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I can really use help from fellow members of this forum to hopefully solve a vexing problem I have been having trying to connect my Gen 3 SC with Peter’s original ASCOM driver and George’s new beta ASCOM driver.?

I have flashed (several times) my SC with the version 7.0C firmware obtained from Gary.? The “V” command in Peter’s SCU utility returns 7.0C. ?I use a Nexus DSC (the original, not the Pro, version).? The serial port on the Nexus is connected to the DSC port on the SC.? A USB cord directly connects the USB/PC port on the SC to a USB port on my computer (and over the many tests I have run, I have used different USB ports and different PCs).? Before attempting to connect to an ASCOM driver, I align the SC/DSC and the red DSC LED on the SC goes from blinking to solid on.? (In addition, gotos initiated from the Nexus place the object in my eyepiece.) ?I set the “Find” parameter on the DSC to “From Planetarium.”

I can connect my scope to Peter’s ASCOM driver (through the ASCOM Device Hub) but with only limited functionality.? Peter and I have looked at the Capabilities tab in the ASCOM Device Hub and Peter tells me that my capabilities report is the one he would expect if his driver was connected to an SC with pre-7.0 (legacy) firmware.? In particular, “Can Move Primary Axis” and “Can Move Secondary Axis” both report “False,” when they should both report “True” if connected to an SC with 7.0 firmware.

When I connect my scope to Peter’s SCU utility, I get the initial “status” report that Peter describes in his readme file.? While this report indicates that the firmware version is 7.0C, it incorrectly reports that the scope is NOT aligned and NOT tracking when I believe both are true.? Also, S (status) commands receive a “status update is not available” response.

I cannot connect to George’s ASCOM driver at all. I get an “operation timed out” error message.? After reviewing the logs of my attempts, George has informed me that his driver is sending my scope commands to obtain certain data from the scope but only gets back some of the data requested (the firmware version) and thus can’t proceed.

I have been working with Gary, Peter and George on this problem over the last few weeks with no solution.? We have not yet determined where the problem is originating – my particular SC, the coding for the drivers/SCU utility or something else entirely.

So, I am reaching out to forum members who have already tried to control their SC through ASCOM to ask for your experiences in connecting with either or both of the ASCOM drivers.? Additionally, if you have not yet tried to use an ASCOM driver but have an SC with the latest firmware and are willing to try in order to help out, I would be very grateful.? In particular, we would be interested in the answers to the following questions.

1.? Have any of you experienced the same issues as described above and were you able to resolve them?

2.? Have you successfully connected with/utilized George’s driver??

[I used version 0.6.0.0 of George’s driver in all my tests.? I know that George is working on a new version, which will close some open ASCOM conformance issues, but due to my personal time constraints I needed to post this message now.? I don’t think the expected new version will have any impact on my issues.]

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3.? Can you connect to Peter’s driver through the ASCOM Device Hub?? If so, what are the values of “Can Move Primary Axis” and “Can Move Secondary Axis” on the Capabilities tab?

4.? Does the initial “status” report when you connect to Peter’s SCU utility correctly report the current state of your scope (e.g., alignment and tracking)?? Do you get subsequent status reports when you issue “S” commands?

I am going bald with all of the hair I am pulling out over this problem.? Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated!!!

Paul