Instruction manual

To operate the remote power module remotely, simply click on the appropriate button in the RFCP. The

color will show that the channel is on.

Whether set manually or remotely, the Power Module settings remain in operation until the RoboFocus

itself is powered down. That is, if you have a power channel ON, it will remain on even after you turn off

the Control Program! It will, however, turn off if you remove power from the RoboFocus. All power

channels are off when the RoboFocus powers up. You are responsible for turning off your equipment!

Duty. At this point you have cycled through the four remote power channels. If you now press the IN

button, you will move to a fifth menu channel (five beeps, not repeated). This channel is used to set the

duty cycle of the stepper motor. When the stepper is actually moving, the RoboFocus sends full current to

it. However, when the stepper is resting, the RoboFocus can send a smaller current to reduce current drain

and heating of the motor. The fraction of current is set by this menu item from 0% on (step1) through five

steps to 100% on (step 5). The LED blinking pattern will show the step number. You can change the duty

cycle by pressing the OUT button. The new setting will not take effect until you leave the menu (duty

settings other than 0 or 100% will usually cause the stepper to “sing”—this is normal.

MicrostepPause. When you are finished setting the duty, hold the left (IN) button down again. You will

hear six beeps, indicating you are in the sixth menu item. The LED will blink 1 to 5 times, showing what

your current pause setting is (lower numbers are shorter pauses and faster stepping action). You can press

and hold the OUT button to cycle through the different MicrostepPause settings. Note that the factory

default is step 4 (about 55 full steps per second) will work with most steppers. Although five settings of the

step period are available in the manual menu, you can also set step period to intermediate levels using the

RFCP configuration screen.

StepSize (microsteps per step) setting. When you are finished setting the step period, hold the left (IN)

button down again. You will hear seven beeps, indicating you are in the seventh menu item. The LED will

blink 1 to 5 times, showing what your current Microstep per count setting is (lower numbers are fewer

counts per step). You can press and hold the OUT button to cycle through the different microstep settings.

Note that the factory default is step 2 (four microsteps per count which is one full stepper cycle). Although

five settings of the Microstep settings are available in the manual menu, you can also set the

Microsteps/count to intermediate levels using the computer configuration screen.

When you are finished, press the IN button again. After a few seconds, you will hear a series of eight

beeps, indicating that you are out of the manual power control mode. The power LED will again light,

showing you are out of the menu. If you continue to hold the button down, the focuser will start to move

inward.

After you practice manual control of RoboFocus actions a few times, you will find that it to be very easy.

If you become a bit confused, simply wait a few seconds for the beeps to tell you what channel you are on.

Whenever you want to exit, simply hold down the left button until the beeping has stopped for a second or

two (this will cycle through the channels and out of the mode). As with computer commands, wait a few

seconds between button pushes—give RoboFocus a chance to tell you what it is doing!

Multiple Copies of Robofocus Running Multiple Controllers

You can operate more than one RoboFocus controller by running multiple copies of RFCP at the same

time. You would set each one to a different serial port. You will have to be careful to keep them properly

organized (you could use the remote power buttons as labels, if you wish). Because each copy will use the

same “INI” file, they will each start with the same com port and other settings, and the individual settings

will not be saved when you close them. If you want different permanent settings for each copy, use

Windows Explorer to copy all the files from the regular RoboFocus folder and paste them into a new

folder(s). Then set up shortcuts (icons) to each RoboFocus.EXE in each folder so that you can easily run

your selected copies.