Wanderer FilterCube
Overview
Section titled “Overview”The Wanderer FilterCube is a compact 5-position electronic filter wheel designed for Celestron RASA11, RASA36 and other similar prime focus telescopes. Mounted at the prime focus, it introduces zero optical obstruction — light passes straight through with no vanes or secondary obstruction in the optical path, so it does not compromise the fast, wide-field performance these telescopes are built for. The device identifies itself on the bus as model WFC50 and communicates via a USB-to-serial interface (CDC, CH340) using a simple numeric command protocol at 19200 baud, 8N1.
Like other Wanderer Astro wheels, the device continuously streams its status over the serial port, with fields separated by the A character. The driver parses this stream to track the current position and to verify the model at connection time.
Features
Section titled “Features”- 5 filter positions
- Zero optical obstruction at the prime focus — no vanes or secondary in the optical path
- Model & firmware display — the model (
WFC50) and firmware version are read at handshake and shown in the read-only Device Info property - Device ID read/write (0–10, command
1900000+ id) — useful when running several wheels from the same host - Per-filter name read/write — each position stores a single letter (B–Z = 2–26; command
(161 + slot) * 10000 + letter) - Continuous status stream parsed in real time — current position is always known
- Strict model validation — the driver only connects to a
WFC50; any other device on the selected port is rejected - Firmware requirement — firmware ≥ 20260312 is required; older firmware is rejected with an upgrade prompt
NOTE
Unlike the Wanderer Snowflake, the FilterCube exposes no automatic-calibration and no zero-detection commands. It relies on its own mechanical reference and requires no calibration pass.