designed for large air flow and have fairly strong permanent magnets with aggressive fan blades.

Even if you slow them down to just above stall speed with a dropping resistor, residual cogging and fan blade shape can generate enough vibrations to effect exposures. I believe you will find there are many brands, speeds and fan blade designs available. It is over 3 years old- I don't recall where I bought it. With further speed reduction, it is difficult to hear and produced no vibrations effecting the image. At close to stall speeds, it MAY work.

The larger 2" Radio Shack CPU fan with heat sink remove heat sink is much slower at the rated voltage and responds well to a dropping resistor. It still has a rather aggressive 8 blade fan, but appears to be a good candidate, especially with a dropping resistor. Whatever fan is selected, use a voltage dropping resistor to further reduce the speed as needed to something above stall speed or a bit faster- the voltage needed to self-start the fan.

Something in the order of ohms placed in series with one power lead should be a good start, depending on the fan selected and speed desired.

The GIF shows the relative locations for the head cable clips. Both have been in use over 3 years. The small fan prevents overheating during low air flows such as indoor testing. Later, Meade felt the camera's electronics could be damaged if the head cable was removed while powered up and so advised in subsequent user manuals. I allowed cable removal to avoid pulling the control box and possibly my laptop during a slew.

Since Meade now advises against head cable removal, I added cable clamps which allow no tools cable attachment, even during sub-zero weather. In spite of many head disconnects without any problems, I decided to add the clips to assure that the head cable could not disconnect. Similar clamps made out of polyethylene or polypropylene are not suitable.

If the clamp doesn't spring back, it's not nylon. I used stainless steel screws, but brass or steel are fine. Mark the locations for the cable clips as shown in the attached picture. You may want to drill more to the outside of the camera to avoid drilling into the sealed camera case.

Only very limited user support of this software is available. Suggestions and comments should be sent to Software Systems Consulting support ssccorp. Telephone support is not available for this product. To run the program you will need to create a DOS directory to hold the program and then unpack the program and its documentation files. The following sequence of DOS commands will create a directory for this program and its documentation files, assuming the distribution files are on a floppy disk in the A: drive:.

The program includes software to generate a full aperture diffraction grating of or lines per inch on an overhead slide transparency film using a standard laser printer and an interactive CCD Spectra Analysis program capable of calibrating spectra to a accuracy of 10 angstroms or better. Performs the following operations:. You may download and evaluate the software for of two weeks. If you decide not to retain the software, please delete it from your disk.

If you choose to retain the software, you should register it with SSC. Registering your software entitles you to receive future updates and to receive email software support from SSC via email at support ssccorp. To register you software see the registration form included in the software documentation package. The software is a copyrighted work of Software Systems Consulting The software is distributed as Shareware by the Software Systems Consulting subject to the following license restrictions:.

Limited support of this software is available to registered users. I don't know who writes the manuals for Meade, but I hope to meet him someday. I'd love to know if the guy is even legally sane. I use it for autoguiding without a laptop. The manual says nothing about a controlled thermal shutdown, or so I thought. On page A-4 with a chart of the 'Pictor Mode Diagram' there is the following piece of information: "Controlled Shutdown when using the autoguider in standalone mode:.

It is important to perform a controlled shutdown even when operating the Pictor XT in standalone mode. To enter shutdown mode, make a long press when the display reads "gd". The display will then read C9 or C8, and begin counting down to C0. It may start at a lower number if the temperature is cool outside. Wait until the display reaches C0 before unplugging the Pictor XT.

That explanation is wrong. During shutdown last night I found a long press just takes you to FF as the manual repeatedly states. But what really irritates me is the fact that this information is located in the appendix with the flow chart and NOT in the instruction area for standalone mode.

It's incorrect and in the wrong place. I'm not surprised. I consider this essential when taking hour exposures. I've contacted Doug George at Cyanogen and he concurs that this is possible. Even with a XT. He does say it will be slow and recommends a better camera, but one thing at a time. What I'd like to know is if anyone out there is using this equipment together and what kind of results you've gotten. I'll reply regarding those cameras.

When the XT is in PC mode, i. That means you cannot use the cable that connects the camera to the LX CCD port for guide corrections. My experiments show that for a guide star bright enough to use the XT's shortest stand-alone exposure time, 0. Longer exposures will add to that. The state of the market right now is pitiful for guiding cameras.

The ST-4 is gone, the STV is woefully overpriced and already an incapable antique for virtually everything it does, and the Meade cameras have the above limitations. I've tried it as a guider and it is superb. What we need is a XT with a mechanical shutter and guider relay capability in PC mode that's only firmware, which Meade could implement tomorrow. USB would also be nice. But by then we're probably up to the ST's price range, which has a much larger chip.

Just remember MaxIm's exposure setting and set the camera to that exposure when you put it in stand-alone mode for guiding. You also wrote: "What is the eFinder and what does it do?

It consists of a small 1. Along with a short 1. It screws onto the camera's 1. In eFinder mode, the kit includes a 4" extender tube that screws into the camera's T-threads. You then screw the little reducer lens onto the other end and screw the short spacer onto that as a "dew shield". SBIG swears it guides beautifully, but I've never tried it. You can read all about it here:. From: Dr. The Meade autoguider. I suspect the cause was the Pictor autoguider. Following is what I noticed:.

Does anybody know what could possibly cause the described Ampere-meter "dance"? Could the Pictor be the cause of the main board failures? What you are seeing is most likely the shorting of the amp meter circuit in the scope by the connection of the Pictor ground to the power supply.

The power supply for the scope is not connected to the metal parts of the scope, but rather to an internal looking resistor that allows measurement of the current internally. The metal parts of the scope are the circuit ground for the electronics in the scope.

Thus you have a circuit, not desired, due to the metal parts of the Pictor touching the scope metal parts. This was the result of a stupid way to get an amp meter in the circuit of the scope.

As a result, the scope must be run from a separate power supply from the Pictor. This has been a long term problem with the LX scopes which resulted from a circuit design short cut that's not normally found in correctly designed equipment. Unfortunately, you then also interrupt the power to the Pictor.

A separate supply is the only solution unless you do not want to use the amp meter at all. Then you can short the ground of the power supply to the metal part of the scope base. This will work, but you will then not have the use of the amp meter.

Since the amp meter is useless anyway, you might find this a good solution. I know many have done this. W H mm 5. Stars at the equator appear to move 1 arc minute every 4 seconds. You will find: -some general considerations about setup -the description of the main faults with my workarounds -a diagram about relationship between guide star mag. I hope that someone could find this useful. An ETX optical tube assembly. A piggyback mounting system I use the Losmandy D-Mount with rings.

The standard 26mm eyepiece and the locking ring that came with your guider. Meade 9mm Illuminated Reticle eyepiece. A computer running Pictorview X. Initial one-time Setup time consuming, but worth the effort : Mount the ETX and carefully collimate it to the main telescope with its eyepiece port "up".

Attach the guider to the ETX as follows: Unscrew the nose piece from the guider. Unscrew the ring the nosepiece screws into from the guider. Screw the front half only of the 64 T-adapter into the guider. Remove the dust cover from the rear of the ETX. Mount the guider to the rear of the ETX. Be sure it is upright power cable straight down. Connect the appropriate cables. Insert the 26mm eyepiece into the top of the ETX and flip the mirror up.

Focus and center N, S, E, W keys on a fairly bright star. Flip the mirror down and cover the eyepiece. Using Pictorview, image the star, and using the N,S,E,W keys, repeatedly image it until it is centered. On a XT, or if no computer is available, center it per the guider's manual. Recheck the ETX's collimation with the main telescope at this time.

Repeat if necessary. Flip the mirror up and insert the 9mm reticle eyepiece. Refocus on the star. Be sure the reticle eyepiece is oriented with one reticle adjuster straight forward dec and the other to the right ra.

Move the adjusters until the reticle is centered on the star. Don't touch the reticle adjusters from now on. You now have a parfocal eyepiece the 26mm , and a fine centering eyepiece the 9mm reticle. Guiding: Center the main telescope on the target to be photographed. Insert the 26mm eyepiece into the top of the ETX. Flip the mirror up and focus. Adjust the piggyback mount to find a guide star.

Center the guide star using the piggyback mount adjustments. Insert the 9mm reticle eyepiece into the top of the ETX remember orientation. Refocus and finely center the star using the piggyback mount adjustments don't touch the reticle adjusters. Re-insert the 26mm eyepiece and refocus. Flip the mirror down. Cover the 26mm eyepiece. Follow the guider instructions to set exposure, dark frame, calibrate, and start guiding.

From FF, enter two short presses to reach Gd, then a medium press. The display will read Cv, where v can be from 0 to 9. Wait until the display reads C0, then unplug the guider.

This is an important step to protect the CCD from rapid warm-up. Reset the LX declination backlash before each exposure