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EXTRAS FROM DIFFRACTION LIMITED
Writing Custom Drivers
We now use ASCOM Standards for all third-party plug-in drivers, including
Cameras, Telescopes, and Focusers. The ASCOM filter wheel standard will be supported shortly.
The old plug-in API for MaxIm DL has been deprecated; drivers written to that API will
continue to function, but it is strongly recommended that you use ASCOM for new drivers.
Sequenced Image Acquisition example script.
This script interprets a simple plan file and, using MaxIm DL/CCD and an ASCOM telescope driver, takes a sequence of
images of various targets.
snr.xls A handy spreadsheet for
calculating signal-to-noise ratio for various CCD sensors under real-life
observing conditions. (If your browser cannot display this file,
right-click the link and save to your hard drive.)
DSLR Cable Tester A simple utility to
check whether your DSLR bulb cable is working properly. Just unzip and run the program. Set
it to connect to your cable, and try opening and closing your shutter.
THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS
ACP Observatory Control Software ACP is a software package for integrating observatory instruments into a unified system. The design goal is to hide all the details if acquiring images of multiple targets. Just tell ACP what and you want and when, and it knows how to do it! It can handle complex LRGB astrophotography, asteroid searching and followup, photometry data acquisition, in short, all of your astronomical imaging needs. Pointing, guiding, focusing, filter changes, image stacking... the entire process is managed hands-off by ACP. Interested in safely sharing your observatory over the internet? ACP has an optional built-in web browser access package!
CCDAutoPilot 3 is an application which uses MaxIm DL, and optionally your telescope and focuser control
programs and instrument rotator, to automate unattended image acquisition. CCDAutoPilot can take sky flats at dusk and/or dawn, slew to the target,
autostart autoguiding, offset focus for each filter position, automatically pier flip at the meridian, park the scope at the end of the session,
take dark frames, and turn off the CCD cooler. During pier flip the application can operate an instrument rotator and reacquire the same guide star.
It can also autofocus at every filter change or at prescribed intervals. Once properly set up for a night's activity, you can go off and do other
things, like view the stars, have a midnight snack, or even hit the sack for the evening!
PEMPro PEMPro gives you powerful tools to
program your mounts periodic error correction firmware to achieve the best possible performance for your
mount. PEMPro dramatically improves guided and unguided imaging resulting in better images and fewer
lost exposures.
Starizona's Anti-Blooming Filter Software.
Imaging Utilities by Ron Wodaski,
including: Calibration Groups, One-shot color Flat Maker, CalGroups, and DeBloomer.
ATC and Ricerca (Search) from Omega Lab. ATC offers systematic
and automatic observation from astronomical object lists, autocentering of framed targets, automatic image mosaics and
startup from the telescope's parked position or nearby star. With Ricerca (Search), perform automated searches for
supernovae, asteroids and comets. Automatically aim, acquire and save images. Save observational data to a database.
Automatically park the telescope and shut the computer off at the end of a session.
FREE PLUG-INS, ADD-ONS, and SCRIPTS
Yankee Robotics Trifid Camera Driver for MaxIm DL/CCD.
DTA Camera Drivers for MaxIm DL/CCD.
John Winfield's Plug-ins for MaxIm DL/CCD, including multi-star guiding, drizzle, sky flats assistant,
alternative debayer algorithms, manual guider calibration, DSS image blink comparator, sky background mangitude measurement, guider settling script, and meteor scan.
Deconvolution Plug-in provides alternative deconvolution methods.
Written by Robert Vanderbei.
RC Console by Russell Croman.
RC Console adds a number of processing functions to MaxIm, and automates a few native MaxIm functions. Adds Sigma-Reject Combine
Normalize Histograms, Sigma-Reject Noise Filter, Anisotropic Gaussian Blur. Batch processes using Hot Pixel Filter, Dead Pixel Filter,
and Double Size.
Sigma Reject Image Combine by Russell Croman.
The sigma-reject algorithm provides a compromise between averaging and median combine. It removes cosmic ray hits and hot pixels,
with minimal loss of overall signal-to-noise ratio.
Sequence
This is an image sequencing utility by Phillip Keller which allows you to dither the guider between exposures.
It also displays a handy guide star position plotting facility, and you can set up the image to be retaken if
the guider error exceeds preset limits. (Note: clear the contents of the maxim.ini file it installs on your disk.)
Quick Stuff Plug-in for MaxIm DL/CCD version 4.0 and later, by Dean Salman. Quick Stuff's functions are; Quick Start (Connects your camera to MaxIm DL and sets the temperature), Quick Path (automatically creates named folders and image files when you commence an imaging sequence) and Quick FITS (add information to FITS headers for a batch of selected image files). Source code is included.
Add Reference Star Plug-in
Ajai Sehgal contributed a plug-in that will add a Gaussian reference star with a sigma of 1.8 and a maximum value
of 65535 (so set this to be a bright magnitude) to an image. The area of the image that is overwritten is a 32x32 box
starting at 0,0. This can be used for doing photometry against a standard reference rather than against a reference
in the image itself. You can then use MaxIm's photometry tool to analyse transparency from night to night.
Normalize Color Chip Flats Plug-in
Magnus Nyborg has contributed this MaxIm DL plug-in. It allows you to create a flat-field for a "one-shot" color camera
such as the MX5-C or LISAA Color, which will not wash out the color information. Visual Basic source code is included.
To use the plug-in, create a flat-field or master flat the usual way. Then run this plug-in command on it (Plug In menu
Normalize Colorchip Flat command). Save the result and enter it in the Set Calibration dialog.
Jeff Medkeff's Software Page
Jeff Medkeff has developed a number of useful scripts and small programs which are compatible with MaxIm DL/CCD and/or
ACP2 and PinPoint. These include ASCOM Widgets, which is a collection of useful scriptable utilities, AcquireImagesGuide.vbs
which finds a guide star from a catalog and autoguides on it, and more.
McImage.vbs This script
is for automated acquisition of images using an SBIG ST7 or
ST8 camera. Target names and positions are read from an input file
supplied at startup. The script initially takes a short image, then
plate-solves it to find the starting coordinates. Subsequent imaging is
done within a loop. The Target name and coordinates are read from the
target list and the telescope is moved. A short image is taken and
plate-solved; the telescope pointing is then refined based on the image
coordinates returned. Finally the long autoguided image is obtained. The
script will search around the target location for a guide star if one is
not available at the initial position.
The author has modified his NGT-18 to allow GOTO capabilities. Thus the
script is run from a program written by the author which implements these
GOTO capabilities: calls to Game.AddScore move the scope. Plate solving of
images is done using modified Charon code (Charon has been written by Bill
Gray of Project Pluto), using the function Game.NextLevel. Finally the
"Caption" function which displays current script progress is
also contained within the author's program. Details can be obtained from
John McClusky at jmcclusky@utsa.edu.
MaxTrack.zip This
program simplifies preparation of offset tracking files for Maxim
CCD. The program uses the mount type, pixel scale, and telescope
orientation to compute a file which Maxim can use for tracking a moving
object. Contributed by John Farrell farrell@sulphurcanyon.com
move_guider.vbs This
script generates an output file suitable for offset
guiding using MaxIm DL. The script prompts the user for the file name and
path, object rate (arc seconds per hour), position angle, time increment
(seconds) for the offset file, and total number of seconds for the file.
Using short time increments is not a problem, as the script does not
introduce errors due to rounding. The total time should be a few minutes
longer than the exposure to allow for stabilization of the guider and
start of the exposure. Note: the
program assumes that North is at the top of the image, and that there are an even number
of mirror surfaces in the optical system. This script was provided by John McClusky jmcclusky@utsa.edu.
Guider.vbs This is a very
simple script which demonstrates basic operation of the autoguider using
scripting. This is not intended to demonstrate practical operation of the
guider, but demonstrates enough to get you started writing your own
scripts.
Automatic Recenter
This simple script takes a series of exposures. On Every 10th exposure it runs a PinPoint solution and recenters the telescope.
Note: a few parameters need to be adjusted by editing the script in Notepad.
VBTrack by Tom Carrico.
VBTrack is a utility which works with MaxIm to provide real time plots of your mount's tracking performance. It
takes the tracking information provided by MaxIm, plots it while you are
tracking and also shows some relevant statistics about how the tracking is going.
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