Leopard, BTV Pro, 1.1.2b1 and Equinox 6.7.2

[David Bleser]

Steve,

   Jeff Phillips confirmed the issue I brought up with the use of your
webcam driver and Equinox 6.7.2 running under Leopard. There is no
control of the webcam as your interface is not displayed. This is
because Darryl from Microprojects has told us that Apple has not
provided developers with API's to control third party webcams under OS X
10.5. Darryl would like to help but is not up to the task of writing his
own kernel extensions for Leopard. 
   So how does one control a USB webcam for astrophotography  using
Leopard? Could one use the Macam or the IoXperts drivers with Equinox
6.7.2 running under Leopard? No. Equinox will not present the camera
control interface for the reasons just stated.

Well, how about using BTV pro, which Jeff and Steve suggested to capture
video under OS X 10.5?  Yes, the beta version of BTV pro, which hasn't
seen any further development since 2006, will manage to capture video
from a USB camera like the Philips SPC900N. The BTV pro interface  for
USB Webcam capture is way inferior to the Equinox interface that worked
under Tiger. 

Is it the job of Steve Sisak to provide an interface that will appear in
Equinox? I don't think so. The IoXperts beta driver Steve provides
allows the camera to be seen by BTV Pro and Equinox. Steve provides the
interface for camera control for capture apps. But it is up to the
capture apps to make Steve's interface operational through the use of
well API's or kernel extensions. 

   So if there is any finger pointing here, it is me, pointing the
finger at myself for getting involved in this Byzantine USB driver
nightmare. I am getting off the merry-go-round and getting a DMK
firewire camera and using AStro IIDC control software. I think Steve
Jobs would agree.

   Steve has a lot more people to satisfy than just the members of the
tiny astrocamera segment like myself, so we need to cut him as much
slack as possible in this huge undertaking of his to create drivers for
every conceivable USB and FW application of importance.

   Steve, this sounds like a "case closed" to me, although I would
appreciate any comments on this diatribe you might like to add.

Dave Bleser