This section contains information about changes to MaxIm DL.
Version 5.08
OS Support: Added Windows 7 to list of supported operating systems (no actual software changes required).
Layout command: Added new View menu Layout feature, which allows the user to save and restore screen window positions. This can be useful when multiple screen resolutions are in use, such as when using Remote Desktop.
Canon: Added support for Canon Rebel T1i (500D). Added new Live View mode for the Canon 5D Mk II, 50D, and 500D.
Apogee: Driver now retains and auto-restores the temperature setpoint when automatic back-off occurs.
Roper (Princeton/Photometrics): PVCam driver now supports extended binning.
Filter Wheels: added new Dual Wheels plug-in driver, which allows you to stack two filter wheels and operate them as if they were a single wheel. Fixed SX Filter Wheel prematurely reporting move completion. Loosened some restrictions on having two filter wheels.
Camera Control: Guider calibration now uses the star matching algorithm from the Stack command to increase robustness of the calibration procedure. Calibration now takes account of guider binning, so you can change binning without having to recalibrate. Tracking error alarms user interface has been improved. Camera status display now shows current filter position. Auto-dark reset can now act on one or all auto-dark buffers. Moved guider camera settings from Settings dialog box to Options drop list. Fixed several minor problems related to autoguider and filter wheel control and status reporting. Improved Autosave time estimation algorithm. Fixed problems with Resume Autosave and Mosaic Starting Tile Number features. Fixed problem with autoguiding in Basic version. Corrected PulseGuide timing for ASCOM Camera plug-in.
Observatory window: Added new option to synchronize Rotator to PinPoint solution. Status pane now shows transit time for current object when a German Equatorial mount is in use; this helps with planning meridian flips. FOV indicator now flips orientation to match telescope pier flip. FOV indicator definition now permits entering autoguider chip spacing as center-to-center, to match SBIG's published data. FOV can now be turned on/off from context menu. Added some minor right-click menu enhancements. Enhanced ASCOM driver error displays.
Screen Stretch: internal improvements to display acceleration algorithms.
Mosaics: Added TILEXY keyword to FITS header when mosaics are being acquired. This keyword is subsequently used by the Stack command to differentiate between the various image fields.
COM interface: Added COM property CCDCamera.GuiderBinning.
Zoom: Mouse-wheel zooming now recenters mouse after first rezoom, to prevent unexpected drift in zoom-to position.
Miscellaneous: Information window can now be resized. Fixed potential crash in Stack command when using Calibration with Remove Bad Pixels option. Fixed excess CPU usage when idle in Set Calibration command. Fixed position display not updating when dragging tags in the Photometry command. Fixed sense of position angle display in PinPoint command, and increased the height of the status display window. Fixed a problem with image processing plug-in installation on Vista/Windows 7 systems. Fixed File Details display under Windows 7. Minor fix to Process Levels command. Fixed glitch in DSI driver. FITS header I/O now blocks illegal characters from being entered into header.
Version 5.07
SBIG: Added support for SBIG STX series cameras. Fixed occasional unwarranted Error 100 status on filter wheel.
Flip-Flat: Added support for the Alnitak Astrosystems Flip-Flat. The Flip_Flat appears as a "filter wheel", and thus can be reconfigured during Autosave sequences. Two filter wheels are now allowed when only one camera is connected; this is to support operating Flip-Flat simultaneously with a filter wheel.
Starlight Xpress: Added support for the Starlight Xpress filter wheel. Added Full Calibration capability for the Starlight Xpress AO unit. This will allow hot pixel subtraction during calibration and guiding. Prevented SX AO from crashing if not configured properly.
Meade DSI: Improved driver installation.
DSLRs: Revamped Olympus driver now supports E-1, E-300, E-330, E-400, E-410, E-500 and E-510 and works under Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Vista 64. Updated Nikon redistributable files. Made minor tweaks to Canon driver.
ASCOM Cameras: Improved abort behavior. Improved status display on abort. Implemented HasShutter feature.
Orion StarShoot: Added support for the Orion StarShoot Monochrome III Deep Space Imager.
File menu Settings: Added option to auto-connect equipment on program start. Also added option to open the camera control window but not automatically connect.
Audible Alarms: Redesigned Alarms user interface.
FITS files: Added FITS keys for focuser position, step size, and position. Added FITS key for rotator angle. Minor improvements to FITS Header Editor. User can now specify value for FITS keys that are normally auto-generated by MaxIm DL, if the auto-generation does not occur; for example, you can specify FILTER when no filter wheel is connected.
Filter Wheels: Focus offsets now automatically disable/enable temperature tracking as needed (some wheels do not permit move commands while temperature tracking is on). Improved focus offset initialization. Eliminated excessive filter wheel delays that could occur under certain circumstances.
Stack: If Set Calibration settings are changed, previous quality measurements are now automatically reset. Image names are now filtered to remove characters that are illegal for filenames. When classify by Object is off and Classify by Filter is on, LRGB subgroups are now automatically created. Fixed destination folder not being persisted. Improved handling of various anomalous conditions.
Set Calibration: Replace w/Masters now ignores disabled groups. Added more logging information. Settings are now written to disk more frequently.
Photometry: Fixed problem that could arise if the user did not set the reference star magnitude.
Autoguiding: Added new option to reverse both X and Y guiding outputs upon pier flip (useful when using the new TheSky-Controlled Telescope PulseGuide feature). Fixed problem with subframes when changing guider binning. Fixed problem with AO bump calibration at certain rotation angles. Fixed problem with Guider Settle by Distance during autosave sequences.
Observatory Control: Fixed a problem whereby image overlays could trigger PinPoint repeatedly. Fixed problem with Auto-Center calibration via PinPoint not handling angles properly.
Scripting: Added min and max pixel math functions.
Samples: Moved from My Documents to Program Files folder, to avoid reinstallation when creating a new user account.
Miscellaneous: Added FITS header keys FOCUSPOS, FOCUSSZ, FOCUSTEM, and ROTATANG. Fixed problem with restoring subframe settings after an autofocus run. Added Apogee INI files to the Obsolete Driver Pack. Improved window position restoration on multi-monitor systems. Improved editing of cells in list controls. Improved behavior of Virtual Keypad for combo boxes. Improved filtering of mouse clicks to prevent unintended changes to subframe and guide star selection. Fixed crash on drag-and-drop of Canon RAW files. Improved enabling/disabling of cooler control buttons. Coordinates can now be entered with colon delimitors. Fixed problem with rotation and subframe handling when swapping cameras. Improved Tracking Error Graph display. Presets now persist the camera choice. Minor improvements to focuser display. Fixed crash on Curves command save/load feature. Fixed persistence of Show Details in File Open/Save. Reordered "Files of type" dropdown for several commands. Force cached settings out to files prior to saving new Configuration. Fixed Exposure Delay feature in Continuous mode.
Version 5.06
Fixed an intermittent crash in the camera control window. Fixed a problem the guider binning settings to being retained. Minor tweaks to Stack command. Fixed problem with Folder Picker dialog positioning on dual monitor systems. Minor internal enhancements to the ASCOM camera plug-in interface.
Version 5.05
Added new Extract Bayer Plane feature. This allows you to isolate a single color plane from Bayer-encoded ("raw") color images.
Stack: Reorganized the right-click menus for clarity. Functions that only work on groups are now available at all times; e.g. even if an image is selected in the tree view rather than its parent group. This includes the Color tab, which some users had trouble figuring out how to activate. An option is now available to write the completed images to disk. When stacking multi-filter color images, you can now request that the individual planes be retained in addition to the assembled color image . Manual one-star alignment now determines scaling from FITS header binning values. When manually aligning, the auto-next function now chimes at the end of each image set. Improved Stack error detection and display, and added more information to the Log. Apply Alignment has been renamed Computer and Align Image, and has been enhanced to automatically compute the alignment if it has not already been done. Fixed a bug whereby clicking on the image would sometimes unexpectedly activate image drag alignment mode.
Set Calibration: Improved user interface controls for Auto Generate, which can now either keep old groups or clear them. A history list is now available for the Auto Generate path; a delete button is available to drop paths from the history. The browse button now has a folder icon. Groups list is now sortable by clicking on the heading row. Files can be added to the currently-selected group by drag-and-drop. The keyboard Delete key can now be used to remove files or groups. Now displays a progress dialog, which can be used to abort processing if needed. Improved defaults and settings retention for various features, including Boxcar, Sigma Clip, and SD Mask settings.
Batch Save and Convert: Added progress dialog, which can be used to abort processing if needed.
Configurations: Improved user interface so it remembers most recently saved or loaded configuration name. This makes it easier to update the current Configuration.
Pixel Math: Added new Minimum and Maximum options.
Camera Control: Added new option to automatically create subfolders by date when using Autosave. Fixed Autosave window sometimes popping up when program restored from minimized state. Fixed problem with auto-tricolor mode skipping the Green plane when autoguiding. Fixed problem with FITS header DATE_OBS key when imaging in TDI mode.
Guiding: Fixed a problem with autoguider calibration when a very hot pixel is located very close to the edge of the window. Fixed a problem with long delays due to incorrect operation of guider settling feature. Fixed problem with autoguider binning/subframes not being retained when the camera was disconnected.
Scripting: Fixed a problem with CCDCamera.StartSequence. Fixed a problem with CCDCamera.Expose failing to start exposure if the guider is running and the same driver is being used to control two separate cameras.
Observatory: Improved error messages on Focus tab.
Meade DSI: Fixed problem with temperature display on DSI III.
Dome control: Dome slaving parameters now retain fractional values.
Rings cursor: Fixed problem in increase/decrease commands when using Large Rings mode.
DSLR drivers: Included new driver update from Canon. Fixed a problem that could cause excessive delays on some computers.
Version 5.04
DSLR drivers: Added support for Canon EOS 5D Mk II. Fixed problem with long exposures on Canon EOS 1D Mark III, and mirror lock-up on the Canon EOS 40D. Fixed a problem with drivers losing time on some computers. Fixed problem with accessing high COM ports for bulb cables.
Observatory Focus tab: Added ability to manually select the star to use for focusing. Added the ability to subframe so that stars near the edge of the frame will not be auto-selected. Improved focuser polling. Also improved automatic star selection and added autofocus data to the Log window.
Observatory Telescope tab: Improved slew limits feature.
Camera Control Guide tab: Fixed a problem that could prevent calibration from detecting stars under certain circumstances. Added new automated Anti-Stiction feature. Added "Small Stars" option to allow the user to turn off hot pixel rejection when images are very undersampled. Added option to automatically save autoguider calibration images to disk.
SBIG AO: Fixed problem with 4x4 binning mode.
Stack: Added Auto Make Pixels Square feature. Fixed a problem with Apply Alignment function. Added tool tip to tree view to alert users to the right-click menu.
Threshold: Fixed problem with threshold enable check boxes.
Camera Control TDI tab: fixed user interface problem that can result in extraneous error messages.
Remove Bad Pixels: improved to allow larger bad pixel maps.
Version 5.03
New cameras supported: Canon EOS 50D and Canon Rebel XS 1000D.
Stack command: Added Drizzle capability. Improved handling of images previously "on-the-fly" calibrated; calibrated frames are now retained when Stacker is closed and reopened, and all calibrated frames are flushed if you change Set Calibration. Percentage of rejected outlier pixels are now recorded in the Log window for Sigma Clip and SD Mask. Image Scale display now works correctly.
Photometry command: Added support for new "AAVSO Extended Format" for observation reports.
Camera Control window: TDI mode is now available (where supported by camera driver). The guide star detection algorithm was improved, especially when working with undersampled images. Increased dither range. Fixed a glitch in Autosave that could cause incorrect filter to be selected under certain conditions. Fixed potential crash in Autosave on first usage. Fixed potential glitch in filter wheel handling following slews commanded by the Observatory window. Lowered minimum auto-dark pedestal to 10 ADU, for use with 8-bit guiders. Fixed minor user interface glitches in Scheduled Mode. Fixed a discrepancy between the Guider status scripting properties and their documented behavior.
Observatory window: Added controls to override or modify SideOfPier information from ASCOM telescope drivers (some drivers report SideOfPier backwards or simply wrong). Added prompt to request user to manually set the mount type if the ASCOM driver does not report it (to ensure correct SideOfPier handling). Size and position of the Zoom display is now shown on the All Sky tab. Corrected sense of angle for Rotator display on Zoom tab. Zoom tab now displays Bayer, Flamsteed or HIP instead of GSC ID, when available. Minor tweaks to mouse handling in AllSky tab. Catalog tab now clears Object ID field when selecting Stars category to allow the list to be populated. Fixed problems with catalog region search feature. Telescope sync commands and errors are now copied to the Log window. Fixed some glitches in image overlays. Focuser polling was optimized to reduce traffic.
Apogee USB/Net driver: Preflash option is now exposed in Readout Mode drop list instead of Camera Settings. This makes it easier for the user to select modes, and also makes it accessible from the scripting interface.
SBIG camera drivers: Added support for Normal and Fast readout for the AO driver. Improved CFW10 serial protocol. Some minor internal tweaks to SBIG Universal plug-in.
PinPoint: Basic plate solution information is now copied to the Log window.
Kernel Filters: Median filter operations are now faster.
Other minor changes: Fixed improper calibration error recovery in Batch Save and Convert. Fixed a problem with autosave numbering when the target file extension is not ".fit". Fixed Batch Processing problems affecting Pixel Math and persistence of the command script. Fixed crash in Lucy-Richardson Deconvolution. Fixed problem misreading RAW file headers when opening multiple files simultaneously. Fixed some FITS header fields being set incorrectly when cameras are swapped. Added some missing Starlight Xpress install files. Fixed memory management problem in one mode of the Convert Color command. Fixed several problems related to Unicode Windows versions (such as Chinese and Japanese). Fixed missing DSUSB option for Canon EOS 1 driver. Autofocus now returns the focuser to its original position when an autofocus run is aborted. Fixed crash in toolbar customization dialog.
Version 5.02
Camera Control window: Added support for Nikon D300. Scheduled Sequence mode now works. When running two identical camera models, camera control now saves settings for the two cameras in different places, so they can each be configured differently. Added ISO control to automation interface, and fixed glitch with autofocus control functions. Added guider cooler information to guider status display. Removed DSLR drivers improperly showing on the Filter drop list. Fixed crash on camera disconnect when running SX-AO. Fixed problem with getting temperature setpoint from wrong camera when swapping roles. Added code to ensure that subframes remain full size when changing binning. Fixed problem clearing auto-dark buffer for unregulated camera models.
Observatory Control window: Fixed pier flipping compensation for telescope auto-center calibration. Fixed improper "expose after slew" behavior for dithering and mosaic capture. Fixed merdian line display. Fixed readback of position from FITS header. Fixed errors in Julian Day and Airmass calculations. Added Airmass to FITS header. Fixed intermittent problem with dome alignment calculation. Fixed initial display of Rotator position.
Image Processing: Added Canon Rebel XSi and Nikon D300 to the Convert Color presets. File Open command now defaults File Format to Auto. Fixed File Save As overwrite not being recognized if file extension not present. Fixed crash on saving JPEG to Raw. Set Calibration now preserves the state of the Boxcar check box. Fix glitch in Batch Save and Convert, Move to Subfolder option. Fixed a problem with LRGB color combining that could cause black speckles. Fixed intermittent "Out of memory" error in Stack command. Added binning FITS header keywords to Stack command output images. Manual align modes in Stack command now recalculate all image alignments when the Reference image is adjusted.
Version 5.01
Canon EOS 2 driver now supports Windows Vista for all cameras including the Digic III camera models. Please note that Canon has decided not to support the older models operated through the Canon EOS 1 driver under Windows Vista.
Various Stack command improvements and fixes. Added new Individual stack mode, which is useful for multispectral imaging. Removed extraneous document sometimes appearing in list. Improved handling of deletions from the tree view. Corrected some generated FITS keyword values. Fixed a bug that could cause intermittent crashes under some conditions.
Fixed problem with certain planetarium and telescope settings not being saved in Observatory Control window. Also now force the telescope tracking state to match the Sidereal Tracking check box, and fixed a problem with synchronous-slewing telescope models.
Several changes to File Open/Save dialogs. Fixed problem with displaying thumbnails when "Hide extensions for known file types" is turned on in Windows Explorer. Changed Save As folder location policy as it conflicted with new Windows Vista dialog design. Fixed potential crash in Windows Vista.
Fixed missing guider control panel for the SBIG STV.
Fixed scrambled main window display under certain conditions when using SBIG AO.
Corrected Dual Chip Mode to ignore Filter Wheel 2.
Fixed several problems in Autosave Sequences, including incorrect ISO values, readout mode selection, missing ISOSPEED FITS keyword, Load Sequence, and color saving for certain plug-in drivers.
On the Expose tab, fixed a problem with resetting autodark buffers, a conflict between script and GUI when selecting the filter wheel position, and New Buffer is now properly disabled in Continuous mode.
The Camera Control window Setup tab now remembers the selected camera by name, rather than by index. This prevents the selection from changing when new camera models are added.
Minor adjustment to SBIG Universal driver to reduce CPU burden under certain circumstances.
Version 5.00
Baseline release.