PlaneWave Interface 3 Version History PWI 3.5.7 Final: - Additional logging related to rotator position angle determination PWI 3.5.6 Final: - Slight optimizations to derotation performance when used with PWI 4. PWI 3.5.5 Final: - Fix Out Of Memory error for very long-running logs - Detect unrecoverable Delta-T communication errors and close the connection PWI 3.5.4 Final: - Add option to include heater and fan status in temperature log - ASCOM focuser driver: if focuser is within 2 counts of target position, report the target position. This fixes problems with programs that compare the target position to the reported position and report an error if the two do not match exactly. PWI 3.5.3 Final: - Add HTTP API for controlling Delta-T heaters PWI 3.5.2 Final: - Focus positions CSV file: always use period as decimal separator PWI 3.5.1 Final: - Temperature log CSV file: use period as decimal separator even in regions where a comma is typically used so that the CSV fields can be unambiguously parsed. PWI 3.5.0 Final: - Fix Help menu items if PWI3 is installed to a non-default location PWI 3.5.0 Beta 2: - Add HTTP commands to force fans off PWI 3.5.0 Beta 1: - NOTE: "PWI4 Direct" derotation support REQUIRES PWI4 version 4.0.5 or later! - Attempt to auto-connect to PWI4 for derotation support, even if PWI3 is launched first or if PWI4 is restarted - Rotator will move directly to the position that will be needed at the *end* of the current slew when targeting a particular position angle, as opposed to chasing the rapidly-changing field angle calculated at intermediate positions of the slew. - Option to have the rotator always move to a particular position angle. Useful for automation software that does not talk to the rotator and expects the mount to behave like an EQ mount, with a consistent position angle after every slew - Option to offset the target position angle of the rotator by 180 degrees for targets that transit north of zenith. This helps to keep the rotator from encountering a hardstop and needing to unwrap in the middle of a long imaging run. - Rotator will automatically unwrap itself if is approaches a position limit while performing alt-az derotation. - Sends rotator status to PWI4 so that the PWI4 ASCOM Telescope driver can optionally indiate that slewing is still in progress until *both* the mount and the rotator are in position. PWI 3.4.4 Final - Add HTTP server command to home the rotator. Useful for calling from an observatory startup script. PWI 3.4.3 Final - Fix bug that caused a Maxim AutoSave sequence to abort after autofocus PWI 3.4.2 Final - Allow negative backlash values for EFA focuser PWI 3.4.1 Beta 2: - Optional derotation status logging - Fix bug where derotation is inactive until rotator tab is first selected PWI 3.4.1 Beta 1: - Only send one command to the Delta-T per service write. Seems to help with issue of losing contact with the Delta-T in CONTROL mode PWI 3.4.0 - Minor cosmetic changes PWI 3.3.3 Beta 11 - Temperature CSV files now get logged to custom logging directory, if specified - Lots of changes and improvements to de-rotation - Can view both position and field angles separately - Better display of what rotator is doing - Default directions now correct for de-rotation with standard CDK on L-mount - Can choose a custom ASCOM driver for de-rotation - Can configure de-rotation enabled at startup - Can configure between maintaining field angle or staying at some mech position during slew - Show status of connected alt-az mount 3.3.3 Beta 7 (2017/11/03) - ASCOM Focuser driver now throws exceptions when accessing methods/properties if the driver has lost contact with PWI3. 3.3.3 Beta 6 (2017/10/20) - Delta-T "Heat Aggressively" options are now saved to config file 3.3.3 Beta 5 (2017/09/07) - Changed EFA communication code to avoid subtle timing issues that could cause focuser to lock up in rare situations. 3.3.3 Beta 4 (2017/03/23) - Add support for EFAs running experimental firmware 30.94 - Disable backlash compensation in focuser and rotator by default, since it is rarely needed 3.3.3 Beta 3 (2016/09/15) - Add experimental option to enable higher-power primary mirror heating during certain times (e.g. near sunrise when ambient is climbing quickly) 3.3.3 Beta 2 (2016/02/26) - Use new COM port selection dialog for EFA and Delta-T configuration - Add Delta-T communication and temperature logging - Make ambient sensor display first when connecting to Delta-T - Configure whether to show both ambient sensors, EFA ambient only, or Delta-T ambient only - When homing focuser, try to detect "jitter" that sometimes happens when up against inner hardstop. - Temperature graph refreshes more quickly when changing timescale or displaying relative to ambient 3.3.3 Beta 1 (2015/11/12) - Allow graph to display temperatures relative to Ambient 3.3.2 (2015/11/10): - Public released based on 3.3.1 Beta 6 3.3.1 Beta 6 (2015/11/02): - Include Version 4 of the AutoFocusClientDll, with additional members for retrieving temperatures. - Release reference to Maxim DL when AutoFocus sequence is finished so that Maxim can be closed without first closing PWI3 - Allow ReadoutMode to be specified for AutoFocus images so that (for example) a high-speed camera readout can be performed. - Enable support for "Central 1/4 pixels" subframes in AutoFocus 3.3.1 Beta 5 (2015/10/16): - Include Version 3 of the AutoFocusClientDll, supporting additional features intended for use with CCDAutoPilot integration 3.3.1 Beta 4 (2015/10/14): - Modified character stripping workaround for COM port identification on certain systems 3.3.1 Beta 3 (2015/10/10): - Unicode characters are stripped off end of enumerated COM port names. Under some situations, GetPortNames() would return COM ports with a random garbage character at the end. - Maxim DL communication code has been restructured to be significantly less chatty. Before, Maxim's status would be polled roughly every 40 milliseconds at all times after the first focus run was performed. Now it is only polled every 500 milliseconds, and only when a focus run is actually being performed and an image is being taken. - Add logging of calls to Maxim DL under PWI3_MaximDL.txt - Autofocus is less aggressive about trying to reconnect to Maxim before every exposure - Autofocus has better handling of lost connections to camera/Maxim, lost connection to focuser, etc. - Config file for AutoFocus API now gets written so that autofocus library knows whether to talk to PWI2 or PWI3 - Removed some dead code - Autofocus run now tries to connect to Maxim DL at the start of the run, rather than at the start of the first exposure (following movement of the focuser) 3.3.1 Beta 2 (2015/06/18): - Alt-Az derotation now tries to catch up to desired position if it starts to drift over time - Additional status display for rotator in Alt-Az mode 3.3.1 Beta 1 (2014/10/21): - Modified the EFA communication code to make it more resilient to communication line noise and brief communication dropouts. - Records various statistics related to EFA communication 3.3.0 Final (2014/10/09): - Same as Beta 9, but removed Beta tag 3.3.0 Beta 9 (2014/10/09): - Fixed a few problems caused by moving the rotator and the focuser simultaneously. The device that was moved first would not always arrive at the correct position. - Added some extra diagnostic logging to the Maxim DL control code - ASCOM logs are now written to a single directory, PWI3\Log\ASCOM Logs - Added extensive EFA communication logging, written to PWI3\Log\EFA Comm Logs - Extra details reported in log when homing focuser or rotator 3.3.0 Beta 8 (2014/09/30): - Updated PlateSolve to 2.28, which fixes a bug under Norwegian locale settings - Added an option to simulate an AutoFocus run - If PWI3 is already running, launching a second instance will display the first, or show a warning that another copy is already running - Fixed ASCOM driver bug that prevented re-connecting after manually disconnecting from focuser in the PWI GUI - Fixed a bug that would cause a crash if an autofocus run is started without Maxim being installed - Made the autofocus process a bit more robust (timing out if PlateSolve never responds, parsing data more strictly, etc) 3.3.0 Beta 7 (2014/08/08) - EFA and Delta-T ambient temperatures are both explicitly reported over PWI Server and logged to temperature file - Config file option to display both EFA and Delta-T ambient temps in GUI - Added "/minimized" command line option to PWI3.exe to start the program minimized - Added option to ASCOM focuser driver to start PWI3 minimized - Fixed bug where EFA firmware version 1.6 was incorrectly reported as 1.7 3.3.0 Beta 6 (2014/08/04) - Fixed default value for Hedrick Focuser maximum position - Added detection for when the EFA CTS line is stuck high, which could indicate a faulty hand controller - AutoFocus log now reports ambient temperature after a successful run - Option to keep PlateSolve window up for configurable amount of time after an AutoFocus run. (Used to auto-close after 10 seconds) - PWI server is now multi-threaded, so ASCOM clients shouldn't lose connection during long camera readouts 3.3.0 Beta 5 (2014/05/26) - Rotator position graph no longer shows "Past Limit" while homing, which can be potentially confusing - Rotator will move away from hardstop when homing is complete - "Finished homing rotator" log message to indicate success 3.3.0 Beta 4 (2014/05/20) - Improved the connect / disconnect / lost connection functionality of the ASCOM Focuser driver - Added configurable logging to the ASCOM Focuser driver - Added option to turn off Delta-T heaters based on time of day - Renamed "PlaneWave.PWI3.AutoFocus" COM object to just "PlaneWave.AutoFocus" 3.3.0 Beta 3 (2014/05/07) - Fixed error that caused SiTech Alt-Az De-rotate mode to get enabled by default - The camera binning option is now properly applied in AutoFocus runs - Can select a filter that will be used with AutoFocus 3.3.0 Beta 2 - Enabled 64-bit support for PWI3 ASCOM drivers 3.3.0 Beta 1 - Added a "Scheduler" option to the Focus tab, which can be used in conjunction with the script found under Documents\PlaneWave Instruments\PWI3\Scripts\pw_autofocus.js to schedule AutoFocus runs from other programs. For example, this script can be called after every image in Maxim DL's "Autosave" sequence mode. Periodic focus runs will be scheduled according to the settings in the Scheduler window. - Added "PlaneWave.PWI3.AutoFocus" COM object, allowing external applications (such as ACP) to use PlaneWave Autofocus once those apps have been modified to support this. 3.2.6 Beta 4 (2014/02/13) - Can now select which temperature gets reported over the ASCOM Focuser.Temperature property 3.2.6 Beta 3 (2014/01/30) - Fixed bug that caused some gamepads to interfere with PWI3 operation 3.2.6 Beta 1, Beta 2 (2014/01/14) - Added field angle calculation for SiTech Alt-Az mounts so that off-axis guiding can be used from CCDAP and ACP on these mounts. 3.2.5 (2013/10/16) - Fixed bug that would cause heater to report "No port found" under some circumstances while connection to Delta-T was still being initialized 3.2.4 (2013/09/05) - Fixed bugs in config file reading/writing, so that things work properly with other computer culture settings (particularly most European countries) - Fixed bugs that prevented EFA kits from being used with non-Digitus USB-to-Serial adapters. Many more adapters should be supported now.