Hi everyone,
I’ve been using software version 3.2 for quite some time with a setup that works flawlessly.
I recently switched cameras, and suddenly I can no longer autofocus.
Perhaps someone has encountered this before.
My previous cameras in this setup were the ATIK 11000 and ATIK 4000; the autofocus curves were perfect.
My new camera is a Touptec ATR 585M; the exposure times used for autofocus range from 0.5 to 10 seconds with a clear filter. During autofocus, the focuser moves in a chaotic zigzag pattern, simply skipping right over the focus point without coming anywhere near finding it.
I would appreciate any help or insights from anyone with experience in this area.
Thank you, Werner
This is not surprising given the massive difference in pixel size between those 3 cameras:
585M 2.9µm
4000 7.4µm
11000 9µm
You used to have massive pixels, now you have tiny ones. a 3x3 bin in your 585M is the same overall size as 1 pixel on the 11000. Because of this your critical zone for focus is now much different.
This will result in the following observed changes:
much smaller changes in measured HFR per focuser step
more sensitivity to seeing
more sensitivity to guiding/image motion
more sensitivity to star detection thresholds
more noisy HFR measurements
a focus curve that is relatively flat around the minimum
To address this you should:
Increase your focus steps size, I’d double it and go from there
use max binning on the 585m
You’ll likely need to tweak your steps size based on the outcome of the above.
Your best option is to change multiple things at once. Also make sure you do it at a star party that is forecast to only have 1 or 2 clear nights for the max “experience”
Now i tried to focus with Binning, tha Camera is able to use a binning of 2. But this did not lead to a functional result. I set a 4x4 Bin @ Focus in the Cam Setup in hope, that there is a Software bin in SGP. I got a Error Message, that the camera is not able to do that.
Is there a way in SGP to Bin the Camera Data for Autofocus? At present i feel helpless.
Did you observe any change at all? What kind of graph does 2x2 yield? Do you have logs showing the auto focus run? They can help us help you troubleshoot.
If your camera supports 4x4 binning, it is certainly an option for auto focus. What error message do you see?
