Notes
1.If a focus run fails when using AcquireStar, the star may potentially have been seen as a double star. When this occurs a temporary text file "AcquireStarAvoid_Temp.txt" will be created in C:\Users\XXX\Documents\FocusMax V4 which will contain the star designation, coordinates and magnitude of the failed star. This file will be read and the star(s) rejected from further AcquireStar runs for the rest of the night. The user may choose to permanently ignore these star(s) by coping and pasting the star information into the file "AcquireStarAvoid.txt" located in the same directory. The temporary file "AcquireStarAvoid_Temp.txt" will be deleted when FocusMax is restarts.
2.The field size during the star catalog search process is based on the user defined magnitude range in Preferences/AcquireStar for each filter. Since there are more fainter than brighter stars in any given field, the search field size may decrease to speed the search process. To simplify the user interface, a 3rd order polynomial was developed which is used to calculate the initial search field size (see below).
This profile may be modified by user if desired. The relationship may be be any order including a straight line of the type y = mx + b
Star Field Mag Search 4 26 5 20 6 14.5 7 10 8 6.5 9 4 10 2 11 1 12 0.5 13 0.25 14 0.25 15 0.25
|
Work flow:
•Open Excel and generate star magnitude vs field search size (see above)
•Insert a scatter diagram onto the work page
•Insert a Trendline onto the graph. The trend line can be based on an order X^1 to X^4. Be sure to enable display equation for the trendline
•Find tune the data points by adjusting the field size so that the trendline begins to hug or transpose on to scatter diagram
•When completed, open your System.ini file and locate the following
[AcquireStar]
AcquireFieldSearchCoefficients = -0.0219|0.9761|- 14.395|70.378
•The coefficients for the relationship must start with the largest coefficient and must be delimited by '|'
As an example:
Star Field Mag Search 2 40 3 35 4 30 5 25 6 20 7 15 8 10 9 5 10 0.5 |
•To implement, update the System.ini entry
[AcquireStar]
AcquireFieldSearchCoefficients = -4.9667|49.856
or round off as
AcquireFieldSearchCoefficients = -5|50
