I just learned from a friend that Diffraction Limited now has an annual licensing fee, around $100 or $150 per year in addition to the one time purchase price. Is there a licensing fee for Maxim LT? Would Maxim LT be able to do the following in Win 10 1. establish a connection with my ST-8XME camera 2. allow temperature control of the camera 3. take bias and dark frames using the ST-8 camera method for making these frames (can't think a better way to say what I mean) 4. set the integration time (this obviously is done by Maxim LT) and set up a sequence of frames. The sequence is not for stacking. They would be processed either in CCDOPS, CCDSOFT, or Maxim LT to get an average bias and dark frame. Stan
That information isn't quite correct. The license itself is perpetual - the software does not expire. After the first year, if you want to have (a) technical support and (b) get the latest version when it comes out, you would pay an annual support fee. Details here: https://diffractionlimited.com/maxim-dl/ There is a "compare" tab that lets you compare versions. Yes. MaxIm LT replaces CCDOps. Yes Yes Yes. MaxIm has an "Autosave Sequence" feature that lets you take sequences of different types of frames with different filters with different exposure times, and then it will automatically do all of them. MaxIm LT takes exposures and saves them as standard .FITS files which can be used in most astronomy software for processing. MaxIm DL Pro has full image processing capabilities.
Hello Colin, I got back from my trip and just now ran the Runtime and Common Controls installs/updates on the Win 10 Dell 3668 pc. It worked like a charm. Now CCDOPS establishes a connection to the ST-i camera. I'm now ready to purchase MaxIm LT but I just wanted to make sure we understand each other regarding bias and dark frames. The ST-8XME camera has an internal shutter (from what I just read) for these frames and so I just need to make sure that MaxIm LT will control the shutter, i.e., not something I have to do aside from MaxIm LT, when I click on getting a dark frame. Stan
Perfect! Glad to hear that was the missing piece and things are working normally. In MaxIm LT, on the Camera Control, Expose tab, you can choose the type of frame - Light, Dark, Bias, or Flat. Like this, highlighted in the green box: When you pick Dark or Bias, it will close the camera shutter - Bias Frame will be shot at 0 seconds duration, and the Dark at the duration you specify. When you pick Light or Flat, it will open it for the length of time you specify. You can get a Free Trial version of MaxIm to test it out before you buy, if you wish. Visit the page here, and click on the FREE TRIAL tab: https://diffractionlimited.com/maxim-dl/
Hello Colin, My Dell Inspiron 3668 has the following system configuration: Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-7100 CPU @ 3.90GHz 3.91 GHz Installed RAM 8.00 GB Storage 932 GB HDD WDC WD10EZEX-00BBHA0 Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics 630 (128 MB) System Type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor It has 8G memory and since the ST-8XME image size is not large but only 1020 x 1530 pixels I assume I will be able to use MaxIm LT Version 7. Is this correct? If at some time in the future I went to one of the CMOS cameras that have smaller pixels and hence a lot more of them compared to the ST-8XME, according to the internet I can install 16G of memory and will be able to use Version 7. What I would be using MaxIm LT for is pretty simple and you cleared up my concerns about camera control thr0ugh MaxIm LT. I do not think I need to download the free 30 day trial, unless you say I should. Or if one does not get a physical cardboard box as pictured in the website that contains an install disk and the program has to be downloaded instead, then it would make sense to download the 30 day trial. Otherwise I will just order it. Stan
Yes. Yes, upgrading the memory would be a good idea if you buy a camera with more pixels. It is the same electronic download for the trial or permanent license. We email a license key that unlocks the functions. No box, no disk. If you request the FREE TRIAL, we send you a temporary license key good for 30 days. When you purchase the license, we send you a permanent license key.
Hi Colin! I've moved our MaxIM DL over to a new machine and do not have the original full license key as that person did not save the email into a file on our records. I'll message you the info I do have if you could send me what I need to reactivate that would be really helpful.
Hello Colin, The last we communicated I was going to buy Maxim LT so that I can control the SBIG ST-8XME camera. If you recall, CCDSOFT will not work on Win 10 and Software Bisque has no fix (prior communication). I held off on buying LT or downloading the free 30 day trial version for a number of reasons. I had other things to do and since the skies have been horrible and rainy here in Dewey, Az, I was not in a rush. I was not ready to give up on somehow getting the ACER to work. I spent a lot of frustrating time with it yesterday and today and finally gave up on it. I will toss it. Even with a new OS install I cannot do a Windows Update and I cannot install .net Framework 4 or greater. I recently attended a Zoom workshop and became aware of CCDciel. It does not support the ST-8 camera but someone wrote an ASCOM driver for the camera. CCDciel is much more complicated than I need, plus it might be a job getting the ASCOM driver installed. Also, I am not certain it will work. So, I thought I would give one more try to get CCDSOFT to work on the Dell Inspiron 3668 Win 10 machine I have. Remember, in my first paragraph I said I could never get CCDSOFT to work in Win 10. So, here is what I tried, as a last resort. I copied the Software Bisque folder from my Win 7 laptop that has CCDSOFT working, and pasted it in Program Files (x86) in the Win 10 machine. Then I installed CCDSOFT from the almost 20 year install disk I have. The idea here is that the Win 7 install might have something that would allow CCDSOFT to work in Win 10. The install would not delete these files, if any exist. After it installed it, it then, on its own, downloaded the driver checker and I updated the drivers. I launched CCDSOFT and it established a connection with the ST-8 camera and it has full control over the camera. I am very happy. Now I am back in business, but I wonder how it was able to download drivers. The SBIG website no longer exists to do a driver checker and install drivers, and how would it know to go to Diffraction Limited? Did I momentarily enter the Twilight Zone? (-: I suppose the next question might be, was I imagining that CCDSOFT would not work in Win 10? I don’t think so. Not only has this been the situation for a few years, but recently I installed it on my primary Win 10 machine and it did not work. So, thank you for your help. Unfortunately, I will not be buying Maxim LT, at least not yet. Stan
