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Version History

Contents

V5.60.17 - 2024-Sep-10 - Release

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.7.17 or later is REQUIRED!

- Fixed: ASCOM DestinationSideOfPier did not account for the mount's meridian delay.
- Fixed: Site names from APCC 1.9.7.22 and later.
- Fixed: Prevent Park 1 warnings when the mount has not yet been initialized.
- Added new commands GetFocalLength and SetFocalLength allowing programatic setting of Telescope Focal Length.

V5.60.16 - 2024-Jul-28 - Release

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.7.4 or later is REQUIRED! The driver will show a pop up window if an earlier version of APCC is detected. This popup window will halt driver operations until manually acknowledged.

- Fixed: Reduced the possibility of a race condition when user uses APCC to park the mount. Because of the polling cadence, the driver could sometimes think an APCC Park operation was a slew, and, per the ASCOM specification, would restore the last tracking state (Tracking Off), which would also unpark the mount.

V5.60.15 - 2024-Jul-06 - Release

- Prevent setting Site Latitude or Longitude to 0.

V5.60.14 - 2024-Apr-28 - Release

- Fixed: The driver marked the mount unparked before APCC status reflected that the mount was actually unparked.

V5.60.13 - 2024-Apr-15 - Beta

- Do not pause logging when parked.

V5.60.12 - 2024-Feb-07 - Beta

- Fixed: Julian data calculation.

V5.60.11 - 2024-Jan-19 - Beta

- Fixed: APCC site info localization bug. Localization of elevation was not handled correctly.

V5.60.10 - 2024-Jan-11 - Beta

- Fixed: Mach2 Find Home was working incorrectly.

V5.60.09 - 2024-Jan-02 - Beta

- Fixed: SiteElevation was getting cleared when multiple ASCOM clients connected.
- Fixed: Mach2 Find Home was working incorrectly.

V5.60.08 - 2023-Nov-19 - Beta

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.7.4 or later is REQUIRED! The driver will show a pop up window if an earlier version of APCC is detected. This pop up window will halt driver operations until manually acknowledged.

- Use the mount feature mask for encoder mount features recognition.

V5.60.07 - 2023-Oct-08 - Release

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.7.0 Standard or 1.9.7.3 Pro or later is REQUIRED! The driver will show a pop up window if an earlier version of APCC is detected. This popup window will halt driver operations until manually acknowledged.

- Fixed - Goto Alt/Az table rows did not display.

V5.60.06 - 2023-Jun-01 - Release

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.7.0 or later is REQUIRED! The driver will show a pop up window if an earlier version of APCC is detected. This pop up window will halt driver operations until manually acknowledged.

- Fixed - Restored missing button move rates for GTOCP3, which caused incorrect button rates.

V5.60.05 - 2023-Feb-19 - Release

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.6.6 or later is REQUIRED! The driver will show a pop up window if an earlier version of APCC is detected. This pop up window will halt driver operations until manually acknowledged and park and unpark operations will not work in the driver.

- Fixed - Restored missing button move rates for GTOCP3, which caused incorrect button rates.
- Added a new option to force the correct North/South direction for moves issued by driver button presses and ASCOM PulseGuide moves on both sides of the pier. ***NOTE***: This may affect some autoguiding applications so the option is disabled by default.
- The ASCOM driver's handbox initial visibility option is now honored when connecting to APCC.

V5.60.04 - 2023-Jan-30 - Release

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.6.6 or later is REQUIRED! The driver will show a popup window if an earlier version of APCC is detected. This popup window will halt driver operations until manually acknowledged and park and unpark operations will not work in the driver.

- Fixed - Enhanced park start ups to prevent a possible ASCOM client race condition when the driver is configured to use APCC. This version requires APCC version 1.9.6.6 or later..

V5.60.03 - 2023-Jan-06 - Release

NOTE: If you are using APCC with this version of the driver, APCC version 1.9.6.x or later is REQUIRED! The driver will show a popup window if an earlier version of APCC is detected. This popup window will halt driver operations until manually acknowledged and park and unpark operations will not work in the driver.

- Fixed - Disable the Park/Unpark/SetPark operations when the driver is configured to use APCC. Those operations are now configured in APCC.
- Fixed - Park operations now immediately indicate the mount is Slewing, which will prevent NINA from popping up a "Slew Canceled" waring message.

V5.60.02 - 2023-Jan-05 - Release

- Fixed - APCC responses to Park, UnPark, and SetPark commands were not handled correctly.

V5.60.01 - 2023-Jan-02 - Release

- Fixed - the PEM group box was not displaying in the correct position (it was hidden behind another group box).
- Set and disabled the check box to hide the driver's control window (handbox) when the driver is configured to use APCC.
- Check APCC's version is v1.9.6.0 or later, which is required for this version of the driver when configured to use APCC.

V5.60.00 - 2022-Dec-18 - Pre-Release

- Disabled Park options in the setup window when APCC is used. Park/Unpark operations are now controlled by APCC when it is present.
- When APCC is present unpark and park positions are controlled from the APCC user interface.

V5.59.03 - 2022-Oct-29 Beta

- "Park 3" is the default unpark and park position.
- Hide and always enable "Async Park" checkbox.
- Set Controller type based on version returned when Find Mount or Check Port finds the mount.

V5.59.02 - 2022-Oct-24 Beta

- Removed all usage of AP.INI file.
- Changed communications group box name to "Mount Communications Details".
- Removed 0.25x and 0.50x guide rate options, so only the recommended guide rate, 1.00x, remains.

- Updated many of the default settings: including:
- Enable PEM" is now the default for non-encoder mounts.
- The "middle" slew rate (usually 900x) is now the default.
- The 1100GTO is the default mount type.
- The GTOCP4 is the default controller.
- The COM port is the default communication mode.
- "Park 3" is the default unpark and park position.

- In the "Other Options" group box the following are now the defaults:
Enable Debug Log
Keep Mount Time Synced to PC Time
Convert Syncs to RCALs
Show in TaskBar when Minimized
Check for new version when starting
Auto-enable tracking when ASCOM clients send commands with tracking disabled
Calibrate move directions on first slew
Set driver windows on top
Async Park

V5.59.01 - 2022-Sep-25 Beta

- Removed Windows priority in Setup window.
- Disabled Initialization Settings when the driver is using APCC.
- Fixed communications in some apcc modes.

V5.59.00 - 2022-Sep-23 Beta

- Hide driver when APCC is running. Can still be opened from the system tray icon for now.
- Simplified APCC Eltima vs REST configuration.
- Added "Find mount" button.
- Changed initial mount type to AP1100 (was Mach1).

V5.50.03 - 2022-Mar-05 Release

- Fix backslashes in outbound REST API payloads.

V5.50.02 - 2022-Feb-26 Release

- Remove commands unnecessarily sent to the mount in the driver's setup window.

V5.50.01 - 2022-Feb-23 Beta

- Fix unintended tracking enabled on first start for GTOCP4/5.
- Show REST API instead of IP settings in handbox when in REST API mode.

V5.50.00 - 2022-Feb-15 Beta

- Enhancement: Allow connections to APCC through APCC's REST API.
NOTE: This enhancement requires APCC Standard/Pro 1.9.4.x or later.

To configure the driver to use APCC's REST API:

apv2-550-configureapcc-rest

V5.40.01 - 2021-Dec-12 Release

- Fix minor ASCOM conformance issues.

V5.40.00 - 2021-Oct-30 Beta

- Fix globalization issue with "." and "," decimal characters.
- Add King rate for CP4/5 versions VCP4-P02.08 and VCP5-P02.08 and later.
- Fix move rate issue with GTOCP3 mounts.
- Fix shrinking of drivers's main GUI window when showing all controls.

V5.30.10 - 2020-Apr-07 Release

- Fix failure to get Longitude/Latitude from APCC when APCC initializes the mount.

V5.30.09 - 2020-Mar-18 Release

- Fix Mach 2 centering rates.

V5.30.08 - 2020-Mar-05 Release

- Fix Custom Slew Rate option that was missing.

V5.30.07 - 2020-Feb-27 Release

- Fix display problem visible with GTOCP2 controller.

V5.30.06 - 2020-Feb-17 Beta

- Changed commands for each of the new centering commands.

V5.30.05 - 2020-Feb-08 Beta

- A few more changes to how slew rate values are updated in the user interface.

V5.30.04 - 2020-Feb-07 Beta

- Add log entries for button presses for centering moves.

V5.30.03 - 2020-Feb-02 Beta

- Update Rates one more time.

V5.30.02 - 2020-Jan-21 Beta

- Update Rates for GTOCP4/5 new firmware.

V5.30.01 - 2019-Dec-22 Beta

- Hide PEM controls for Mach2 / GTOCP5.
- Hide focuser controls for GTOCP4 and GTOCP5.
- GTOCP5 should not "gray out" in setup dialog.
- Update Park commands for mounts with a certain personality type.
- Use mount personality to configure parks.

V5.30.00 - 2019-Sep-10 Beta

- Added support for Mach 2 and GTOCP5 park and guider commands.

V5.21.01 - 2019-Aug-10 Release

- BUG FIX - Parking from counterweight-up position may not complete.

V5.21.00 - 2019-Aug-03 Release

- NEW OPTION - Add setting to do ASCOM asynchronous parks.
- BUG FIX - Park Alt/Az can cause a double park operation when used with APCC.
- Add additional logging for park operations.

V5.20.09 - 2019-Feb-11 Release

- BUG FIX - Unpark from Park 5 was not working.

V5.20.08 - 2018-Dec-14 Release

- BUG FIX - One more fix for European users with swapped comma/decimal.
- BUG FIX - Restore "Park to Alt/Az", which was accidentally removed when Park 5 was added.

V5.20.07 - 2018-Nov-15 Release

- BUG FIX - One more fix for European users with swapped comma/decimal.
- BUG FIX - Restore "Park to Alt/Az", which was accidentally removed when Park 5 was added.

V5.20.06 - 2018-Nov-07 Release

- BUG FIX - "Keep Mount Time Synced..." option in the Setup dialog window was not being restored.

- BUG FIX - When "Keep Mount Time Synced..." is disabled the Time field in the hand box window may be incorrect.

V5.20.05 - 2018-Nov-06 Release

- IMPROVEMENT - Out of range values now show text in yellow (instead of red) with a blue background.
- BUG FIX - Custom RA and Dec Rate values incorrectly indicated out of range (red/blue) if they were set to a non-zero value at startup.
- BUG FIX - Undid RA/Dec AxisRates change in V5.20.04 because it fails ASCOM Conform testing. According to ASCOM documentation, the rates must always be positive and assumes the negative values of the range are allowed.
- BUG FIX - Parking when already Parked will now return immediately. One possible effect of this is that you will not be able to Park to a different park position without first unparking, which wasn't required in older versions of the driver.

V5.20.04 - 2018-Oct-01 Beta

- IMPROVEMENT - Park/Unpark positions will not change because of the new Park 5 position.
- Update documentation for various features, including Time synchronization options.
- Change wording of sync time during initialization.
- BUG FIX - Change RA/DEC AxisRates from 0-5, to -5-5 degrees/sec.

V5.20.03 - 2018-Sep-24 Private Beta

- NEW FEATURE - Added Park 5
*** IMPORTANT NOTE: PARK/UNPARK POSITIONS MAY HAVE CHANGED IN THIS RELEASE - PLEASE OPEN THE DRIVER SETUP WINDOW TO CONFIRM PARK/UNPARK POSITIONS! (Fixed in v5.20.04)
- BUG FIX - Dec MoveAxis was always setting Rate=0
- Remove extra "PEC" label from the Handbox
- When Encoder tracking is enabledon encoder-equipped mounts, disable PEM Enable/Disable buttons, and hide PEM Record button

V5.20.02 - 2018-Sep-06 Beta

- Updated the driver's icon with a higher resolution version.

V5.20.01 - 2018-Sep-05 Beta

- BUG FIX - When using an IP Address the "Check Mount" button did not use the current value in the IP Address text field.

V5.20.00 - 2018-Sep-03 Beta

- NEW FEATURE - Driver can now communicate via TCP to the mount.
- BUG FIX - MoveAxis declination rate was 1/15th what it should have been (was causing an issue in the ASCOMPad application).
- BUG FIX - Site information was not always being correctly pulled from the database, so site latitude/longitude was not always initialized correctly.
- ENHANCEMENT - Added new option to save and restore last virtual handbox position.
- ENHANCEMENT - Added new option to disable the virtual handbox from always being on top of other windows.
- ENHANCEMENT - Updated internal links to use HTTPS: instead of HTTP: where needed.GTO

CP1 and GTOCP2 control boxes - Removed support for ASCOM DeclinationRate and RightAscensionRate.

V5.10.03 - 2017-Oct-08 Release

Note: Do not use this version with APCC v1.5 or earlier.

- BUG FIX - In Europe, because of "," and "." decimnal swap, the RA value returned from the mount was sometimes considered corrupted.

V5.10.02 - 2017-Oct-07 Release

Note: Do not use this version with APCC v1.5 or earlier.

- IMPROVEMENT - Allow a range of +/- 1 second for Latitude/longitude before the driver will indicate a difference.

- BUG FIX - One more change to better detect Windows regional settings.

V5.10.01 - 2017-Sep-04 Release

Note: Do not use this version with APCC v1.5 or earlier.

- BUG FIX - Negative Time Zone values were being rejected sometimes becase of the extended precision format.
- BUG FIX - Fixed potential Windows regional issues with a "," being used as a decimal point in DegreesToDMS ASCOM utility calls.
- BUG FIX - Driver not parking from CW-up position.
- BUG FIX - When turning tracking OFF while parked the driver would send a "Q" command. The driver will no longer send a "Q" command if the driver senses the mount is parked.
- IMPROVEMENT - Added 1 decimal point precision to Latitude and Longitude site information.
- IMPROVEMENT - Added a button to copy and save the mount's current latitude/longitude to the current Site.

V5.10.00 - 2017-Jul-06 Release

Note: This is the minimum required version for APCC v1.6 and later.

- BUG FIX - Increase RA/Dec/Alt/Az precision (only) for GTOCP4-equipped mounts with P01-04 or later firmware. Mounts with GTOCP3 cannot use high-precision commands because input commands to the GTOCP3 are limited to 16 characters or less.
- IMPROVEMENT - Allow users to enter rates up to 999.999x for GTOCP3 controllers with "V1" firmware and all GTOCP4 controllers.

V5.09.12 - 2017-Jun-06 Private Release

- BUG FIX - Fix validation of high-precision Dec and Altitude values.

V5.09.11 - 2017-Apr-22 Private Release

- IMPROVEMENT - Allow PulseGuide Moves up to 99.999 seconds for GTOCP4 controllers.
- IMPROVEMENT - Improved performance of move mount button presses.
- IMPROVEMENT - Reduced overhead writing to log file.
- IMPROVEMENT - Continue polling mount when Pulseguide moves are active.
- BUG FIX - Prevent possible inversion of the Dec Rate that might happen "below the pole".

V5.09.10 - 2017-Apr-10 Private Release

- IMPROVEMENT - Send RA/Dec/Alt/Az/Lat/Long commands with higher precision. Although higher precision commands are sent, a GTOCP4 with P01-04 firmware or later is required for the mount to move with increased precision.

V5.09.09 - 2017-Mar-15 Release

- IMPROVEMENT - Allow for mount responses with extended precision.

- BUG FIX - when connected via APCC, get ALT/AZ from APCC so that if a pointing model is being used the corrected ALT/AZ coordinates will be displayed by the driver.

- BUG FIX - Time Sync response from APCC was handled as having failed even if it was successful.

V5.09.08 - 2017-Jan-31 Release

- BUG FIX - Park status was not always reported correctly.

V5.09.07 - 2017-Jan-23 Release

- BUG FIX - if APCC sequence numbers get out of sync, a the response to a possibly different command could be wrongly get used. Fixed by clearing the response string when the sequence number is incorrect, so the response cannot be used. Also, cleared the internal send/receive buffers to empty all older sequence number responses. The following commands should then have the correct sequence number..

V5.09.06 - 2017-Jan-19 Private Beta

- IMPROVEMENT - the Time Zone offset in the user interface now reflects the generally accepted time zone polarity instead of the value returned from the mount.

V5.09.05 - 2017-Jan-01 Private Beta

- BUG FIX - Longitudes less that 10 degrees would not match correctly in Site info group.

V5.09.04 - 2016-Nov-12 Release

- BUG FIX - Updated use of old ASCOM DriverHelper/DriverHelper2.Util to use the newer ASCOM.Utilities.Util. The legacy version was not updating the Time Zone correctly on a time change.
- BUG FIX - Prevent Time Zone from being updated when "kepp Time Synched to PC" is not enabled.

V5.09.03 - 2016-Nov-03 Beta

- BUG FIX - Fixed a case missed in 5.09.02 where a time zone less than -12 was logged as an error.

V5.09.02 - 2016-Oct-31 Beta

- IMPROVEMENT - the controller type is now shown in the main window (slight user interface changes).
- IMPROVEMENT - If the controller is a GTOCP4 then hide the backlash setting controls, since backlash is not used.
- IMPROVEMENT - When connected to APCC, the "keep time synced" feature is now delegated to APCC. If APCC has its own "keep time sync" feature enabled, it will override the same setting in the driver. If APCC has "keep time synced" disabled then the driver will be able to override APCC and enable "keep time sync" until the next time that APCC is run.
- BUG FIX - Time Zones less than -12 were not being handled correctly.
- BUG FIX - Getting ASCOM DeclinationRate no longer throws an exception when tracking is disabled.
- BUG FIX - AP1100 was missing from mount types.
- BUG FIX - Fixed several ASCOM Conformance bugs when running driver through APCC.

- EXPERIMENTAL - When used with APCC 1.5.0.15 and later, the driver will now use a different COM port for the user and administrator accounts, allowing two instances of the driver to connect simultaneously to APCC. This will allow a mix of applications running under the user account and "as administrator" to connect to the mount through APCC.

V5.09.01 - 2016-July-19 Release

- BUG FIX - GetAllValues was pulling entries from the old AP.INI .file instead of Settings.apdb (this is a fix for proper operation with APCC).

V5.09.00 - 2016-June-05 Release

- IMPROVEMENT - Improved robustness of the driver starting APCC and auto-configuring the COM port.
- IMPROVEMENT - Improved robustness of the driver opening the correct APCC virtual port.
- BUG FIX - Site latitude/longitude was not matching the mount if leading zeros were not used. The driver now autoformats the latitude and longitude with leading zeros if needed.
- BUG FIX - Under certain circumstances when parking from a counterweight up position the driver was not able to stop the initial slew to a counterweight down position, resulting in a potential equipment collision.
- BUG FIX - Force Meridian Delay to 0 before unparking (Rev S or later).

V5.08.09 - 2016-May-22 Release

- BUG FIX - Throw error immediately if COM port does not exist.

V5.08.08 - 2016-April-24 Release

- BUG FIX - Site Latitude/Longitude were not always being sent to the mount when initializing through the driver.

V5.08.07 - 2016-April-06 Release

- BUG FIX - Completely reworked site Latitude/Longitude Save/Restore
- BUG FIX - ASCOM RightAscensionRate and DeclinationRate were not being enabled for GTOCP4
- BUG FIX - Show Virtual Handbox by default was not working correctly
- BUG FIX - Fixed a few minor ASCOM conformance issues
- IMPORTANT NOTE: this Build was checked and passes all ASCOM Conformance tests with no Issues or Errors.

V5.08.06 - 2016-April-02 Beta

- BUG FIX - Setting the Meridian limits in the user interface was not working.
- BUG FIX - Time synchronization was not working.

V5.08.05 - 2016-February-06 Beta

- BUG FIX - RA/DEC Bookmarks were not being displayed if no previous bookmarks were set in the AP.INI when moving settings to the new database settings storage.
- BUG FIX - In the setup window the site settings values could get out of sync with the database if values were changed but not saved. The driver now will now not allow the settings window to close until site settings have been saved or canceled.
- The driver defaults have been changed to now show the driver when an application connects.

V5.08.04 - 2016-January-18 Beta

- BUG FIX - GTOCP4 mount type was not defined properly and this ultimately caused an Error 380 in the setup window.

V5.08.03 - 2016-January-17 Beta

- BUG FIX - in the driver setup window, when entering a decimal site latitude or longitude value, if the decimal value had all zeros (e,g "28.00") the minutes and seconds fields would not get filled in. Also a carriage return was not being accepted to force the conversion from decimal to hours, minutes, and seconds.

V5.08.02 - 2015-December-29 Beta

- Installer - Changed installation location to a sub-directory under Telescope (e.g. "C:\Program Files\Common Files\ASCOM\Telescope\Astro-Physics")

- Started digitally signing the driver, each executable application, and the installer for greater security.

V5.08.01 - 2015-December-22 Beta

- Changed order of text in a few controls to Latitude/Longitude instead of Longitude/latitude.

V5.08.00 - 2015-November-23 Beta

- SIGNIFICANT CHANGE -> Settings now saved to local shared (with APCC) database file (Settings.apdb) instead of AP.INI. Old settings will be automatically copied to the new database ("settings.apdb") the first time the driver runs.

- Site configuration now uses a single drop down list box for site names.

- Sites are now common between APCC and the driver.

- RA/Dec and Alt/Az Bookmarks are now saved and shared with APCC.

- Eliminated "Send Longitude/Latitude to Mount" buttons because this can cause the mount to be unexpectedly re-oriented.

- IMPROVEMENT - Added Site name to Virtual Hand box window. It will be highlighted if the site's lat/long coordinates do not match the mount's. Clicking the site name will open the driver page up to view the difference.

- BUG FIX - Longitude/Latitude can no longer be changed after the mount has been initialized. If set from the ASCOM driver the changes will take effect the next fiull initialization.

- BUG FIX - retical brightness was not being saved.

- BUG FIX - Some settings were saved multiple times needlessly.

V5.07.02 - 2015-October-31 Release

- BUG FIX - Safe Slewing did not operate correctly always when parking the mount.

- Added option to not show the Park 1 warning any more.

V5.07.01 - 2015-August-30 Beta

- BUG FIX - When decimal and comma are swapped because of regional settings the driver was sometimes passing improperly formatted commands to APCC.

V5.07.00 - 2015-August-08 Beta

- BUG FIX - After a slew completes set to Sidereal so driver does not set tracking rate to custom rates. This was causing the driver to send custom rates to APCC by accident.

V5.06.05 - 2015-April-25 Release

- Replaced "Allow connect when mount not present" with a timeout value in seconds. The new field is in the Advanced page of the driver's Initial Setup dialog window. A value of "0" is an infinite timeout. Values from 1-600 seconds are also accepted. When a timeout occurs during an ASCOM Client's connect attempt control is returned to the ASCOM client application. Previously, if the "Allow connect when mount not present" was enabled, control might not ever be returned to the driver if the mount is not connected.

- Added a new variable "SafeSlewRaDec" that can be used in AP.INI. The default if it is not present is that Safe Slews are enabled (SafeSlewRaDec=1). To disable safe slews set SafeSlewRaDec=0 in AP.INI.

- On connecting to the mount the driver will now query the mount type and if a fork mount only do raw RA/Dec slews (no safety slews even if "SafeSlewRaDec=0" in AP.INI.

- Updated Windows version checking (in top of log files) to properly display the Windows version through Windows 10

V5.06.04 - 2015-March-25 Release

- Added a variable to enable old button down behavior found in 5.05.16 and earlier drivers, which while being more responsive might not register button up or down events when using remote desktop-like software..

This option is off by default. Add this line to AP.INI to enable it:

UseOldButtonBehavior=1

- Improved "Allow connection when mount not present". If not enabled and the COM port not present or mount does not respond the driver will report failure to connect. If present the driver keeps trying to connect.

V5.06.03 - 2015-March-13 Release

- BUG FIX - Tracking sometimes stopped when connected in 05.06.02.
- ENHANCEMENT - ASCOM driver call to DoesRefraction call now reflects APCC's refraction enabled check box.

V5.06.02 - 2015-January-16 Release

- BUG FIX - Throw exception immediately if COM Port not available

V5.06.01 - 2014-December-30 Release

- BUG FIX - Custom RA/Dec rates was always being set after a slew completed.

V5.06.00 - 2014-October-05 Release

- Validate range of custom rate to -99.9999x to 99.9999x sidereal.
- Adjusted Park 4 location.

V5.05.41 - 2014-September-27 BETA

- Prevent use of Tracking via PulseGuide if mount has a GTOCP3 controller.
- Stop popping up unpark dialog whenever user clicks "Don't Unpark" when mount is unintialized.

V5.05.40 - 2014-August-18 BETA

- Change behavior of AbortSlew() so that TheSkyX's jog buttons work correctly. When releasing a button SkyX calls AbortSlew() but technically a "slew" is a move to a specific RA/Dec or Alt/Az coordinates, not a move of unspecified duration as is the case when the user presses a move button in SkyX. This change will send a command to return the mount to sidereal if a slew was not in progress. The case where a slew actually is in progress is much more complicated and behavior is not (and doesn't need to be) unchanged.

V5.05.39 - 2014-August-14 BETA

- Bug Fix - when using the driver through APCC sometimes the slewing active flag was not being set quickly enough causing fast polling ASCOM applications to think the slew was done even though it had only just started.

V5.05.38 - 2014-July-20 BETA

- Added extra checking for detecting power loss and making sure initialization occurs after power is restored.

V5.05.37 - 2014-July-12 BETA

- Bug fix -- after power cycle the driver was not initializing the mount when it should.
- Added new option in the driver's advanced settings to allow MoveAxis compatibility with most ASCOM clients. That is when the option is NOT checked (the default) and an ASCOM client sets the RA MoveAxis rate to 0 tracking will be returned to sidereal rate instead of stopped. Checking the option (NOT th e default) will produce the old behavior where RA MoveAxis = 0 stops RA tracking.

V5.05.36 - 2014-July-11 BETA

- Fixed mixed up flashing text when slewing.
- Made sure Latitude/Longitude are in order.
- Add item link to driver's start menu items for Release Notes Notes (this document).

V5.05.35 - 2014-July-10 BETA

- When "Allow connect if mount isn't present" is checked in the AP driver's advanced settings the driver will, when initially connecting to the mount, continually try checking for a connection at 200 msec intervals.

V5.05.34 - 2014-June-27 BETA

- Changed initial serial port receive timeout from 150ms back to value read from settings file.

V5.05.33 - 2014-June-23 BETA

- Improved robustness when driver needs to start APCC. Sometimes a second instance of APCC would start.
- Improved power-loss/restart handling of commands. Sometimes the commands were sent out of order and the mount could lose position.
- Added a new property to the driver, ReceiveTimeoutMS, that allows a client to change the read timeout.
- Fixed the max command retry count, which wasn't actually being used.
- Set initial serial timeout to 150 msecs. After connection is still gets set to the value read from the settings file.

V5.05.32 - 2014-May-05 BETA

- When parked through APCC sometimes the Park request would not seem to complete.

V5.05.31 - 2014-February-03 BETA

- If Synchronization to APCC is lost, when re-established, re-query APCC for various mount information.
- "Pause logging when parked" sometimes shut off logging too soon.
- Use LST from mount instead of calculating it when firmware is Rev S or later.

V5.05.30 - 2014-January-25 BETA

- When parking the ASCOM driver sometimes returned control to an ASCOM client before parking was complete.

V5.05.29 - 2014-January-25 BETA

- When slewing through APCC the driver did not always indicate slew was active.

V5.05.28 - 2014-January-25 BETA

- Removed the command that was turning off APCC's pointing and tracking correction when parking the mount.

V5.05.27 - 2014-January-20 BETA

- To keep log file from growing automatically pause logging while parked for 3+ minutes.
- Slightly redefined Park 1, 2, and 4 Park Positions.
- Counterweight up park now handled by driver when used with APCC (requires APCC 0.99.99.54 or later)

V5.05.26 - 2014-January-9 BETA

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- New Brightness command needs to accept a "1" response.

V5.05.25 - 2014-January-6 BETA

- Fixed Unpark 4.

V5.05.24 - 2013-December-22 BETA

- Restored the option to use Park 1 but with a warning message if you select it.
- IMPORTANT: please confirm that your park and unpark positions are still correct as this version reorganized the order of the park positions. To check, open the driver's Telescope Setup. and confirm your settings.
- Made improvements to the RAW command processing of the SetParkPosition, SetUnparkPosition. In addition to passing an index into the list to use you can specify the name of the park position(e.g,CommandString("RAW,SetParkPosition,Park 4", True)). A warning message will not pop up if Park 1 is selected in this way.

V5.05.23 - 2013-December-15 BETA

- Added new option in the Telescope Setup on the Advanced page, "Other Options" group box. This option, which is enabled by default, will force a N/S/E/W calibration immediately before the first time a slew is done whenever the driver is run. The calibration takes less than a second so it should not cause any noticeable slowdown in telescope operations.
- Added a new script command "AutoCalibrateNSEW", to allow a script or application perform the N/S/E/W calibration.
- ApJog: Added a "Calibrate N/S/E/W" button to ApJog to allow manual N/S/E/W calibration.

NOTE: the Calibrate N/S/E/W routine is not needed when using APCC. In fact, it may not reliably calculate direction because APCC caches RA/Dec values., which are critical for determining direction.

V5.05.22 - 2013-December-11 BETA

- The Swap N/S and Swap E/W buttons now will have a yellow background if Rev U or later firmware is installed and the corresponding direction is reversed. IMPORTANT: If RA or Dec movements are reversed via the Swap N/S orSwap E/W this will cause some autoguider calibration routines to fail, when autoguiding through the driver. Each button will show a tool tip warning message when its background is yellow.

If you are running an earlier firmware version than "U" (released December 2013) and experience runaway guiding in RA or Dec you should click the appropriate swap button (Swap N/S or Swap E/W corresponding to the problematic axis) and follow your software's Autoguider recalibration procedure. This should make autoguiding to work correctly.

V5.05.21 - 2013-December-7 BETA

- Added "Cancel" button to bookmark Alt/Az and RA/Dec goto's. Rebuilt APSetup.exe with .Net (it was built in VB6) to allow it to run as a regular user. Also added check boxes to installer to optionally install desktop icons for the utility programs installed by the driver.

V5.05.20 - 2013-November-13 BETA

- Indicate that the driver is configured to use APCC by appending "(APCC)" after the COM port in the Mount Information control frame.

V5.05.19 - 2013-November-10 BETA

- When Rev U or later is installed use new reticle brightness command instead of sending a stream of B+ and B- commands.

V5.05.18 - 2013-September-27 BETA

- Fixed Setup Wrong Slew Speeds for 1200 and 3600
- Clicking RA/Dec fields will immediately stop a slew or park instead of popping up a dialog asking the user to confirm.

V5.05.17 - 2013-September-22 BETA

- Expanded processing of version string returned from the control boxes.
- Improved internal abort slew implementation.
- When APCC is present commands for slew and park are now passed to APCC to be handled by APCC instead of the driver. This behavior can be overridden by setting ApccHandlesSlews=0 in AP.INI.
- Button presses were purposely ignored when the driver was in a timer. Changed behavior so that those button preses are no longer ignored. This affected the Part, Unpark, Set Alt/Az Park, Slew To RA, Slew To Dec, Swap N/S, and Swap E/W buttons.
- Attempted to make the move buttons operate more robustly for those with wireless mice. This safety comes at a cost of the move buttons not always being as responsive as before.
- When a button move is active the appropriate RA and Dec field on the hand box will highlight.
- Removed multiple attempts to reslew to parked position.

V5.05.16 - 2013-August-17 BETA

- IMPORTANT change for PARK and UNPARK Operations: Replaced Park 1 with Park 4, which places the scope on the East side of the mount instead of the West side. This was done because when the mount started tracking from Park 1 and the user waited too long (maybe about 10 minutes) the mount could end up with the counterweight higher than the scope. When initialed in that position the scope would dive underneath the mount if commands to slew to a visible object in the sky.

V5.05.15 - 2013-July-21 BETA

- "Admin" will appear in the ASCOM logo when the user is running "As Administrator". Admin status also gets logged in the log file.
- Added new option in the Advanced settings to auto-enable tracking when ASCOM clients send certain commands with tracking disabled (e.g. ACP, CCDAP, TheSky). A user reported that ACP in particular sometimes sends a command when tracking is disabled so enabling this option should allow ACP to function more harmoniously with the driver.

V5.05.14 - 2013-May-15 BETA

- Added Windows Process priority option to Setup (advanced section) and the virtual hand box. Default priority is set to "Above Normal".

V5.05.13 - 2013-Apr-20 BETA

- Check for latest driver version is now also done in setup dialog window.
- Added new internal commands to:
- Allow reading/writing of AP.INI file values for automated setup of the driver by APCC.
- Return the full path of AP.INI
- Return a comma separated string of all values in AP.INI
- Return the log directory and current Log File name

V5.05.12 - 2013-Mar-30 BETA

- Added new Mount Types: Ap1100GTO and AP1600GTO
- Added automatic check for updates (can be disabled in setup dialog in advanced settings).
- Added new RAW commands for compatibility with APCC Horizons

V5.05.11 - 2012-Dec-31 BETA

- For Rev >= S chips when setting meridian delay first read the current meridian delay value from the mount and only change if different.

V5.05.10 - 2012-Dec-02 BETA

- Fixed "Clear Meridian Delay" when controller revision >= "S".

V5.05.09 - 2012-Nov-26 BETA

- Fixed an issue with the Meridian delay and chips with revisions >="S" .

V5.05.08 - 2012-Oct-24 BETA

- AP RAPAS Fix for zoomed Southern hemisphere. Improved graphics.
- Fixed issue with Tracking Rate implementation for GTOCP2.

V5.05.07 - 2012-Sep-09 BETA

- Minor fixes to Right Angle Polar Alignment Scope Utility
- Pass through APCC timeouts to the driver.

V5.05.06 - 2012-Sep-03 BETA

- Unchecking "Keep Synced to PC" now should work correctly.
- Added new Right Angle Polar Alignment Scope Utility. Accessed through the menu, system tray, or a button on the ASCOM driver panel..

V5.05.05 - 2012-Aug-30 BETA

- Fixed Park 3 in Southern Hemisphere when "Convert Alt/Az to RA/Dec" is checked.
- Added PEC Record button.
- Don't allow set time to PC time within 2 minutes of midnight.
- Added new GOS state "Auto-Park enabled". An asterisk identifies when autopark is enabled and unparked (i.e., status will be: "Unparked*").

V5.05.04 - 2012-Jul-07 BETA

- Clear Slew Abort Flag whenever a new slew is issued.
- If APCC is in use disable Pointing Corrector and Tracking Rate Correction when a Park command is issued.

V5.05.03 - 2012-Jun-19 BETA

- Fixed driver exceptions that would happen if parked and user tries to GOTO a bookmark.
- Add a pop up dialog box to stop accidental movements and tracking rate changes when the mount is parked.

V5.05.02 - 2012-Apr-04 BETA

- Swapped position of Alt/Az labels for consistent ordering of read back values.

V5.05.01 - 2012-Mar-15 BETA

- Fix to the Slew East before park (but only slews East when West/above pole, East/below pole)
- Fixed flickering of CwUp at park 1 position.
- Safe Slews should now be invoked when parking if "Convert Alt/Az to RA/Dec slews" is checked
- When mount tracking is stopped Alt/Az is queried instead of calculated so that the Alt/Az doesn't appear to be changing.

February 16 2012

•v5.05.00 - Official Release. Changes:

- Updated version to use the second number instead of third in the version (i.e v5.X.0 instead of v5.0.X). This will allow minor changes to be identified in the third number in the version.
- Fix - Disable Smart Slew in a counterweight up position when declination changes by less than 1 degree.
- Updated documentation so that the driver will no longer be considered a beta.
- Miscellaneous UI changes.

January 4 2012

•v5.00.04 - Beta 30

- Start APCC and retry connect if option to use APCC is checked and initial connection fails.

December 11 2011

•v5.00.04 - Beta 29

- Fix bug in AP Jog Utility. Drop down list would close automatically when "Keep on top" was checked.
- Add AP Log Zipper utility to make it easier for users to zip and send logs. Add button to UI to run it.
- Add AP Timer utility which allows you to stop tracking or park the mount after a time period.

October 27 2011

•v5.00.04 - Beta 28

- Show COM port in Mount info, even if connect fails

October 24 2011

•v5.00.04 - Beta 27

- Don't Safe Slew to meridian in counterweight up position if declination change is less than a degree.

October 17 2011

•V5.00.04 - - BETA 26 Ray Gralak

- Fixed Azimuth and Declination calculation in Bookmark slews.

October 7 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Oct-07 - BETA 25 Ray Gralak

- Query Pier side just before setting slew complete flag.

October 5 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Oct-05 - BETA 24

- Query Pier side just before slew completed.

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Oct-05 - BETA 23

- For Rev S firmware - fixed Servo Fault and Motor Stall meanings in status command.

September 30 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Sep-30 - BETA 22

- Added option to Setup dialog to leave minimized driver visible in the task bar.

September 15 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Sep-15 - BETA 21

- Added option command to AP.INI, DisableSafeSlew, if set to "1" will disable SafeSlews.

September 8 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Sep-08 - BETA 20

- Added "Don't Unpark' as option to setup's Unpark From combo box.

September 5 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Sep-05 BETA 19

- Show COM Port number in Mount Information group box header.

August 8 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Aug 8 - BETA 18

- Added two new internal commands to support APCC's Point Mapper (disable APCC horizon/slew limits and disable driver safety slews).

July 17 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Jul-17 - BETA 17

- New Feature: Added Bookmarks for RA/Dec and Alt/Az coordinates.

July 13 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Jul-13 - BETA 16

- Fixed bug in Alt/Az conversion. Added Alt/Az conversion for all Park positions.

July 5 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Jul-05 - BETA 15

- Fixed a bug in the Unpark logic that woudl affect mounts powered on after parking.

June 25 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Jun-25 - BETA 14

- Made changes to pass ASCOM Platform 6 Conformance testing
- Added MoveAxis ASCOM commands
- Various refinements for APCC.

April 24 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Apr-24 - BETA 13

-Fixed another possible bug in counterweight-up slew.
-Fixed: after parking the mount it would unpark itself when exiting TheSkyX. This seems to have been caused by an AbortSlew command being issued by TheSkyX. The AbortSlew Sends a "Q" command to the mount which unparks it.

April 15 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Apr-15 - BETA 12

-Fixed possible bug in counterweight-up slew.

April 10 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Apr-10 - BETA 11

-Added Safe Slew capability that should prevent a slew from causing a collision when starting a slew with the counterweight up.
- Local Sidereal time is now calculated within the driver.
- Alt/Az is now calculated within the driver.
- Added APJog, a utility to jog (slew) the scope by an exact distance.

March 14 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Mar-14 - BETA 10

-Bug Fix: ASCOM Sync command works again.
-Refined/streamlined the unpark command sequence

February 20 2011

•V5.00.04 - 2011-Feb-20 - BETA 9

-New Feature: Allow user to select a "Counterweights-up" park position
-Fixed an unpark secenario where tracking would not start.
-Fixed a problem with Custom RA/Dec Rates not being correctly applied.
- New Feature: Added a Text label, yellow in color, which says: "CwUP", next to the East/West pier side. The label shows when the counterwights are higher than the scope. NOTE: there are some conditions when slewing when the indicator will not be accurtate until after the slew completes.
- Added confirmation dialog when user clicks "Set Alt/azPark Loction". A warning is given if the counterweights are in an "UP" position.
-Fixed possible cause of Overflow "Error 6" messages that have been reported occasionally.
-Fixed detection of the Sidereal tracking rate (i.e. enabled/disabled) when driver starts.

January 19 2011

•V5.00.04 - BETA 1-8

- Possible fix: Slew to Alt/Az Park sometimes didn't work.
- BUG FIX - when unparking the mount when tracking=enabled the mount's tracking was always stopped.
- BUG FIX - SG command format for non-integer Time Zones
- BUG FIX - Altitude used for Southern Hemisphere Park 3/Unpark 3 operations.
- Use extra, extra long timeout (5000 msecs) when used through APCC's virtual port.
- Enhancement - Added checkbox in setup dialog to query if connection is to an APCC virtual port. Commands are framed for extra reliability and extra long timeout (2000 msecs) is used.

August 15 2010

•v5.00.03 - Released with V5.00.03 of the driver. Changes:

- BUG FIX - Fixed yellow bar over Lunar and Solar rate buttons.
- BUG FIX - Fixed "Type Mismatch" error that can happen if a response string is not returned from the "MS" command.
- BUG FIX - Unparking was not enabling tracking even if the option to "enable tracking on unpark" was checked.

July 31 2010

•v5.00.02 - Released with V5.00.02 of the driver. Changes:

- BUG FIX - Reticle Brightness was not working.
- BUG FIX - Setup dialog could crash if a large value was entered into one of the Site longitude/latitude fields
- BUG FIX - Improved timing precision of focuser commands via button presses and the ASCOM interface.
- BUG FIX - Fixed false "slew complete" for mounts with Rev S beta firmware.
- Enhancement: Decimal values for Site Longitude/Latitude can now be entered (see documentation for details).
- Added RCAL/Sync warning messages. User will be warned under various conditions if "Convert SYNCs to RCAL" is not checked.
- Removed "Init Now" button. This button was used primarily for testing.
- The popup status window can now be disabled or enabled to come up only when the driver's handbox is hidden. The default is the same behavior as before (always pop up when the mouse is hovered over the system tray icon).
- The log window can now be forced to remain hidden even though logging is on.
- Greatly improved "tab order" for controls in all windows.

July 10 2010

•v5.00.01 - Rev C. Fixed clipped text on page 21 in PDF output.

July 9 2010

•v5.00.01 - Rev B. Added a page for Client Configuration.

July 3 2010

•v5.00.01 - Rev A. Added suggestions from Howard.

June 28 2010

•v5.00.01 - reflects most of the changes in the 5.00.01 release of the driver.

- BUG FIX - Correct problem with negative time zones (Europe).
- If AP.INI does not exist in new directory but exists in old (beta) directory then automatically copy it to the new location.
- Added tiny Help buttons on each group box in the handbox and telescope and focuser setup windows.
- Always send "#:U#" when first starting
- Only write Time Zone if it has changed to preserve non-volatile ram lifespan.

June 10 2010

- Initial Public Release of the driver (v5.00.00)
- Hardened the validation of polled commands including RA, Dec, Alt, Az, Time, Time Zone, and LST.
- Unpark will always start tracking if the UI option is checked (reported by Drew S.)

June 4 2010

•v5.00.00 - Rev B.

June 2 2010

•v5.00.00 - Rev A.

June 1 2010

•v5.00.00 - Initial release for review.