Swanson Focuser User Manual
Contents
1. pel ES Motor Speed Normal Motor Controller ot Setup Menu Actual Temp F The temperature read by the MicroTouch temperature sensor may not be exactly the same as the actual ambient temperature due to heat given off by the electronics in the autofocuser Note that for the temperature compensation feature only the difference in temperature not the actual temperature is the only factor However if you wish the displayed temperature to be correct you can enter the known ambient temperature in this box and the software will calculate the offset between the actual and displayed temperatures and show the actual temperature in the Temperature Compensation window Set Speed Delay This sets the time delay before the motor ramps up to full speed The default is 1 0 second This means the focus motor will begin moving slowly then accelerate to full speed after second This allows more precise manual focusing Changing the value to 0 would eliminate any delay and the motor would turn full speed immediately upon a move command Set Steps This sets the number of steps of the motor per count of the digital display The default is 1 step per count For each count on the digital display the motor will move one step 1 e pressing the IN or OUT button once will move the motor one step There are 300 counts per revolution of the motor and since the motor drives the 10 1 fine focus of the Feathertouch Focuser this equals 3000 counts p2. Compensation Diagnostics About Tum n Leaming Snapshot Compensate Immediate Curent Temperature C Tum On Compensation Coefficient 302 0000 counts deg The current temperature is displayed in C Turn On Learning works the same as the Learning feature in the hand control described above Once calibrated the temperature coefficient the number of counts per degree of temperature change is displayed This number can be manually changed by typing in a new number and selecting the New Coefficient button This is helpful if you change between multiple systems which have previously been calibrated so that the temperature coefficients are known Turn On Compensation activates the temperature compensation function In this mode temperature compensation is continuous and no manual position commands will be accepted by the focuser Press the Turn Off Compensation button to exit this mode A useful feature for users taking sequences of images is to only adjust focus between exposures To do this select Snapshot to store the current temperature and position information After an exposure has finished select Compensate Immediate and the focuser will move to the correct new position based on the new temperature At the bottom of the Movement screen is a strip chart showing temperature trend The arrow buttons at the upper left of this chart can be used to change the sample rate The default is 5 seconds meaning the chart will p
3. button while the temperature is displayed The following menus are accessed sequentially by pressing the MODE button Temp Comp Learning Wireless Motor Rev and Reset Position Each is described in detail below Temp Comp This activates the Temperature Compensation feature of the MicroTouch Autofocuser Press SET to turn this feature on In order for the Temperature Compensation feature to work it must learn how to compensate for changes based on the optical system being used This is done using the Learning menu below Learning The Temperature Compensation feature works by learning how much focus change is necessary to compensate for a given temperature change For example on a certain system a temperature drop of 1 F might require a focus position shift of 25 counts Therefore if the temperature drops by 2 degrees the focuser would move 50 counts to keep the telescope in focus The focuser must learn the exact focus shift required for a given telescope and configuration so adding a focal reducer for example would require the focuser to be recalibrated To activate the Learning mode press and hold the SET button for a few seconds until the display shows Mode Learning The word Learning will blink while the focuser is being calibrated The current position of the focuser is displayed Press MODE once to view the current temperature Wait until the temperature has changed A temperature change of 5 F is recommended for the
4. current position to the middle of the focus range Any value from 0 60000 may be selected Stored Positions can be saved For example if you use a narrowband filter for imaging which significantly changes the focus position you can find the correct focus position and save that position For example The telescope is focused then the counter reset to 30000 The telescope is then refocused for the filtered camera Say the new value is 31500 This position can be saved by selecting Store under Stored Positions In the future after the telescope is properly focused without the filter and the counter reset to 30000 the stored position can be selected from the drop down menu and the focus position of the filtered camera selected Note that offset positions such as this will only be approximate as temperature changes may affect actual focus differences Offset focus positions are still helpful for getting the telescope close to focus before running the autofocus routine The Halt button can be used to stop the MicroTouch focuser in the process of moving to a new position Temperature Compensation This menu gives you control over the temperature compensation feature of the MicroTouch Autofocuser It includes the same basic controls as the hand control as described above as well as additional features for more advanced control i MicroTouch Controller a es P t i IIC ro A ORZECH wireless autofocuser OS Setup Movement Temperature
5. firmware will be downloaded to the hand control To upgrade the motor controller firmware simply click on the Motor Controller button under Upgrading Firmware and select the appropriate file in the window that appears The upload will begin automatically Movement Menu The Movement menu is the main window for controlling the MicroTouch Autofocuser in manual mode MicroTouch Controller Setup Movement Temperature Compensation Diagnostics About l Curent Position Target Position 30000 GoTo Reset to Target Position Moving Stored Positions Store TO Delete The current position of the focuser is displayed The up and down arrows correspond to the OUT and IN buttons on the hand control respectively IN decreases the count OUT increases the count Target Position allows the user to select a given position and send the focuser to that position The default position is 30000 Select the desired position and press GOTO to move the focuser to that position Any value from 0 60000 can be selected Pressing Reset to Target Position changes the displayed count to the Target Position For example The default focus position when the MicroTouch is turned on is 30000 If after manually focusing the telescope using the IN OUT buttons the position reads 15000 you can enter 30000 into the Target Position select Reset to Target Position and the counter will be set to 30000 without moving the focuser This sets the
6. er revolution of the focuser Increasing the steps per count reduces the resolution but increases the range of the focuser For example setting the steps per revolution to 2 cuts the resolution in half but doubles the focus range The count range is still 0 60000 but the equivalent range is 0 120000 It may be desirable to change the steps per count if greater focus range is needed for focusing eyepieces visually or for a focuser with a greater range of travel Any value from 1 10 can be selected Set Motor Speed There are two choices for motor speed Normal and High Normal speed turns the motor gear about once every second High speed doubles the rate of revolution High speed allows large focus changes in less time but it produces less torque so heavier loads such as a large format CCD camera on a Crayford focuser should always be moved at Normal speed to avoid slippage Upgrading Firmware If new versions of the MicroTouch firmware for either the hand control or the motor control become available they can be downloaded and installed into the MicroTouch Autofocuser To upgrade the hand control firmware select the Hand Controller button under Upgrading Firmware A window will display allowing you to select the firmware file Press and hold both the IN and OUT buttons on the hand control then select the file on the computer while holding the buttons down Release the buttons after selecting file The LCD will display PROG MODE and the
7. goes toward the telescope with the smaller gear hub away from the scope as shown below The gear should touch the brass bearing hub on the focuser Use the small hex head wrench to lock the gear in place Note The gear has a small insert to allow installation on different size focus shafts The insert can only be removed from one side Using one of the hex head wrenches to push the insert out can be helpful 3 Slide the focus motor onto the focuser You may need to rotate the motor slightly to allow the motor gear and focuser gear to mesh The motor can be rotated to the desired position after the gears have meshed When installed properly the motor will completely cover the silver portion of the focuser Use the large hex head wrench to lock the motor in place Connect Hand Control 4 Use the included RJ11 cable to connect the motor to the hand control Touch Micro atid SET MODE STARIZONA Using the MicroTouch Autofocuser Manually You can use the MicroTouch focuser to focus the telescope visually by using the IN and OUT buttons This is also how you will approximately focus the telescope when using a camera before using the autofocus routine MicroTouch Hand Control Menus The LCD screen light turns on when the hand control is powered up If desired press the LIGHT button to turn the light off Pressing MODE once displays the current ambient temperature The default display is F To change to C press the SET
8. lot the temperature every five seconds This gives a range of 6 minutes 15 seconds Any sample rate value can be selected from 1 250 seconds This gives a time span of 1 minute 15 seconds up to 5 hours 12 minutes 30 seconds The chart can display a range of 3 degrees If the temperature changes by more that 1 degree the chart shifts to move the current temperature curve to the center of the graph Diagnostics Menu The Diagnostics window shows the current status of the MicroTouch Autofocuser and its connection to the computer 9 MicroTouch Controller MM 1C ro To uc amp wireless autofocuser Y Setup Movement Temperature Compensation Diagnostics About Version 3 5 Number of Comupted Packets MARN F Number of Comm Timeouts Retry Setting Address 0 Number of Comupted Packets Pen Temperature Sensor a When properly connected the Hand Controller Motor Controller and Temperature Sensor status windows will display OK The windows for Number of Corrupted Packets and Number of Comm Timeouts displays the history of the communication status between the hand control and wireless receiver Version numbers of the hand controller and motor controller firmware are displayed See above for details on upgrading firmware
9. most accurate calibration Once the temperature has changed refocus the telescope either manually or using the autofocus routine described in the next section Return to the Learning menu and hold SET again until the display shows Mode Idle The temperature compensation is now set Go to the Temp Comp menu and press SET to turn the temperature compensation on More advanced temperature compensation control is available through the MicroTouch software Wireless This turns the wireless communications on or off The default for the MicroTouch Autofocuser is OFF If the autofocuser is upgraded to the wireless version the mode must be changed to ON Motor Rev This reverses the direction of the motor Reset Position The default position of the digital readout is 30000 The range of focus is 0 60000 If the focuser is moved to either end of this range press MODE until Reset Position appears Press and hold the SET button until the display blinks and resets The position has now been reset to 30000 If a different default position is desired it 1s possible to program this using the MicroTouch software described below Installing the MicroTouch and FocusMax Software Load the included CD On the CD will be two installation files one for the MicroTouch software and one for FocusMax The MicroTouch software installation file is called Setup Open this file and follow the directions given to install the MicroTouch software The program
10. will be located in the Windows Start Menu under All Programs gt Starizona gt MicroTouch gt MicroTouch Open the FocusMax installer and follow the directions given to install the FocusMax software The program will be located in the Windows Start Menu under All Programs gt FocusMax Installing the MicroTouch Hardware Drivers STARIZONA Connect the included USB cable to the hand control then to the computer The Found New Hardware Wizard should appear Select the automatic install routine The wizard should find the included drivers and successfully install the hardware If for some reason Windows cannot automatically install the hardware you can run the hardware installer again and manually select the driver The driver is located in the Program Files gt Starizona gt USB2Driver folder and is called SiUSBXp sys MicroTouch Software Launch the MicroTouch software The Setup menu is displayed The default connection is USB2 The MicroTouch Autofocuser is backward compatible to USB1 1 If your computer only has USB1 1 ports select USB from the drop down menu Press Connect to connect to the MicroTouch Autofocuser fa MicroTouch Controller Micro Touch weees uote lt 2 os setup Movement Temperature Compensation Diagnostics About Fs USB2 Set Speed Delay 0 Speed Delay 1 0 seconds Actual Temp F l 48 Temp Offset 2 81 F set Steps Steps per count 1 pn Sanam Set Motor Speed
11. wy Autofocuser M ICO louc Operating Instructions The MicroTouch Autofocuser is designed to work with Feathertouch Focusers from Starlight Instruments It allows automatic focusing with CCD and DSLR cameras Included is FocusMax software to automatically focus the telescope for imaging Manual focus is also possible using the hand controller The hand control features an LCD screen for displaying a digital readout of focus position as well as information used for programming the temperature compensation feature The MicroTouch Autofocuser is compatible with Feathertouch Crayford focusers Feathertouch SCT MicroFocusers and Feathertouch MicroFocusers for Takahashi and TeleVue refractors An optional larger focus motor allows use with the Starlight Instruments 3 5 focuser Included Parts Hand Control Focus Motor Focuser Gear Motor Connector Cable USB Cable 12 Volt Power Cord AC or DC user selected 3 Hex Head Wrenches MicroTouch amp FocusMax Software QO O Hand control receiver motor cables Touch Micro i Installing the Focus Motor The following directions are illustrated using a Feathertouch SCT MicroFocuser but the instructions are identical for any Feathertouch focuser 1 Begin by removing both the brass fine focus and black standard focus knobs from the focuser Use the included medium size hex head wrench to remove the knobs 2 Install the small brass gear onto the focus shaft The gear
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