1. main@ap-gto.groups.io
  2. Messages
   Date   
Re: Error in AP driver

planetary_hunter
 

--- In ap-gto@..., "Chuck Faranda" <mail_lists2@...>
wrote:

The command protocol docs state that there are known issues with
these commands in CP1 & 2. Here's the language in the doc: ' Note
for versions D, KD, E, KE, E1 and KE1: The horizon check command does
not work properly. It does work properly in versions C and KC.' I
haven't a clue to what 'doesn't work properly' means though.
However, this does implies it works with all versions of
CP3......but, I don't see a way to query for the CP model so there's
no way for the SW to be choosy that I can find. I suppose it is up
to the end user to determine if they can use this feature based on
the hardware they own.

I don't think this is related to what you have reported with the
site longitude.

Chuck
Which command protocol doc talks about the horizon check not working?
Mine does not work but I figured that out the hard way and ended up
implementing this function on my own.

Bryan
Re: Error in AP driver

Chuck Faranda <mail_lists2@...>
 

The command protocol docs state that there are known issues with these commands in CP1 & 2. Here's the language in the doc: ' Note for versions D, KD, E, KE, E1 and KE1: The horizon check command does not work properly. It does work properly in versions C and KC.' I haven't a clue to what 'doesn't work properly' means though. However, this does implies it works with all versions of CP3......but, I don't see a way to query for the CP model so there's no way for the SW to be choosy that I can find. I suppose it is up to the end user to determine if they can use this feature based on the hardware they own.

I don't think this is related to what you have reported with the site longitude.

Chuck

----- Original Message -----
From: yves laroche
To: ap-gto@...
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Re: Error in AP driver


Hi Ajai,

I've got plenty of synchronization problem last summer until i decided to uncheck the Use Horizon Check feature in your driver. I was able to slew to objects when they were on the same meridian side but when they passed the meridian, the mount tried to go upside down at each try. I've got this problem on several nights until i decided to investigate and found that the Use Horizon Check feature was causing the behavior . This feature was checked during the last winter without any problem but the problem appeared after daylight saving change. I'm running AP ASCOM version 4.1.25 and helper2.dll is installed.

Maybe it's related or not with this thread bot i prefer to let you know...just in case.

Yves

----- Original Message -----
From: Ajai Sehgal
To: ap-gto@...
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 1:23 PM
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Error in AP driver

I have looked at the code and can't see anything that would cause
this. The code is common to all the drivers that I write and so far
no issues have been reported. Here is the code. If someone can spot
the error I am will certainly fix it:

'Get the longitude from the AP and convert it to degress
SiteLongitude = -m_Util.DMSToDegrees(CommandString("Gg"))

' Convert from AP 0-359 westward to ASCOM format +/- 180 +E
If SiteLongitude < -180# Then SiteLongitude = SiteLongitude + 360#

This is the entire AP documentation on the topic (leaves quite a bit
to be desired - as you can see is is VERY open to interpretation:

Command: :Gg#
Response: +DDD*MM# or +DDD*MM:SS# if long format
Gets the current longitude.

It would be helpful if you could send me a serial trace of what the
AP is reporting back when you query the longitude when east (I can't
get to my AP right now because it is in a dome and it is pouring rain
here - can't open the dome to get in - remote computer shut itself
down - sigh).

Please ensure that you have the updated helper2.dll installed from
the ASCOM site. This is required as the old version had a bug in it.

Ajai

--- In ap-gto@..., "Chuck Faranda" <mail_lists2@...>
wrote:
>
> FYI: Ajai is investigating the issue and will report ASAP.
>
> Regards,
> Chuck Faranda
> http://ccdastro.net
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >> I am running the latest driver for AP GTO mounts (4.1.25)
> >> under ASCOM 4. My mount is a Mach1.
> >> The reported site information is incorrect: after a Get
> >> Lat/Long is done, I get a correct value for Latitude, but
> >> Longitude is wrong:
> >> it reports
> >> E 4 10.00
> >> instead of
> >> E 5 50.00
> >> I checked the AP keypad: it's OK there.
> >> So I suspect a wrong conversion... possibly for all of us
> >> sitting E of Greenwich...
>

__________ NOD32 2724 (20071214) Information __________

This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
http://www.eset.com
Re: what's the best software package to automate a remote observatory wi

Paul M
 

Richard,
Maxim 4.x (or CCDSoft) + CCDAutoPilot3. Works flawlessly night after night after night after night all from thousands of miles away. Including darks, flats and opening/closing the roof. Multi-targets, meridian flips, camera rotation, and focus. also integrates with the Boltwood Cloud sensor. Perfect for setting up the run, and off to sleep knowing its all getting done, and will be parked and closed down in the morning.

For Comets and asteroids (long target list generated from TheSky database), I use CCDCommander to grab these images for photometry/astrometry work. Its easier to integrate a long target list with this arrangement. also the fact that it'll grab latest coords for these moving targets.

...paul.
Re: Broken clutch knob

observe_m13
 

Stainless steel is notoriously difficult to drill. It will be hard,
and compared to the surrounding aluminum it will be extremely hard.
That is why an "easy-out" is anything but in this situation. Drilling
a small hole in the exact center of a small diameter stainless bolt
stub for a very small easy out is going to be extremely difficult and
require precise alignments, centering, and a great deal of care. If
this is the case, I would definitely leave it to the professionals.

Rick.

--- In ap-gto@..., "Bob Olson" <r.olson@...> wrote:

Hi Pete,

Be very careful that the pilot drill doesn't wander off the hard
clutch screw and into the soft aluminium casting. I believe the
clutch screw is stainless steel and it might work harden when it is
being drilled. You might want to consider having a machine shop do
the job.

I think that you can use the mount as it is, so you might want to
wait until the AP folks get back from their Christmas holidays, and
then check with them.

Bob

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Broken clutch knob

observe_m13
 

I am totally confused. If this is the problem, toss it in the garbage
and order a new one from AP on Monday.

I thought you were talking about the mount having a problem with a
broken off threaded section in the mount itself. That is serious and
is what a picture of would be worth a 1000 words.

Rick.


--- In ap-gto@..., "Peter Santangeli" <peter@...> wrote:


Maybe a picture is indeed worth 1000 words... Here is a shot of the
broken knob:

http://www.santangeli.net/knob.jpg

As you can see, the device is actually a hollow threaded aluminum tube
with the knob part screwed into it. The walls of the tube are not that
thick, but should take quite a bit of torque without breaking. All I
can assume is that the knob got banged longitudinally somehow, and the
tube broke.

The rest of the tube (with the "outer" thread) is unfortunately still
in the mount.

Pete


--- In ap-gto@..., Gregory Nottingham <gnpnotti@> wrote:

My experience using Eazy Outs on exhaust studs on cylinder heads has
not been good. I know that the telescope situation is different.
What is the diameter of screw? As long as you are sure that screw
isn't cross-threaded, you should be alright but every-time I've used
one, I have gone in with the assumption that I will have to take the
head to a machine shop to drill out the stud and the broken,
hardened
steel Easy Out.
Good luck.
Greg
On Dec 15, 2007, at 2:01, Peter Santangeli wrote:


Good suggestion. I was thinking about something like this.

Pete

--- In ap-gto@..., kawasaki99@ wrote:

Hello Strong Man,
Local hardware store ought to sell an (easy-out)
which is a
sort of a left hand thread tap and the proper size pilot drill
for the
easy-out. If it's only hand tight to ought to come out. Have an
assistant hold a
vacuum cleaner hose close to broken screw while drilling the pilot
hole to
capture any small chips. A small center drill or sharp prick punch
may be necessary
to ensure the pilot drill puts the hole close to the true
center of
the
broken screw. Sounds like a lot but it's generally easy.



**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Error in AP driver

Yves Laroche
 

Hi Ajai,

I've got plenty of synchronization problem last summer until i decided to uncheck the Use Horizon Check feature in your driver. I was able to slew to objects when they were on the same meridian side but when they passed the meridian, the mount tried to go upside down at each try. I've got this problem on several nights until i decided to investigate and found that the Use Horizon Check feature was causing the behavior . This feature was checked during the last winter without any problem but the problem appeared after daylight saving change. I'm running AP ASCOM version 4.1.25 and helper2.dll is installed.

Maybe it's related or not with this thread bot i prefer to let you know...just in case.

Yves

----- Original Message -----
From: Ajai Sehgal
To: ap-gto@...
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 1:23 PM
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Error in AP driver


I have looked at the code and can't see anything that would cause
this. The code is common to all the drivers that I write and so far
no issues have been reported. Here is the code. If someone can spot
the error I am will certainly fix it:

'Get the longitude from the AP and convert it to degress
SiteLongitude = -m_Util.DMSToDegrees(CommandString("Gg"))

' Convert from AP 0-359 westward to ASCOM format +/- 180 +E
If SiteLongitude < -180# Then SiteLongitude = SiteLongitude + 360#

This is the entire AP documentation on the topic (leaves quite a bit
to be desired - as you can see is is VERY open to interpretation:

Command: :Gg#
Response: +DDD*MM# or +DDD*MM:SS# if long format
Gets the current longitude.

It would be helpful if you could send me a serial trace of what the
AP is reporting back when you query the longitude when east (I can't
get to my AP right now because it is in a dome and it is pouring rain
here - can't open the dome to get in - remote computer shut itself
down - sigh).

Please ensure that you have the updated helper2.dll installed from
the ASCOM site. This is required as the old version had a bug in it.

Ajai

--- In ap-gto@..., "Chuck Faranda" <mail_lists2@...>
wrote:
>
> FYI: Ajai is investigating the issue and will report ASAP.
>
> Regards,
> Chuck Faranda
> http://ccdastro.net
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >> I am running the latest driver for AP GTO mounts (4.1.25)
> >> under ASCOM 4. My mount is a Mach1.
> >> The reported site information is incorrect: after a Get
> >> Lat/Long is done, I get a correct value for Latitude, but
> >> Longitude is wrong:
> >> it reports
> >> E 4 10.00
> >> instead of
> >> E 5 50.00
> >> I checked the AP keypad: it's OK there.
> >> So I suspect a wrong conversion... possibly for all of us
> >> sitting E of Greenwich...
>





__________ NOD32 2724 (20071214) Information __________

This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
http://www.eset.com
Re: Error in AP driver

Ajai Sehgal
 

I have looked at the code and can't see anything that would cause
this. The code is common to all the drivers that I write and so far
no issues have been reported. Here is the code. If someone can spot
the error I am will certainly fix it:

'Get the longitude from the AP and convert it to degress
SiteLongitude = -m_Util.DMSToDegrees(CommandString("Gg"))

' Convert from AP 0-359 westward to ASCOM format +/- 180 +E
If SiteLongitude < -180# Then SiteLongitude = SiteLongitude + 360#

This is the entire AP documentation on the topic (leaves quite a bit
to be desired - as you can see is is VERY open to interpretation:

Command: :Gg#
Response: +DDD*MM# or +DDD*MM:SS# if long format
Gets the current longitude.

It would be helpful if you could send me a serial trace of what the
AP is reporting back when you query the longitude when east (I can't
get to my AP right now because it is in a dome and it is pouring rain
here - can't open the dome to get in - remote computer shut itself
down - sigh).

Please ensure that you have the updated helper2.dll installed from
the ASCOM site. This is required as the old version had a bug in it.

Ajai

--- In ap-gto@..., "Chuck Faranda" <mail_lists2@...>
wrote:

FYI: Ajai is investigating the issue and will report ASAP.

Regards,
Chuck Faranda
http://ccdastro.net

----- Original Message -----
I am running the latest driver for AP GTO mounts (4.1.25)
under ASCOM 4. My mount is a Mach1.
The reported site information is incorrect: after a Get
Lat/Long is done, I get a correct value for Latitude, but
Longitude is wrong:
it reports
E 4 10.00
instead of
E 5 50.00
I checked the AP keypad: it's OK there.
So I suspect a wrong conversion... possibly for all of us
sitting E of Greenwich...
Re: Broken clutch knob

Joe Zeglinski
 

Hi Pete,

If you do decide trying a "screw extractor", to get the rest of it out, it
might be obvious, but I will state it here anyway.

Remove one of the other clutch screws, using a good one to determine how
much remains broken inside. That will give you the maximum depth you can go
with a pilot drill hole, for the extractor - obviously less depth is safer.

I suspect, that it will not take very much torque at all to ease out the
broken stub. Mere friction alone might almost ease it out since it wasn't
really screwed in tight.

Joe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Santangeli" <peter@...>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 12:27 PM
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Broken clutch knob



Maybe a picture is indeed worth 1000 words... Here is a shot of the
broken knob:

http://www.santangeli.net/knob.jpg

As you can see, the device is actually a hollow threaded aluminum tube
with the knob part screwed into it. The walls of the tube are not that
thick, but should take quite a bit of torque without breaking. All I
can assume is that the knob got banged longitudinally somehow, and the
tube broke.

The rest of the tube (with the "outer" thread) is unfortunately still
in the mount.

Pete
Re: Broken clutch knob

Peter Santangeli
 

Maybe a picture is indeed worth 1000 words... Here is a shot of the
broken knob:

http://www.santangeli.net/knob.jpg

As you can see, the device is actually a hollow threaded aluminum tube
with the knob part screwed into it. The walls of the tube are not that
thick, but should take quite a bit of torque without breaking. All I
can assume is that the knob got banged longitudinally somehow, and the
tube broke.

The rest of the tube (with the "outer" thread) is unfortunately still
in the mount.

Pete

--- In ap-gto@..., Gregory Nottingham <gnpnotti@...> wrote:

My experience using Eazy Outs on exhaust studs on cylinder heads has
not been good. I know that the telescope situation is different.
What is the diameter of screw? As long as you are sure that screw
isn't cross-threaded, you should be alright but every-time I've used
one, I have gone in with the assumption that I will have to take the
head to a machine shop to drill out the stud and the broken, hardened
steel Easy Out.
Good luck.
Greg
On Dec 15, 2007, at 2:01, Peter Santangeli wrote:


Good suggestion. I was thinking about something like this.

Pete

--- In ap-gto@..., kawasaki99@ wrote:

Hello Strong Man,
Local hardware store ought to sell an (easy-out)
which is a
sort of a left hand thread tap and the proper size pilot drill
for the
easy-out. If it's only hand tight to ought to come out. Have an
assistant hold a
vacuum cleaner hose close to broken screw while drilling the pilot
hole to
capture any small chips. A small center drill or sharp prick punch
may be necessary
to ensure the pilot drill puts the hole close to the true center of
the
broken screw. Sounds like a lot but it's generally easy.



**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)
Fw: [SPAM] Fw: [ASCOM] Re: Error in AP driver

Chuck Faranda <mail_lists2@...>
 

FYI: Ajai is investigating the issue and will report ASAP.

Regards,
Chuck Faranda
http://ccdastro.net

----- Original Message -----
I am running the latest driver for AP GTO mounts (4.1.25)
under ASCOM 4. My mount is a Mach1.
The reported site information is incorrect: after a Get
Lat/Long is done, I get a correct value for Latitude, but
Longitude is wrong:
it reports
E 4 10.00
instead of
E 5 50.00
I checked the AP keypad: it's OK there.
So I suspect a wrong conversion... possibly for all of us
sitting E of Greenwich...
Re: Broken clutch knob

Bob Olson <r.olson@...>
 

Hi Pete,

Be very careful that the pilot drill doesn't wander off the hard clutch screw and into the soft aluminium casting. I believe the clutch screw is stainless steel and it might work harden when it is being drilled. You might want to consider having a machine shop do the job.

I think that you can use the mount as it is, so you might want to wait until the AP folks get back from their Christmas holidays, and then check with them.

Bob
Re: Broken clutch knob

Gregory Nottingham <gnpnotti@...>
 

My experience using Eazy Outs on exhaust studs on cylinder heads has
not been good. I know that the telescope situation is different.
What is the diameter of screw? As long as you are sure that screw
isn't cross-threaded, you should be alright but every-time I've used
one, I have gone in with the assumption that I will have to take the
head to a machine shop to drill out the stud and the broken, hardened
steel Easy Out.
Good luck.
Greg

On Dec 15, 2007, at 2:01, Peter Santangeli wrote:


Good suggestion. I was thinking about something like this.

Pete

--- In ap-gto@..., kawasaki99@... wrote:

Hello Strong Man,
Local hardware store ought to sell an (easy-out)
which is a
sort of a left hand thread tap and the proper size pilot drill
for the
easy-out. If it's only hand tight to ought to come out. Have an
assistant hold a
vacuum cleaner hose close to broken screw while drilling the pilot
hole to
capture any small chips. A small center drill or sharp prick punch
may be necessary
to ensure the pilot drill puts the hole close to the true center of
the
broken screw. Sounds like a lot but it's generally easy.



**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)
Re: Broken clutch knob

Peter Santangeli
 

Good suggestion. I was thinking about something like this.

Pete

--- In ap-gto@..., kawasaki99@... wrote:

Hello Strong Man,
Local hardware store ought to sell an (easy-out)
which is a
sort of a left hand thread tap and the proper size pilot drill for the
easy-out. If it's only hand tight to ought to come out. Have an
assistant hold a
vacuum cleaner hose close to broken screw while drilling the pilot
hole to
capture any small chips. A small center drill or sharp prick punch
may be necessary
to ensure the pilot drill puts the hole close to the true center of
the
broken screw. Sounds like a lot but it's generally easy.



**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)
Re: Broken clutch knob

Peter Santangeli
 

Unfortunately, the piece that remains in the mount is 3mm INSIDE the
casting (the knob came off with 5mm - enough to leave the rest truely
embedded).

Pete

--- In ap-gto@..., "Rick K" <JunkMailGoesHere@...> wrote:

--- In ap-gto@..., "Peter Santangeli" <peter@> wrote:


Sadly, while setting up today in my yard, I went to tighten one of my
RA clutch knobs on my AP900 and it snapped off in my hand. It broke
off about 5mm down, so that I can just see about 2 mm of the bolt
inside of it. The rest of the shaft is no doubt stuck down in the hole
it screws into.

A couple of questions...

Is there a way for me to get the shaft out?
Can I order a replacement?
Am I stuck sending my RA assembly back to AP :-(
Any danger of me using it this way until a convenient time?

I'm really surprise - I've never, ever tightened this much. Never used
hex keys, for instance. I must be stronger than I thought!

Pete
Sounds like you had a faulty part. I doubt that you could have twisted
it off otherwise. Now, getting it out is going to be a thorny issue.

One of the first things that come to mind is to use a Dremel tool with
a cut-off wheel attachement to carefully grind a slot across the
exposed end of the 2mm portion extending out of the piece and then use
a flat blade screwdriver to back it out.

Another is to use a brand new set of high quality vise grips so that
the biting edge is new and sharp. 2mm isn't much to grip but it might
be possible.

The next obvious method is using a bolt extractor, but this will
probably require a drill press and some sort of jig to hold the head
in position. You might be able to use a hand held drill to drill the
hole for the extractor if you use a Dremel and grind a cross centered
on the exposed broken end. The center of the cross will act a a guide
to center the bit for the hole. If it looks like this isn't going to
work, or you are not mechanically inclined with small parts and
precise work, I think taking the head to a machine shop or possibly
shipping it back to AP is in order. Give AP a call on Monday and see
what they say.

In the meantime, I can't see why you can't use the mount.

Rick.
Re: Broken clutch knob

observe_m13
 

--- In ap-gto@..., "Peter Santangeli" <peter@...> wrote:


Sadly, while setting up today in my yard, I went to tighten one of my
RA clutch knobs on my AP900 and it snapped off in my hand. It broke
off about 5mm down, so that I can just see about 2 mm of the bolt
inside of it. The rest of the shaft is no doubt stuck down in the hole
it screws into.

A couple of questions...

Is there a way for me to get the shaft out?
Can I order a replacement?
Am I stuck sending my RA assembly back to AP :-(
Any danger of me using it this way until a convenient time?

I'm really surprise - I've never, ever tightened this much. Never used
hex keys, for instance. I must be stronger than I thought!

Pete
Sounds like you had a faulty part. I doubt that you could have twisted
it off otherwise. Now, getting it out is going to be a thorny issue.

One of the first things that come to mind is to use a Dremel tool with
a cut-off wheel attachement to carefully grind a slot across the
exposed end of the 2mm portion extending out of the piece and then use
a flat blade screwdriver to back it out.

Another is to use a brand new set of high quality vise grips so that
the biting edge is new and sharp. 2mm isn't much to grip but it might
be possible.

The next obvious method is using a bolt extractor, but this will
probably require a drill press and some sort of jig to hold the head
in position. You might be able to use a hand held drill to drill the
hole for the extractor if you use a Dremel and grind a cross centered
on the exposed broken end. The center of the cross will act a a guide
to center the bit for the hole. If it looks like this isn't going to
work, or you are not mechanically inclined with small parts and
precise work, I think taking the head to a machine shop or possibly
shipping it back to AP is in order. Give AP a call on Monday and see
what they say.

In the meantime, I can't see why you can't use the mount.

Rick.
Broken clutch knob

Peter Santangeli
 

Sadly, while setting up today in my yard, I went to tighten one of my
RA clutch knobs on my AP900 and it snapped off in my hand. It broke
off about 5mm down, so that I can just see about 2 mm of the bolt
inside of it. The rest of the shaft is no doubt stuck down in the hole
it screws into.

A couple of questions...

Is there a way for me to get the shaft out?
Can I order a replacement?
Am I stuck sending my RA assembly back to AP :-(
Any danger of me using it this way until a convenient time?

I'm really surprise - I've never, ever tightened this much. Never used
hex keys, for instance. I must be stronger than I thought!

Pete
Holiday Greetings from Astro-Physics

Marj Christen
 

To all,
Astro-Physics will be closed for the Holiday Season beginning December 22 and will officially reopen on Thursday, January 3, 2008. Please understand that we will not be shipping for most of the first week of January as we take inventory (we have a lot of parts to count).
Roland and I will not be in the office next week. If you have any questions, please contact our capable staff for assistance. Of coarse, you can call on the expertise of the people on this user group, as well. I am always amazed and gratified at the way all of you help each other out when questions come up. We particularly appreciate this over the weekends and during holiday periods. You are extraordinary individuals and we areproud to count you among our customers and friends.

We wish all of you and your families a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. We appreciate your support and business throughout 2007 and look forward to offering exciting products in 2008.

Please enjoy the holiday card posted on our website:
http://www.astro-physics.com/xmas07.htm




Marj Christen
Astro-Physics, Inc
11250 Forest Hills Road
Machesney Park, IL 61115
Phone: 815-282-1513
Fax: 815-282-9847
www.astro-physics.com
Please include this e-mail with your response.
Re: Broken clutch knob

kawasaki99@...
 

Hello Strong Man,
Local hardware store ought to sell an (easy-out) which is a
sort of a left hand thread tap and the proper size pilot drill for the
easy-out. If it's only hand tight to ought to come out. Have an assistant hold a
vacuum cleaner hose close to broken screw while drilling the pilot hole to
capture any small chips. A small center drill or sharp prick punch may be necessary
to ensure the pilot drill puts the hole close to the true center of the
broken screw. Sounds like a lot but it's generally easy.



**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)
Re: Desperately trying (this is the correct one) ... (Happy) end...

Wiggins, Rick
 

Hi Ray,
I just want to second all your points. USB is very convenient, but
Ethernet is much more robust. I also find that serial is very robust.
Rick

--- In ap-gto@..., "Ray Gralak" <rgr@...> wrote:

Hi John,

There are many examples of USB unreliability if you search the net
(as with
almost any other hardware interface). I've personally seen USB
errors happen
hundreds of times in my day job. And they *absolutely* do happen
to USB
storage systems. I think for storage systems to be reliable the
firmware/software app needs to confirm the writes and repeat if
necessary.

In any case I think USB is a bad choice for telescopes/cameras in
general.
Ethernet is far more robust and works on every system available
without
having to create a driver. Also, USB plugs can come out too
easily. Ethernet
connectors have a more reliable plug, and even if it does get
unplugged
won't bring your mount link down if you use a connectionless
network
protocol (i.e., UDP).

-Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...]
On Behalf Of John Winfield
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:48 PM
To: ap-gto@...
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Desperately trying (this is the correct
one) ... (Happy) end...

Hmm, I'm not sure I'd agree - my day job is developing USB based
storage systems and if it's good enough for reliably
transferring tens
of megabytes of data per second, it can probably cope with a few
ASCII
characters.

Presumably he's aware of the (lack of) robust error checking on
an
RS232 serial line?
The single parity bit on RS232 isn't very reliable - the USB
datagrams
are CRC32 protected.
I think the AP mount uses 8-N-1, so there's not even parity
checking
being performed on the RS232 comms currently.

John

--- In ap-gto@...
<mailto:ap-gto%40yahoogroups.com> , chris1011@ wrote:

In a message dated 12/12/2007 10:01:20 PM Central Standard
Time,
rdcrisp@ writes:


another suggestion is to abandon serial ports entirely,
as has the pc
industry across the board largely, and just adopt USB or
USB2.0 etc.
USB is not robust, according to our software engineer. It
can result in
dropped bits that can cause problems.

Rolando


**************************************
See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop000300000000
04 <http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?
NCID=aoltop00030000000004> )
Re: Newbie at autoguiding, what's happening?

ayiomamitis
 

--- In ap-gto@..., "Ben Ritchie" <count.zero@...> wrote:

P.S. in an attempt to keep this slightly on-topic, i'd just like to
say that my 1200GTO is undoubtedly the best Astronomy purchase I ever
made. It's just an absolute pleasure to use... :)
Ben,

I am so impressed with my AP1200GTO, I will be looking to pick up
another one during 2008. In fact, I have a little dilemma ... one
AP3600 or two AP1200???? I suspect the latter so as to have multiple
scopes imaging at each opportunity. YES!!!

Anthony.
66761 - 66780 of 86885