Rigel wifi-nSTEP User manual

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2020 Page 1 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
Hardware Connection
1) Connect Stepper motor to wifi-nSTEP using supplied VOICE cable. Do not
use DATA cables. VOICE cables can be identified by looking at the ends of
the cable. Color of wires are reversed comparing one end to the other.
2) Connect wifi-nSTEP to external 12V DC using supplied power cable --
steppers will not work without 12V DC connected
3) Connect wifi-nSTEP to PC usb port using supplied USB cable
4) MANUAL OPERATION: For ALL modes of operation, 12V must be supplied.
wifi-nSTEP can be operated from PC and manually.
•For pc + manual operation, Slide mode switch to usb
•For standalone manual operation, unplug usb cable and slide mode
switch to 12V.
Press button to move focus in a direction. Rotate button speed knob to vary
speed from slow to fast.
High Speed mode. While holding the first button down press the second
button to switch to high speed in that direction.
5) Optional temperature probe plugs into 2.5mm jack.
Before Installing Software
Make sure that your windows account has ADMIN privilege as ADMIN privilege is
required to install drivers in Windows
Driver signature enforcement should only be disabled if you are positive that you
need it to be disabled. Driver signature enforcement can be re-enabled by simply
rebooting.
Preparing To Disable Driver Signature Enforcement In Windows 8/8.1
•Press Win + C on your keyboard to open the Windows Charm bar.
•Select the gear icon in the charm bar. Selecting this icon will bring you to the
modern ui control panel.
WINDOWS 8
•Select ‘General‘, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click on the
restart button located under the ‘Advanced Startup‘ section.
•After restarting in the advanced mode, a screen will come up with two options.
Select the ‘Troubleshoot‘ option.
•When the ‘Troubleshoot‘ option is selected, another window will appear. Find
and click the option that says ‘Advanced options’.
•In the advanced options window, select the ‘Startup settings‘ option.
•Inside the ‘Startup settings‘ window, a list of selectable boot options will
appear. Press the F7 key to disable driver signature enforcement.
•Once you’ve selected the option to disable driver signature enforcement reboot
back into windows.
WINDOWS 8.1 or 10
•In the Modern UI control panel find ‘Update & recovery‘ on the left hand side of
the menu.
•Once in ‘Update & recovery,’ select ‘Recovery‘ in the list of options on the left
hand side of the modern ui menu.
•After restarting in the advanced mode, a screen will come up with two options.
Select the ‘Troubleshoot‘ option.
•When the ‘Troubleshoot‘ option is selected, another window will appear. Find
and click the option that says ‘Advanced options’.
•In the advanced options window, select the ‘Startup settings‘ option.
•Inside the ‘Startup settings‘ window, a list of selectable boot options will
appear. Press the F7 key to disable driver signature enforcement.
•Once you’ve selected the option to disable driver signature enforcement reboot
back into windows.

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2020 Page 2 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
Software Installation
1) Download and install the ASCOM platform from
http://ascom-standards.org/index.htm
2) Go to http://www.astrogene1000.com/products/gcusb_nstep/gcusb_nstep.htm
3) Click on
http://www.astrogene1000.com/products/gcusb_nstep/GCUSB_nSTEP1_wROT_Setup_8.0.0.exe
4) Double click on the “GCUSB_nSTEP Setup.exe” and run the exe
5) Accept license agreement and proceed
6) For Windows 10, skip ahead to step 13. Windows 10 now has usb drivers. To see which COM
port the wifi-nSTEP is on, use the windows device driver and look for a new usb device. COM port
assignments can be changed to match in the SETUP window in the ASCOM driver.
For Windows 7, go to http://www.astrogene1000.com/products/gcusb_nstep/gcusb_nstep.htm
7) Click on http://www.astrogene1000.com/products/gcusb_nstep/gcusb_nstep_inf.zip then double
click to unzip.
8) Open the folder where the GCUSB_nSTEP executable is installed (left side of image below), and
drag the “gc_usb_nSTEP1” setup information and security catalog files into it. . REMEMBER the
directory for step 10 in case you need to explicitly point the Device Manager to the directory.

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2020 Page 3 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
9) Plug the wifi-nSTEP hardware into a USB port and device drive should install. If it doesn’ then
follow step 10.
10) Open Device Manager, click on Other Devices, click on nSTEP device, pick Driver tab and select
Update Driver. On next screen, select “browse local disk” and let it go to town!
11) Driver is installed ☺so select Close.
12) Select PORTS (COM & LPT) in the Device Manager. USB to focus stepper controller (COM#)
is displayed, with COM port assigned. You will need to know this COM port to setup the GCWifi-
nSTEP application. You must change the COM port assignment by clicking on the USB to focus
stepper controller, select the Port Settings tab, select Advanced and selecting a “virgin” COM
Port Number (one that doesn’t say “in use”) to avoid problems with settings from other
applications. For backwards compatibility, values are 1-16.
13) Ready to go ☺Use the shortcut on your desktop to activate the Wifi-nSTEP application.
1 Year limited warranty: Rigel Systems, 26850 Basswood Ave, Rancho Palos Verdes CA, 90275
warrants to the original consumer purchaser of its product that the product will be free of defects in
material or workmanship 1 year from the date of purchase under normal use. During this warranty
period, Rigel Systems will, at its option, repair or replace the product without charge for parts or labor
when delivered to Rigel Systems with proof of the date of purchase and a statement of the problem
with the product. Shipping and handling charges to Rigel Systems are your responsibility. This
warranty does not apply if the product has been altered or repaired by anyone other than Rigel
Systems or has been subjected to purchaser abuse, accident, negligence or damage subsequent to
purchase including battery damage to product. This warranty excludes incidental or consequential
damages resulting from the product or use of the product. The product is not a toy. Keep away from
children.
For more information visit http://www.rigelsys.com

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 4 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
Control Window
Position:
Where the driver thinks the focuser is. For
nSTEP this is truly always relative to a point you
set in the SETUP screen.
In/Out:
Press to move in or out the number of “steps”
indicated by the 'sliders' setting.
Slider
Select number of 'pulses' to do for each press of
an In/Out or C
CIn/COut
Equivalent to repeatedly pressing the In/Out
buttons. nSTEP will continue to move until you
release the button.
Manual Steps
Displays the value selected on 'slider', or you can
manually enter the number of “pulses
Connect to nSTEP:
Check box to connect control software to wifi-
nSTEP hardware via the COM port selected in
the setup screen (below).
Note: Once connected to the nSTEP you cannot
disconnect without quitting program.
Note: An ASCOM application opening the driver
will force this connection when “Linked”
Temp:
Displays the current temperature in degC or
degF for the temperature probe is attached to the
wifi-nSTEP
Temperature Sensor Detected
The software will “check” this box if it detects that
a temperature probe is connected to the wifi-
nSTEP. If temp probe detected then you can
choose to allow automatic temperature
compensation.
Temperature Compensation
Check box to enable temperature compensation
but note that manual focusing is disabled while in
temperature compensation mode.
Setup
Select to display wifi-nSTEP setup window.
Traffic
Select to display ASCOM wifi-nSTEP command
traffic with wifi-nSTEP hardware.
Position Button
Select to expand window to display the Stored
Position / Internal Temperature Compensation
features.
Stored Position
.
Lets user make change major elements with
large differences in focal plane easily by focusing
once and then saving the position with annotation
for later 'GoTo' when this element is used
(camera1 to camera2 to eyepiece type '1' to
eyepiece type '2').
Save
Saves the current position
Goto
Moves the focuser to the saved position
Description
Lets the user label the position for ease of
operation.
Internal Temp Comp
This function runs the temperature internally to
the nSTEP so a user can actually configure it
and then exit the ASCOM driver, the nSTEP will
keep on 'auto' compensating.
This internal temperature compensation is -not-
controlled by the higher level ASCOM API for
temperature compensation, the higher level API
uses the temp comp of the ASCOM driver. The
internal compensation should not be used if the
higher level API's are used.
DeltaT
This is the temperature change x10 to trigger a
compensation. The nSTEP uses a fixed point
value here which is 10X the real temperature
change desired. Examples: -005 = move in "-"
direction when temp changes by 0.5C, +015 =
+1.5C change must be detected before triggering
a compensation. The values can range from -100
(-10.0C) to +100(+10.0C) in increments of
5(0.5C). The sign signifies whether to move + or -
steps on a change.
Move/DeltaT
Move this many steps for each Delta Temp
change. Direction of movement controlled by
sign of DeltaTemp
Backlash
Apply this number of steps in last move direction
before reversing direction. Range 0 through 100
with 0 = no backlash takeup
Second/Avg
Temperature will be averaged over this number
of seconds. Range 1 to 75 seconds. Set to a
lower value for more immediate changes. A lower
value may cause 'hunting' if the sensor is
detecting a value that is just toggling slightly (e.g.
from 17.5C to 18.0C to 17.5C).
Off
Internal compensation turned off.
Auto
Internal compensation runs all the time. Mutually
exclusive with the ASCOM drivers temperature
compensation.
Manual
Temperature compensation done once on
demand. Mutually exclusive with the ASCOM
drivers temperature compensation.
Prime for manual
Must press 'Prime for Manual' then 'SaveT' to
set the device's current temperature and position
so it knows where to start from. After that, press
SaveT while 'Manual' is set to force a
compensation at the current temperature. Useful
for focusers with backlash when you do not want
compensation running in the middle of an
exposure as taking up the backlash will throw
image out of focus even more if direction of
motion reverses.

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 5 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
Setup Window
nSTEP Serial Port:
Set to the COM port number assigned to the wifi-
nSTEP hardware when first plugging it into a usb
port on your computer. You can confirm/change
the wifi-nSTEP hardware COM port number
using the WINDOWS DEVICE MANAGER. For
backwards compatibility, valid values are 1-16.
Focuser Settings
Maximum Position: Value is used by the
Absolute Focuser Type (see below).
Maximum Increment: Maximum number of
“steps” to send to the nSTEP at one time.
Generally used to limits the number of “moves”
an ASCOM autofocus application can execute
during each call to the wifi-nSTEP ASCOM
driver.
Step Time On (ms): Sets the duration of a
“step”. Valid range is 1-250 ms.
Focuser Type
Absolute: Select Relative Focuser Type, rack
focuser all the way in (to 'Home') and then press
Reset Position. The gcwifi-nSTEP software will
will set the racked-all-the-way-in position to
00000. Now Select Absolute Focuser Type
which limits focuser position to between 00000
and Maximum Position in ASCOM applications.
Relative: Does not enforce limits on focuser
position. Uses Maximum Position value to set
the current position to half the max position
value, when you press Reset Position.
Reverse Direc: OBSELETE, see PHASE
SELECT for reversing stepper direction.
Half Step: Energizes 1 or two coils at a time,
doubling step resolution.
Full Torque: Highest power mode, two coils
always energized.
Coils Off: Turn coils off after stepping to save
power and reduce heating of the stepper motor.
Only use with a gear-head stepper a non-
gearhead stepper may slip lifting heavy loads
Phase Select: set in factory to 0. If you desire
reverse direction, set to 3. Can be used for any
possible the phase wirings. Allow a person to
wire the phases in any order then chose one of 3
normal direction (0,1,2) and 3 reverse settings
(3,4,5) settings in software to drive them.
Reset Position
Press to set the current focuser position to zero.
Basic/Advanced
Toggles between displaying the Advanced (full
screen as shown at left) or Basic setup (only
upper half of screen)
Cancel
Cancel setup changes and, return to the control
window.
OK
Apply all changes to setup and return to control
window.
Capabilities
Temperature Sensor Detected: If temperature
probe is attached this box will be 'checked' and
enable other menu items.
Temperature Compensation: Enable automatic
temperature compensation. Manual movement is
disabled If "Apply Backlash on Temp Comp" is
chekced then apply backlash if moving "IN", else
if moving "OUT"
Temperature
Current Temperature: As read from
temperature probe (if attached).
Delta T: For a change of Delta T, move
"Steps/DeltaT"
Steps/DeltaT: Number of “steps” to move if
"Delta T" temperature change is detected
Centigrade: Check box to report temperature in
Centigrade, otherwise temperature will be
displayed in Farenheit.
Comp Backlash: Move this number of pulses to
compensate for backlash in DC motor gears.
# readings to average: Read the temperature
probe this number of times, average the
readings, and display the result as the
temperature and use when applying temperature
compensation.

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 6 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
iPhone/iPAD
1) Download and install GCnSTEP from app
store.
2) Power up your wifi-nSTEP with wifi
3) In the Settings -> wifi menu, connect to the
astrogene1000-XXXX access point
4) Launch the GCnSTEP app,
press Connect
Android phone and tablets
1) Download and install GCnSTEP1b1TCP from the
android app store. One such location is
2) Power up your wifi-nSTEP with wifi
3) In the Settings -> wifi menu, connect to the
astrogsene1000-XXXX access point
4)
5) Launch the GCnSTEP1b1TCP, press Android
Menu at bottom of screen (3 dots or 3 dashes,
usually) then Connect. If you have trouble finding
the Android Menu, go to phone settings =>
Accessibility => Dexterity and Interaction =>
Assistant menu. At the top right, slide the off
button to On. Now on all screens is a little round
button with 4 dots on it, if you touch it a round
button with three dots (more options) appears,
touch it and “connect a device” appears.
Web Browser on PC, phone
or tablet
Safari, Firefox, Chrome and other
FIRST TIME SETUP
1) In your device’s wifi menu, connect to the
astrogene1000-XXXX access point using
default password 1234567890
2) Go to LOGIN page 192.168.200.1:8888
and log in with default
username/password admin/admin
3) Change wifi and admin passwords on
SETUP page
4) Save changes
Web Browser on PC, phone
or tablet
Safari, Firefox, Chrome and other
1) In your device’s wifi menu, connect to
the astrogene1000-XXXX access point
2) Start your web browser
3) Goto CONTROL page
192.168.200.1:8888

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 7 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
TOP LEVEL DISPLAY
1) Shows current position (P=)
2) Stepping type (Half, Wave, Full), Wave
shown
3) Coils On, Off after move (0 or 1) 1 = Coils
Off shown
4) Stepping phase selected (0, 1 or 2) to
match motor wiring, 0 = phase select
shown
5) Current Temperature reading
6) Current Speed selected on slider (=0146
steps/second)
Stepper Controls
1) Menu button: press to cycle through the top
level menus
2) SMenu button: Press to cycle through sub-
menus for current top menu’s
3) F+ button: Use for Focus on top level menu,
4) selections on sub menu’s
5) F- button: used for focus on top level menu,
selections on sub menu’s
6) Slider – move left to go slower, right to go
fast, will only go as fast as Max Speed allows
(see below under Motor Setup)
NOTE
There is a “deadman” timer of 10 seconds
on F+ and F- presses, so if wifi connection
is lost, stepper does not continue to move
after 10 seconds. As a result if you press
F+ or F- for longer than 10 seconds, you will
have to release and press again to continue
the focus change.
Please consult the wifi-nSTEP manual for
additional information on commands.
Menu Tree
0 Top Level
1 Display Setup
-Brightness
-Backlight Always On
-Backlight On Time
-Set Slider Max Speed
- Contrast
2 Goto Position
-0:SXXXXXX GoTo=I
-1:SXXXXXX GoTo=I
-2:SXXXXXX GoTo=I
-3:SXXXXXX GoTo=I
-4:SXXXXXX GoTo=I
3 Save Position
-Confirm Zero U/D=Y
-0:SXXXXXX
-1 “
-2 “
-3 “
-4 “
4 Motor Advanced
- Set stepping
-Set coils On/Off
-Set phase
5 Temp Setup
- Temp Delta
-Temp Move
-Temp Backlash
-Internal Temp Compensation Mode
-Do Temp Compensation

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
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From TOP LEVEL DISPLAY, press Menu
ONCE for
DISPLAY SETUP
While in DISPLAY SETUP press S-Menu
ONCE for
BRIGHTNESS
use F+ and F- to change screen brightness
While in DISPLAY SETUP press S-Menu
TWICE for
BACKLIGHT ALWAYS ON
Press F+/F- to toggle backlight always on
While in DISPLAY SETUP press S-Menu
THRICE times for
BACKLIGHT ON TIME
If Backlight Always On (=1) display will confirm,
otherwise
If Backlight Always On = 0 (No)
Press F+/F- to change, value is in seconds
While in DISPLAY SETUP press S-Menu
FOUR times to
SET SLIDER MAX SPEED
Use F+/F- keys to change the maximum
allowed speed choice on the slider
While in DISPLAY SETUP press S-Menu FIVE
times for
CONTRAST
not used in Android system, no affect if F+ or F-
pressed

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 9 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
From TOP LEVEL DISPLAY, press Menu
TWICE for
GOTO POSITION
Press S-Menu multiple times to select one of 5
stored positions to Goto then press F+ to force
GoTo the position shown
From TOP LEVEL DISPLAY, press Menu
THRICE for
SAVE POSITION
Press S-Menu multiple times to select slot 0
through 4 then press F+ to save current
position in the selected slot.
While in SAVE POSITION press S-Menu
ONCE to
CONFIRM ZERO
Confirm Zero U/D=Y
Press F+ to zero position
Any other Button will not force zero

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 10 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
From TOP LEVEL DISPLAY, press Menu
FOUR times for
MOTOR ADVANCED
While in MOTOR ADVANCED press S-Menu
ONCE to
SET STEPPING
Use F+/F- keys to change the stepping type
See ‘W’ in display, W=Wave, H=Half, F=Full
While in MOTOR ADVANCED press S-Menu
TWICE to
SET COILS ON/OFF
Use F+/F- keys to change the Coils On/Off
This is indicated by 0 (On) or 1 (Off) to the
right of the stepping type (to right of H below)
While in MOTOR SETUP press S-Menu
THRICE to
SET PHASE
Use F+/F- keys to change the phase select
This is indicated by 0,1,2,3,4,5 to the right of
the stepping type (to right of H below). Factory
setting is 0 for our steppers and most others.
To reverse direction set to 3.

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 11 of 12 www.rigelsys.com
From TOP LEVEL DISPLAY press Menu
FOUR times to enter
TEMP SETUP
While in TEMP SETUP press S-Menu ONCE
for
DeltaTemp
This is the temperature change x10 to trigger a
compensation.
Use F+/F- keys to change the Delta Temp
value
While in TEMP SETUP press S-Menu TWICE
for
TempMove
Move this many steps for each Delta Temp
change. Direction of movement controlled by
sign of DeltaTemp.
Use F+/F- keys to change the TempMove value
Range is 0 to 75
While in TEMP SETUP press S-Menu THRICE
for
TempBklash
Apply this number of steps in last move direction
before reversing direction.
Use F+/F- keys to change the Delta
Temperature value
Usually not needed for Crayford focusers
While in TEMP SETUP press S-Menu FOUR
times for
Temperature Compensation
Mode
Use F+/F- keys to change the internal temperature
compensation mode between Of (off), Ma (Manual),
Au S (Auto). Au(to) mode - must stay on this screen
while auto temp compensating, leaving the screen
turns off Au(to). Watch the position display or the 'S' or
'M' next to the Au to see movement. Entering MA or
Au mode, the current temperature is used as the
baseline. if in Au(to) mode, changing from this temp
will force an Au(to) move.
While in TEMP SETUP press S-Menu FIVE
times for
DoTempComp
If Temperature Compensation Mode is Ma
(Manual) then press F+ to set the “Prime for
Manual” compensation using the current
temperature and position as the starting point.
If Temperature Compensation Mode is Of (off) or
Au S (Aut) displays Frce Comp Disabld. Do
Temp Comp= S. Pressing either F+ or F- will
take the base temperature versus currently
display temp and move Delta steps base on
Temp delta.

wifi-nSTEP Instructions
Copyright Rigel Systems 2010 Page 12 of 12 www.rigelsys.com