[AstroPy] Does anyone here use The Software Bisque Orchestrate Program?

[Wayne Watson]

You hit a home run with that. Thanks. Not even The Bisque seems to know 
this.

On 8/9/2010 7:15 AM, Eric Jensen wrote:
> Hi Wayne,
>
> I don't know the specific answer to your question, but here are some
> related items that might put you on track to an answer.
>
> First, here's a page from someone who is using Python for telescope/
> camera scripting on a Windows platform:
>
> http://www.astrophotoinsight.com/content/automation-budget-part-2-software
> http://www.astrophotoinsight.com/content/automation-budget-part-3-operation
>
> There is some example Python code on those pages, and all the code is
> in a ZIP file linked at the end of the second page.
>
> That doesn't deal with Orchestrate per se, but shows that Python can
> be used to interface with the Windows Common Object Model (COM)
> interface, so to the extent that Orchestrate exposes a COM interface,
> you should be able to talk to it via Python.
>
>
> On Aug 8, 2010, at 9:56 PM, Wayne Watson wrote:
>
>    
>>   Further, Orchestrate is able to utilize
>> programs written in Visual Basic Script, JavaScript, Perl and other
>> high
>> level languages. If I'm not mistaken it does this in first three
>> languages by the user providing a "compiled" version to Orchestrate.
>> Using, say, VB, one is able to write "auxillary" programs with a GUI
>> as
>> an aid to operation.
>>
>> So my follow up question is will Python work with it Python? Python
>> can
>> produce exe files, as I understand it but neither the Bisque or I know
>> if they work.
>>      
> I don't think you need a compiled version of the script you want to
> run.  All of these are interpreted languages, so all that you need is
> a compiled *interpreter* program to translate the script into system
> calls at runtime.  In the case of JScript or VBScript, the interpreter
> is built into Windows.  In the case of Perl or Python, you just need
> to install a Windows version of the relevant interpreter (i.e. a
> Windows Python distribution).
>
> Also, depending on what you want to do, you may or may not need to
> interface with Orchestrate directly.  If your main goal is to control
> the telescope and you are using TheSky (just guessing since you're
> using Bisque software and it sounds like maybe you've got a Paramount
> mount), you can talk to TheSky directly from Python via its ASCOM
> interface.  If you log into the Software Bisque support site and
> search there, you can find documentation of the objects and methods
> that TheSky exposes.  If you like, contact me off-list and I can send
> you an example script in VBscript that just moves the telescope to a
> particular RA and Dec.  It's not Python code, but it shows the use of
> some of the objects and methods for communicating with a telecope via
> TheSky and wouldn't be hard to translate to Python.
>
> Finally, and more generally, any software you're running that speaks
> ASCOM can, in principle, be controlled via Python (http://ascom-standards.org/About/CompatLang.htm
> ).
>
> Hope this helps -
>
> Eric
>
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>    

-- 
            Wayne Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)

              (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
               Obz Site:  39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

             "An experiment is a question which science poses to
              Nature, and a measurement is the recording of
              Nature’s answer." -- Max Planck


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