Hinode Solar Guider Windows Control Program User Manual
Contents
1. ZIP file Extract the files into a temporary folder for installation The installation package consists of a setup program with supporting files in subfolders For future updates use the same folder location for installation so that the installation code recognizes if an older copy needs to be removed first Once the Hinode files have been extracted right click on Setup to install the program with administrator privileges If you are asked to allow installing a program from an unknown source click yes to continue the installation Depending on what you have already installed on your PC Windows may need to download NET and other Microsoft software libraries so you may need an active internet connection during the installation step These should be automatically downloaded and installed if your system currently does not have them installed If the installation should fail you should manually install Microsoft s NET 4 5 and VB Power Pack 10 then run the Hinode SG installation program again Physical Connection Setup Physical connections between your PC the Hinode SG and your mount are shown schematically below Hand Controller Telescope Mount Hinode SG autoguider cable PC When used with a PC it is not necessary to attach the hand controller but it is recommended as it provides a useful independent control and monitor for the Hinode SG Take care to route your cables so t2. arrangement doesn t change it won t be necessary to set the offset again and it can be used as an aid when re centering the n z Set sun in your scope Emel Volume If the Finder mode is active indicated by a light blue background on the button you press the button again to turn on and turn off the finder audible tone from the Hinode SG This tone varies from low frequency tone to a higher tone as you center the sun in the guider The volume can also be changed by pressing the low medium high buttons in the volume control group box Also active in Finder mode are the mount controls If you ve connected the Hinode SG to the mount using the autoguider connection cable clicking one of the direction arrow buttons should cause the mount to start moving These buttons are sticky in that a momentary click will start the mount moving and continue to do so until the center stop button is clicked or one of the other direction arrow buttons are clicked Due to the limitations of some mounts the mount can only be moved in one direction at a time using the program controls A Note about Direction Confusion Because of the variety of ways the Hinode SG and your scope and your imaging camera can be mounted relative to each other the directions of sun movement can be very confusing Take care not to make assumptions about the movement associated with the Finder mode direction arrow controls the Hinode SG sun indicat
3. followed by the calibration steps and then finally back to the original position less backlash All movements are performed one axis at a time SW Ver 1 0 0 0 FW Ver 1 13 Taking up RA backlash 44 Moving RA axis Sun Intensity EV 10 5 0 0 Guider Corrections sec __Finder_ Set Guide al Recall Volume Aggressiveness AM am A a As seen in the figure above during calibration in addition to the Cal progress step bar messages from the Hinode SG are shown in the Comm status box mount relay actuations are shown by highlighting the mount direction buttons and the sun position plot changes are shown If the Cal sequence succeeds store it in the appropriate AM or PM memory for use the next time you are using the same observing setup If a Cal sequence fails it is generally due to the failure of the mount p Cal to move in response to a command from the guider or because the resulting movements are non orthogonal If this occurs check the EEEREN attachment of the Hinode SG to the scope and mount check the autoguider cable connections insure that cables are not dragging check the mount movement settings should be about sidereal rate in each direction relative to tracking movement and check for possible excessive backlash in the mount gears The failure of a Cal sequence may also be due to a gross misalignment of the
4. Scan Ports button again and select the Hinode SG s port Select the Hinode COM port in the list box then gomm Unk click on the Connect checkbox f all is vvell Connect A D 2 Scan you will hear a ding from the Hinode SG as it sw resets itself If the connection is successful the link status indicator will be flashing a green color To start select the COM port each time the Hinode SG is polled for a status and click the Connect checkbox update several times per second in Finder mode Messages related to the status of the Hinode SG will appear in the text box in this section If the connection cannot be established the check will not appear in the checkbox and the link status indicator will remain red Finder Mode Initially the Hinode SG will be in Finder mode If the Hinode SG can see the sun a yellow circle will appear in the position indicator box Even if you have centered your main scope the sun indicator will not necessarily be at the center of the box as there may be an offset between the optical axes of the scope and the Hinode SG Use the Set button in the Finder controls to tell the Hinode gt Mount Controls SG where the scope is al pointing when centered A small black dot will be moved to the current wl gt center of the sun indicator This will be remembered by the Hinode SG even if it is reset or powered off so if your optical D
5. firmware version installed in your unit after the connection is made note the version number displayed under the Hinode SG logo after a connection is made If the firmware version needs to be updated download the latest firmware and the Hinode SG loader from Hutech Program Screen Layout All control and monitoring functions for the Hinode SG are contained in a single screen as shown below D I Hinode Solar Guider q 5 d and click the Connect checkbox Opening port COM4 Cal Deeg p l EH AM OOOOOOO pu Clockwise from the top center these are the main sections Status and controls for the communicatons link to Hinode SG Software and firmware version information Sun intensity and tracking plots Calibration controls and status Guiding mode controls Finder mode controls Sun position monitor oop eh When initially started the Windows application program will display the COM port list in the connection status list if Windows has properly installed the USB COM driver If more than one COM port is shown in the list it is probably because you have more than one COM device connected to your PC Note If you re not sure which COM port corresponds to your guider first note the listed COM ports Next unplug the USB cable to the Hinode SG and press the Scan Ports button The port which has disappeared is the Hinode SG s port Finally plug the Hinode SG back in press the
6. 0 1070 1410 8 0 1 13 0 1 0 212 2014 04 06 11 21 13 Q 1 1 0 79 65 54 74 64 64 54 74 0 0 2 0 1070 1410 8 0 1 13 0 1 0 Mechanical Center Set 136 2014 04 06 11 21 13 S 1 1 0 79 65 54 74 64 64 54 74 0 0 2 0 1070 1410 8 0 1 13 0 1 0 216 Appendix A Hinode SG Packet Format Offset 10 11 Status String Example Description Mede 1 Finder 2 Calibrating 3 Guiding eg X Exposure 0 to 32767 Exposure time RA axis if mounted on top value 1 017 23 4us Display as EV Log base 2 23 4 Exposure Time range of 10 45 to OEV Y Exposure 0 to 32767 Exposure time Dec axis if mounted on value 1 017 23 4us Display as EV Log top base 2 23 4 Exposure Time range of 10 45 to OEV X RA Position 64 0 to 127 255 if insufficient signal on sensor Y Dec Position 46 0 to 127 255 if insufficient signal on sensor X RA Optical Offset 63 40 to 88 Pixel position of maximum signal when mechanically aligned to sun Y Dec Optical Offset 40 to 88 Pixel position of maximum signal when mechanically aligned to sun X RA Mech Offset 10 to 118 Pixel position of maximum signal when sun is centered in eyepiece o camera Y Dec Mech Offset 10 to 118 Pixel position of maximum signal when sun is centered in eyepiece o camera 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Xcorrection Ycorrection Aggressivness 32767 to 32767 RA correction time number of 10ms tic
7. 1 04 Guide Mode 17 37 37 Low Aggressiveness Dec RA T 2 13 191 3 40 7 83 Store AM Lei EE ety zl In the imaging session pictured above note the gulding correction glitches and light decrease as tree leaves start to interfere in this late afternoon session While guiding an available option is to change the correction aggressiveness f your mount is poorly aligned you may find it necessary to use high aggressiveness but it is better to adiust your mount alignment enough to avoid this Note that precise alignment is still not necessary If clouds are often interfering with guiding it may be desirable to reduce the aggressiveness so that the guiding doesn t chase the partially obscured sun With reasonably good mount alignment the Hinode SG will allow the mount to coast through periods when the sun is completely lost in the clouds and is able to resume guiding after the sun reappears To turn off guiding click the Finder mode button Logging To turn on logging of a session to a disk file click the Log check box in the Comm link section This brings up a directory selection box which allows you to specify where the log file will be created By default the desktop is the destination for the log file DEI Hinode Solar Guider E 10 x SW Ver 1 0 0 0 FW Ver 1 13 Libraries SE _ 44 Homegroup mee 10 5
8. 10 3 8 4 EE Computer Hi Network Bs Control Panel re Recyde Bin RA a 2 i 1 2 36 7 18 v __ 30 86 5 10 Finder f a Recall Store ab AM Volume Aggressiveness um DOC pa The log file created will have a name such as HSG 20140429 csv where the numerical part of the name is based on the current date on your PC in the format year month date YYYYMMDD This is a standard comma separated variable CSV file which can be examined in a text editor imported into a spreadsheet program such as Excel or processed vvith a custom program Many programming languages such as Python include libraries vvhich provide support for the CSV file format Each packet received from the Hinode SG is stored exactly as received as an ASCII string along vvith a time stamp vvhich is created from the PC s clock For any given day each time logging is turned on the entries are appended to the same file vvith a blank line separating the logging sessions Some lines snipped from a log file are shown below Refer to Appendix A Hinode SG Packet Format for an explanation of the fields in the log file 2014 04 06 11 21 11 1 1 1 0 79 65 54 74 64 64 52 72 6 0 2 0 1070 1410 8 0 1 13 0 1 0 Guiding Stopped 170 2014 04 06 11 21 12 5 1 1 0 79 65 54 74 64 64 52 72 0 0 2 0 1070 1410 8 0 1 13 0 1 0 212 2014 04 06 11 21 12 S 1 1 0 79 65 54 74 64 64 52 72 0 0 2
9. 16 30 57 All Relays Off SW Ver 1 0 0 0 FW Ver 1 13 16 31 01 Dec Relay On 16 31 01 All Relays 16 31 04 Guide Mode Sun Intensity EV 2413 1147 2 43 0 82 Recall Store AM AM FM PM Typical smooth guiding session shown above Note that the scope pointing has been offset to image an area of interest but the Hinode SG continues to guide using the entire sun s disk FireCapture by Torsten Edelmann was used to display and record the image from a USB web camera 2102110221220 Wee If corrections suddenly increase in frequency and magnitude check the EV graph to see if passing clouds may have been causing problems FireCapture v2 3 Torsten Edelmann Camera Control O o v Capture Preview Night mode Gain O 10522 MBytes 377 MB Profile Moon zy Fiter OL v n Exp ms 85 02412 FPS actual 25 00 163430 um a s Captured 429 Use ROI Max 640x480 Gama vi i Saved az pe OMe SR 640 2x 480 Ps 5 Y Time 4327s DN l Options USB2 0 Camera o Histogram Ephems C AutoAlign Align Box Z Reticle EF Hinode Solar Guider Comm Link HF Comet ASTROJHUTECH F Log CONS SE 16 31 01 Dec Relay On 16 31 01 All Relays Off 16 3
10. Hinode Solar Guider Windows Control Program User Manual May 2014 Hutech Corporation 25691 Atlantic Ocean Dr Unit B 11 Lake Forest CA 92630 http hutech com Introduction This manual covers the installation and use of the Windows control program for the AstroHutech Hinode Solar Guider SG You are recommended to first familiarize yourself with the operation of the Hinode SG via its hand controller The Windows control program for the Hinode SG may operate in place of or in parallel with the hand controller The reasons why you might want to use the Windows control program include the following Graphical view of tracking performance Logging of status information Monitoring of tracking status alongside third party imaging software Extension of control and monitoring of the Hinode SG to a separate location Installing the Hinode SG Windows Program To install the Hinode SG Windows program you do not need to be connected to the Hinode SG Windows Vista Windows 7 and Windows 8 are supported Windows XP is NOT supported because Microsoft does not support the required NET 4 5 on it An internet connection is not required if you ve previously downloaded the Hinode SG installation package but it may be needed to install other Microsoft packages which are required The first step is to download the installation package from Hutech into a temporary folder e g your desktop or download folder This comes in the form of a
11. hat they do not pull on either end no matter which way your scope is pointing Doing so will insure good tracking and prevent potential physical damage to your equipment Connect the Hinode SG and PC via the USB cable last as the PC will be providing power to the Hinode SG via this cable Establishing a PC Connection to the Hinode SG To connect the Hinode SG to your PC plug a USB cable from the PC to the Hinode SG This supplies both power and the communications channel to the Hinode SG On the PC the communications channel will appear as a COM port serial port emulation Plug the Hinode SG into the PC first and verify that Windows recognizes it as a COM port device The first time the Hinode SG is connected to your PC Windows may need to install a driver for it and may require a connection to the internet to update itself On the Hinode SG end the control paddle s lights will flash as it initializes its hardware You will hear a ding tone from it if it has successfully reset itself If Windows has to install a new USB driver for the Hinode SG you may hear a second ding as Windows initializes the USB channel After Windows has recognized the USB connection to the Hinode SG start the Windows application for the Hinode SG The application screen will appear as shown below NOTE The Windows Hinode SG program requires that firmware version 1 13 or later of the firmware be installed in the Hinode SG unit If you are unsure of the
12. ks 32767 to 32767 Dec correction time number of 10ms ticks 1 to 3 Guiding Aggressivness 1 Low 2 Med 3 High X scale 1600 100 to 5000 RA axis scale factor for calibrating correction time Y scale 2000 100 to 5000 Dec axis scale factor for calibrating correction time Theta X Relay State Sun visible and centered enough for Cal or Guiding Calibration State 10 3 1 0 to 360 Mounting angle of guider head X axis This is the mounting angle of the optical head relative to the mount axis O or 1 Y axis direction Firmware Version Relay State 0 off 1 Dec Y 2 RA X 3 Dec Y 4 RA X O insufficient brightness or centering for guiding or calibration 1 All good 0 not calibrating 1 taking up dec backlash 2 taking up RA backlash 3 Moving RA 4 Moving dec 5 Returning dec 6 Returning RA 7 Cal Successful 10 Cal Fail No movement 11 Cal Fail insufficient RA motion 12 Cal Fail insufficient DEC motion 24 25 13 Cal Fail Angle Error 20 Cal Aborted Message Guiding Optional Text String 32 Characters plus surrounding quotes maximum Checksum 1 Byte Checksum
13. mount Check to insure that the polar axis of the mount is reasonably close to pointing at the pole While using a compass and level is not strictly necessary a good alignment will also aid in coasting through periods vvhen the sun is obscured by clouds Guide Mode Once calibration has successfully completed or settings have been recalled from AM or PM memory position the scope so that the target of interest on the sun is centered in the imaging camera as desired then start guiding by clicking the Guide button As in Cal mode the sun position indicator and mount movement arrows will indicate active tracking In addition the corrections will be graphed along with the sun intensity During guiding status polling occurs once per second so there is some lag in the status displayed on the PC compared to actual activity at the mount and Hinode SG The plots represent 240 status queries so that the past 4 minutes of corrections are shown Camera Control v Data Capture v Z Preview Night mode Cai 105224 MBytes 133 MB Profile 5 Moon vv Filter OL v D n Exp ms o 02441 FPS 25 00 rie 565430 B m pieced Max 640x480 om vi y M e 52 SS Type BMP vw Limit 1 em o mslt Y Time 1535s D El 8 Options ur USB2 0 Camera C Histogram Ephems AutoAlign Align Box Reticle RI Hinode Solar Guider j Comm Link WF coves an ms n F Log ONES SE
14. or and the movement of the sun in your imaging camera The best policy is to experimentally determine the movements of your setup and keep the setup consistent each time you put it together Calibration Calibration of the mount s response to the Recall Store Hinode SG s movement actuations are M AM required before starting Guide mode Elie Ge Lai m PM Previous successful calibration parameters can be stored and recalled in permanent memory in the Hinode SG In the Windows control program the AM and PM buttons in the Recall and Store control groups cover these functions AM and PM memories are provided to accommodate German equatorial mounts which require a meridian flip at mid day Note that the calibration parameters are stored in the Hinode SG and not in the PC so changing your PC does not require a recalibration of your Hinode SG To start a new calibration the sun must be visible to the Hinode SG as seen in the sun indicator display Press the short medium or long buttons in the Cal control group depending on how much your mount moves in response to guide commands from the Hinode SG In some cases you may need to set your mount s guide speed The slower the mount moves in response to a correction command the longer the Cal sequence should be As the Cal sequence progresses green indicators light up below the Cal buttons to indicate the steps taken by the Hinode SG backlash takeup in each axis
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