Using PinPoint to Generate Simulated Star Field

You can generate a simulated star field with MaxIm if the Full Version of PinPoint is installed

FocusMax must be setup to communicate with a simulator telescope

1.Select the "Simulator 1" or "Simulator 2".system file on the System window by pressing the small square button next to the System field

2.Configure MaxIm camera simulator

In MaxIm, set the Camera model = Simulator

Noise = On

Guide errors = Both

FWHM = 5

Press advanced button

Set the array size 768 x 511

Normalize ADU units to 0.1 sec (guider also)

Pixel Width 10 & Height 10

Uncheck Color and Full frame operation

Connect to the camera

3.Open FocusMax Preferences (Menu / Open / Preferences)

Select MaxIm DL under Camera control

Set camera Number assignment, generally, Camera #1 is the main imaging camera and camera #2 is the second (guiding) camera

Select Simulator Focuser's for both Systems

Select the simulator telescope connection such as TheSky Controlled Telescope and set the telescope to simulator in the planetarium software.

Press colored Connect buttons to connect to your hardware. A blue line will appear if the hardware is connection was successfully established. A black line will appear if the telescope is tracking which is required for simulated stars to be generated.

4.Setup PinPoint

Open the AcquireStar window and select PinPoint as the Plate Solve Method. Enable Simulate starfields

Select the PinPoint Tab and set the path to your catalog. The best best choice is the Guide Star Catalog.

Press the Test PinPoint button to verify that you have a full PinPoint license

Press the Test Catalog button to lookup stars in the selected star catalog. The results will be displayed in the Log

5.Running FocusMax in Simulator Mode

Move the focuser to the mid-point of the focuser travel. This can be determined by opening Preferences / Setup then pressing the small (chooser) focuser button to open the driver then press the Properties button.The mid-point o the focuser travel will be 0.5*Maximum Position. (2500 in the screen example below).

Find and slew the simulator telescope to a star that is 6th mag or fainter - the star should be somewhat isolated from other nearby stars

Press Find and FocusMax will proceed take an image, create a simulated star field, find the brightest star in the field and subframe the star.

Run the FirstLight Wizard to generate a set of Vcurves - note that the star diameter will increase as the focuser moves further away from the mid-point of the focus travel

Press the Focus button focus the system using simulator camera and focuser

Press Select button to use the cursor to select a star to use for autofocus

Setup AcquireStar to automatically select a star for autofocus