Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Technical => Topic started by: mickw on Apr 23, 2010, 11:03:33

Title: Canon LX mod
Post by: mickw on Apr 23, 2010, 11:03:33
Is there a generic Driver for a USB Serial converter hooked up to the LX mod cable ?

I've had it all working but then overwrote the 350D driver/software with 400D and surprise surprise, the LX converter can't be found.

Nebulosity sees the camera and works in 30 second mode but doesn't see the LX.
Title: Re: Canon LX mod
Post by: MarkS on Apr 23, 2010, 11:16:20

If Neb can't find it you may just need to change a COM port number in the Neb settings - the port number will change if you plug the USB/Serial adpator into a different USB port.

If you have really lost the USB/Serial driver you would get a "New Hardware" message when you plug it in.  Then you will almost certainly need to have a specific USB/Serial driver.
Title: Re: Canon LX mod
Post by: mickw on Apr 23, 2010, 12:20:37
What a plonker.......................

COM ports - Now sorted, cheers Mark
Title: Re: Canon LX mod
Post by: MarkS on Apr 23, 2010, 13:34:57

If you are using Nebulosity, I highly recommend the "Fine Focus" routine to get your focus correct - I demonstrated this to Fay at Kelling.

Take a preview image, hit "fine focus" and select a brightish star near the middle of that image.  It comes up with a new window and will download an image of just that star in a very quick endless loop while you adjust focus - it will display the star and a couple of statistics to help you get it spot on.   Can also be used in conjunction with a Bhatinov mask (but that may confuse the stats).   Exposure time and ISO can be adjusted on the fly while you do this.

I use a Bhatinov mask to get as close as possible then remove it to do the final "tweak".

Mark
Title: Re: Canon LX mod
Post by: mickw on Apr 23, 2010, 13:47:33
Thanks Mark I'll give that a go, never used fine focus - which probably explains a lot  :oops:
Title: Re: Canon LX mod
Post by: Fay on Apr 23, 2010, 17:23:03
Yes, was really pleased Mark showing me that