wxScopeServer demo
wxScopeServer is available in full C++ source code, see the download section on the main wxAstroCapture page.
Why wxScopeServer?
Some telescopes have native guiding support in wxAstroCapture using serial or parallel ports
directly. This includes ST4, LX200, Celestron NexStar and PowerFlex MTS3. For such telescopes you can
autoguide without wxScopeServer by selecting Port interface, a suitable serial or parallel port and the
relevant protocol.
For other telescopes, wxScopeServer offers a way to connect to any telescope with just
a little programming.
What is wxScopeServer?
The scope server is a small program that serves as a TCP/IP server receiving Bridge Interface
guiding commands from wxAstroCapture. wxScopeServer forwards the guiding instruction to any
telescope controller using serial communication or any other suitable method. As an example,
one could implement ASCOM support on Windows this way (in fact, we would like you to do it and
offer it for others to use!).
wxScopeServer can run on the same computer as wxAstroCapture, but also on another computer in a network.
You can for example run wxAstroCapture on Linux and wxScopeServer on Windows. To specify that wxScopeServer
is running on the same computer as wxAstroCapture, specify localhost for the Bridge interface host.
The scope server uses port 5618 for connections. You can alternatively specify the host as the IP-address
or name of another computer in your network where wxScopeServer is running.
Which telescopes does wxScopeServer demo support?
None. It is a demo project intended to be the starting point for implementing support for new controllers
or platform specific interfaces like ASCOM or INDI. But you can test the demo by downloading one of the
binaries for Windows or Linux and observe how guiding activates the four buttons in the wxScopeServer window.
If you implement a real scope server, these buttons can be used for manual guiding/fine adjustments also.
News for Windows users 20. September 2009 - ASCOM autoguiding
Thanks to the efforts of Tom and Joost Zalmstra of the Netherlands, Windows users can now autoguide
with ASCOM devices using the astrocaptureserver. In this open source implementation, ASCOM autoguiding
is made available via wxAstroCapture's "Bridge interface", just like this wxAstroCapture demo server.
More info and download of ASCOM autoguider server: astrocaptureserver
If you have any questions, please ask in the wxAstroCapture Yahoo group
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I want to implement a wxScopeServer for a real telescope, what do I do?
It is assumed that you understand the C++ programming language. Then download
some free programming tools
- Code::Blocks IDE, http://www.codeblocks.org/. Use one of the
recent "Nightly Builds".
- For Ubuntu or Kubuntu linux,
- Make sure the GNU C++ compiler is installed from the repository.
- Enable the http://apt.wxwidgets.org/ repository and
authenticate it using the key http://apt.wxwidgets.org/key.asc
Then install wxWidgets 2.8.7 using the package manager.
- For Windows,
- For Windows, download the free MS Visual C++ 2005 Express compiler http://www.microsoft.com/express/.
If you already have the full MS Visual C++ 2005 edition, you can use that also.
- Download and build the cross platform GUI library wxWidgets http://www.wxwidgets.org/.
Follow the build instructions for wxMSW and MS Visual C++. Please use version 2.8.7.
- Download the wxScopeServer source from the download section on the main wxAstroCapture page. Open
the Code::Blocks project file wxScopeServer.cbp using Code::Blocks. At this stage,
ask for some assistance to configure Code::Blocks correctly, by asking in the
wxAstroCapture Yahoo group.
- Build the demo wxScopeServer project and test it.
- Search for TODO in the project files and implement support for your telescope.
Please inform the
wxAstroCapture Yahoo group about
the new implementation. We would like to consider it for general use by other users.