CoverCalibrator Class

Master Interfaces Reference

These green boxes in each interface member each have a link to the corresponding member definition in Master ICoverCalibratorV4 Interface (external). The information in this Alpyca document is provided for your convenience. If there is any question, the info in ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external) is the official specification.

class alpaca.covercalibrator.CoverCalibrator(address: str, device_number: int, protocol: str = 'http')

Bases: Device

ASCOM Standard ICoverCalibratorV2 Interface

Initialize CoverCalibrator object.

Parameters:

  • address (str) – IP address and port of the device (x.x.x.x:pppp)

  • device_number (int) – The index of the device (usually 0)

  • protocol (str, optional) – Only if device needs https. Defaults to “http”.

Action(ActionName: str, *Parameters) → str

Invoke the specified device-specific custom action

Common to all devices

Parameters:

  • ActionName – A name from SupportedActions that represents the action to be carried out.

  • *Parameters – List of required parameters or [] if none are required.

Returns:

String result of the action.

Raises:

Note

  • This method, combined with SupportedActions, is the supported mechanic for adding non-standard functionality.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for Action(), find this specific device’s specification, and see Action() there.

CalibratorOff() → None

Turns the calibrator off if the device has calibration capability

Non-blocking: See Notes, and How can I tell if my asynchronous request failed after being started?

Raises:

Note

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.CalibratorOff() (external)

CalibratorOn(BrightnessVal: int) → None

Turns the calibrator on if the device has calibration capability

Non-blocking: See Notes, and How can I tell if my asynchronous request failed after being started?

Parameters:

Brightness – The calibrator illumination brightness to be set

Raises:

Note

Attention

For devices with both cover and calibrator capabilities, this method may change the CoverState, if required. This operation is also asynchronous (non-blocking) so you may need to wait for CoverState to reach Open. See How can I tell if my asynchronous request failed after being started?

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.CalibratorOn() (external)

CloseCover() → None

Initiates cover closing if a cover is present

Non-blocking: See Notes, and How can I tell if my asynchronous request failed after being started?

Raises:

Note

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.CloseCover() (external)

CommandBlind(Command: str, Raw: bool) → None

Transmit an arbitrary string to the device and does not wait for a response.

Common to all devices

Parameters:

  • Command – The literal command string to be transmitted.

  • Raw – If true, command is transmitted ‘as-is’. If false, then protocol framing characters may be added prior to transmission.

Raises:

Attention

Deprecated, will most likely result in NotImplementedException

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for CommandBlind(), find this specific device’s specification, and see CommandBlind() there.

CommandBool(Command: str, Raw: bool) → bool

Transmit an arbitrary string to the device and wait for a boolean response.

Common to all devices

Returns:

The True/False response from the command

Parameters:

  • Command – The literal command string to be transmitted.

  • Raw – If true, command is transmitted ‘as-is’. If false, then protocol framing characters may be added prior to transmission.

Raises:

Attention

Deprecated, will most likely result in NotImplementedException

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for CommandBlind(), find this specific device’s specification, and see CommandBlind() there.

CommandString(Command: str, Raw: bool) → str

Transmit an arbitrary string to the device and wait for a string response.

Common to all devices

Returns:

The string response from the command

Parameters:

  • Command – The literal command string to be transmitted.

  • Raw – If true, command is transmitted ‘as-is’. If false, then protocol framing characters may be added prior to transmission.

Raises:

Attention

Deprecated, will most likely result in NotImplementedException

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for CommandString(), find this specific device’s specification, and see CommandString() there.

Connect() → None

Connect to the device asynchronously.

Common to all devices

Returns:

Nothing

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • Non-Blocking Use Connecting to indicate completion.

  • Natively present only in Platform 7 (2024) devices, but this library emulates Connect()/Disconnect()/Connecting mechanic for older devices.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for Connect(), find this specific device’s specification, and see Connect() there.

Disconnect() → None

Disconnect from the device asynchronously.

Common to all devices

Returns:

Nothing

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • Non-Blocking Use Connecting to indicate completion.

  • Natively present only in Platform 7 (2024) devices, but this library emulates Connect()/Disconnect()/Connecting mechanic for older devices.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for Disconnect(), find this specific device’s specification, and see Disconnect() there.

HaltCover() → None

Immediately stops an in-progress OpenCover() or CloseCover()

Raises:

Note

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.HaltCover() (external)

OpenCover() → None

Initiates cover opening if a cover is present

Non-blocking: See Notes, and How can I tell if my asynchronous request failed after being started?

Raises:

Note

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.OpenCover() (external)

property Brightness: int

The current calibrator brightness (0 - MaxBrightness)

Raises:

Note

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.Brightness (external)

property CalibratorChanging: bool

True whenever the Calibrator is not ready to be used (illumination not yet stabilized), or not completely shut down.

Raises:

  • NotConnectedException – If the device is not connected

  • DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.CalibratorChanging (external)

property CalibratorState: CalibratorStatus

The state of the calibration device

Raises:

  • NotConnectedException – If the device is not connected

  • DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • If no calibrator is present, the state will be NotPresent. You will not receive a NotImplementedException.

  • The brightness value will be 0 when CalibratorState is Off

  • The Unknown state will only be returned if the device is unaware of the calibrator’s state e.g. if the hardware does not report the device’s state and the calibrator has just been powered on. You do not need to take special action if this state is returned, you must carry on as usual, calling CalibratorOn() and CalibratorOff() methods as required.

  • If the calibrator hardware cannot report its state, the device might mimic this by recording the last configured state and returning that. Driver authors or device manufacturers may also wish to offer users the capability of powering up in a known state and driving the hardware to this state when Connected is set True.

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.CalibratorState (external)

property Connected: bool

(Read/Write) Retrieve or set the connected state of the device.

Common to all devices

Set True to connect to the device hardware. Set False to disconnect from the device hardware. You can also read the property to check whether it is connected. This reports the current hardware state. See Notes below.

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • The Connected property sets and reports the state of connection to the device hardware. For a hub this means that Connected will be True when the first driver connects and will only be set to False when all drivers have disconnected. A second driver may find that Connected is already True and setting Connected to False does not report Connected as False. This is not an error because the physical state is that the hardware connection is still True.

  • Multiple calls setting Connected to True or false will not cause an error.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for Connected, find this specific device’s specification, and see Connected there.

property Connecting: bool

Returns True while the device is undertaking an asynchronous Connect() or Disconnect() operation.

Common to all devices

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • Use this property to determine when an (async) Connect() or Disconnect() has completed, at which time it will transition from True to False.

  • Natively present only in Platform 7 (2024) devices, but this library emulates Connect()/Disconnect()/Connecting mechanic for older devices.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for Connecting, find this specific device’s specification, and see Connecting there.

property CoverMoving: bool

True whenever an (async) OpenCover() or CloseCover() operation is in progress.

Raises:

  • NotConnectedException – If the device is not connected

  • DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • Use this property to determine when an (async) OpenCover() or CloseCover() has completed, at which time it will transition from True to False.

  • Present only in devices with InterfaceVersion = 2.

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.CoverMoving (external)

property CoverState: CoverStatus

The state of the device cover

Raises:

  • NotConnectedException – If the device is not connected

  • DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • If no cover is present, the state will be NotPresent. You will not receive a NotImplementedException.

  • The Unknown state will only be returned if the device is unaware of the cover’s state e.g. if the hardware does not report the device’s state and the cover has just been powered on. You do not need to take special action if this state is returned, you must carry on as usual, calling OpenCover() and CloseCover() methods as required.

  • If the cover hardware cannot report its state, the device might mimic this by recording the last configured state and returning that. Driver authors or device manufacturers may also wish to offer users the capability of powering up in a known state and driving the hardware to this state when connecting.

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.CoverState (external)

property Description: str

Description of the device such as manufacturer and model number.

Common to all devices

Raises:

  • NotConnectedException – If the device status is unavailable

  • DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • This describes the device, not the driver. See the DriverInfo property for information on the ASCOM driver.

  • The description length will be a maximum of 64 characters so that it can be used in FITS image headers, which are limited to 80 characters including the header name.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for Description, find this specific device’s specification, and see Description there.

property DeviceState: List[dict]

List of key-value pairs representing the operational properties of the device

Common to all devices

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for DeviceState, find this specific device’s specification, and see DeviceState there.

property DriverInfo: List[str]

Descriptive and version information about the ASCOM driver

Common to all devices

Returns:

Python list of strings (see Notes)

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • This describes the driver not the device. See the Description property for information on the device itself

  • The return is a Python list of strings, the total length of which may be hundreds to thousands of characters long. It is intended to display detailed information on the ASCOM (COM or Alpaca) driver, including version and copyright data. . To get the driver version in a parse-able string, use the DriverVersion property.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for DriverInfo, find this specific device’s specification, and see DriverInfo there.

property DriverVersion: str

String containing only the major and minor version of the driver.

Common to all devices

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • This must be in the form “n.n”. It should not to be confused with the InterfaceVersion property, which is the version of this specification supported by the driver. Note: on systems with a comma as the decimal point you may need to make accommodations to parse the value.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for DriverVersion, find this specific device’s specification, and see DriverVersion there.

property InterfaceVersion: int

ASCOM Device interface definition version that this device supports.

Common to all devices

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • This is a single integer indicating the version of this specific ASCOM universal interface definition. For example, for ICameraV3, this will be 3. It should not to be confused with the DriverVersion property, which is the major.minor version of the driver for this device.

  • This value is cached internally after first retrieval since it is repeatedly used if emulating Connect/Disconnect semantics on older (pre - Platform 7) devioces.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for InterfaceVersion, find this specific device’s specification, and see InterfaceVersion there.

property MaxBrightness: int

The Brightness value that makes the calibrator deliver its maximum illumination.

Raises:

Note

  • This is a mandatory property if a calibrator device is present (CalibratorState is other than NotPresent)

  • The value will always be a positive integer, indicating the available precision.

  • Examples: A value of 1 indicates that the calibrator can only be “off” or “on”. A value of 10 indicates that the calibrator has 10 discrete illumination levels in addition to “off”.

Master Interfaces Reference

CoverCalibrator.MaxBrightness (external)

property Name: str

The short name of the driver, for display purposes.

Common to all devices

Raises:

DriverException – If the driver cannot successfully complete the request. This exception may be encountered on any call to the device.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for Name, find this specific device’s specification, and see Name there.

property SupportedActions: List[str]

The list of custom action names supported by this driver

Common to all devices

Returns:

Python list of strings (see Notes)

Raises:

DriverException – An error occurred that is not described by one of the more specific ASCOM exceptions. The device did not successfully complete the request.

Note

  • This method, combined with Action(), is the supported mechanic for adding non-standard functionality.

  • SupportedActions is a “discovery” mechanism that enables clients to know which Actions a device supports without having to exercise the Actions themselves. This mechanism is necessary because there could be people / equipment safety issues if actions are called unexpectedly or out of a defined process sequence. It follows from this that SupportedActions must return names that match the spelling of Action() names exactly, without additional descriptive text. However, returned names may use any casing because the ActionName parameter of Action() is case insensitive.

Master Interfaces Reference

Alpyca uses a common Device class but this is not available in the ASCOM Master Interface Definitions (external). To see the reference info for SupportedActions, find this specific device’s specification, and see SupportedActions there.