[APML] GuideDog - New Webcam Autoguding Software

["Steve Barkes" <sbarkes@zianet.com>]

I've seen a couple of people on this list mention trying to autoguide film
images with a webcam.  I would like to announce the availability of a new
software package to do standalone autoguiding with a webcam.

I started doing film astrophotography about 2 years ago and was looking for
a solution to guide my images.  As I had an SC modified camera, I began
looking for software to use it as an autoguider.  The software available at
the time (about 11 months ago) either didn't support the SC long-exposure
mod, didn't support my mount (LX200), or was designed to alternate frames
with a webcam capture of images.  What I really wanted was a simple
dedicated guider for film images.

So I started working on some software which I have now called "GuideDog".
Even though I developed the code for my scope and camera, I tried to keep it
as generic as possible so that others might find it useful.  After using the
software myself over the last 8 months, I think it's finally to a point
where others might benefit from it, and am making it available at no cost.

GuideDog Features:

* Supports the SC1 modified webcams
* Supports any camera with a Video For Windows driver
* Uses the ASCOM standard for telescope control
* Will guide any scope/mount which implements the ASCOM Pulseguide() method
* Simple interface
* Subpixel guiding on a star centroid
* Audible alarm if lock is lost on the guide star
* No need to install a special driver to control the parallel port
* Tested on Windows 98, 2000, and XP

The software has only been used to guide my LX200 to date, but should be
able to guide the Meade LX, Meade Autostar, Celestron GPS, and Celestron
Nexstar I scopes as a minimum.  The software can be found  here:

http://www.zianet.com/sbarkes/GuideDog/

I would appreciate hearing of any successes using my software with other
scopes/mounts.

Clear Skies!

Steve Barkes
Las Cruces, NM



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