|
Re: Azimuth adjustment?
Steven
Hi Bill,
I was waiting with baited breath to see what the 'official' reply was on this. I just set up my own AP1100 a month ago and had the same problem you describe. I was quite afraid of turning them too hard so as not to break anything.
There's nothing clear in the book, oh, there's a short sentence which you have to read very carefully to get the idea, but finally I got proactive about it, and just tried it out (a friend who owns a bigger mount told me never to touch those screws, but it made sense to try it out). Then I wrote to George at Ap to get his blessings. I have a feeling this is a delicate point somewhere at the AP offices, don't know (they know a lot of stuff, don't worry). He was somewhat surprised either of them required adjustment because he said they were adjusted at the factory before shipping. I suspect temperature differences are the cause of the discrepancy, don't know.
Anyway, the cure: There are two recessed allen key screws on the base, have a look, they point inward, you can't miss them, only two. Move one of them in the c/cw position (un-screw) a very very very very little bit until you feel that nice smooth buttery tension they talk about on the azimuth adjusters. Just do one at a time, they both might not need any adjustment, and for heaven sake don't move it one millimetre more than you have to - its bum might fall off. ;-_)))
Have fun, I hope you enjoy the mount as much as I do. They've done the hobby and the profession a real treat in making something that works as a mount is supposed to work.
Clear skies,
Steve E
From: ap-gto@... on behalf of billz1@... [ap-gto]
Sent: Tuesday, 22 December 2015 1:04 a.m. To: ap-gto@... Subject: [ap-gto] Azimuth adjustment? I'm new to AP mounts and had a question about a new mount. When trying out the azimuth adjustment, I found the adjusters much harder to turn than expected. This being when they are actually
pushing against the center block. They will adjust, but they take a very firm grip to turn. At first I thought they were locked and didn't want to force them, but not finding anything about lock downs in the manual, I tried again with more force, and they
do work. But, I wouldn't call them buttery smooth like the altitude adjustment
This being my first day of ownership, I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is normal, and thought I would ask. I was thing perhaps this adjustment is tight to keep the mount base from being
sloppy?
|
|
|
|
Azimuth adjustment?
william
I'm new to AP mounts and had a question about a new mount. When trying out the azimuth adjustment, I found the adjusters much harder to turn than expected. This being when they are actually pushing against the center block. They will adjust, but they take a very firm grip to turn. At first I thought they were locked and didn't want to force them, but not finding anything about lock downs in the manual, I tried again with more force, and they do work. But, I wouldn't call them buttery smooth like the altitude adjustment This being my first day of ownership, I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is normal, and thought I would ask. I was thing perhaps this adjustment is tight to keep the mount base from being sloppy?
|
|
|
|
Re: Sync without the hand controller
Stuart It sounds like your software is sending the wrong initialization parameters to the mount when you start up causing the mount to think it is pointing somewhere that it is not. If you park the mount in for example, AP park position 3 then shut down, when you start up again, you simply need to have your software that is initializing the mount (AP Ascom V2 driver) tell the mount to "resume from park 3" or "resume from last parked". If you used resume from last parked, It doesn't matter where you park it. Hope this helps Don Anderson
From: "Stuart Heggie stuart.j.heggie@... [ap-gto]" To: "ap-gto@..." Sent: Monday, December 21, 2015 8:20 PM Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Sync without the hand controller Dave, I believe you must always initialize on a star East of the meridian. Could that be it? Stuart On Monday, 21 December 2015, D Sidote dsidote@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
-- Stuart Heggie
|
|
|
|
Re: APCC JNow/J2000
Brian Hitney
My understanding is that SGP assumes plate solvers will be j2000. Yes, it will convert those coords as needed to jnow, but if astrometry.net is set to jnow, you'll have a problem... You didn't say if you are using astrometry.net, but check that setting if so.
|
|
|
|
Re: Sync without the hand controller
Stuart Heggie <stuart.j.heggie@...>
Fingers crossed Dave!
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Stuart
On Monday, 21 December 2015, D Sidote dsidote@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Re: Sync without the hand controller
D Sidote <dsidote@...>
Stuart, That may be the issue. I usually start imaging in the east, but I had a few hours before the target was high enough to see so I started collecting frames on another target west of the meridian first. I will have to try it the next clear night. Dave
On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 9:20 PM, Stuart Heggie stuart.j.heggie@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Re: Sync without the hand controller
Stuart Heggie <stuart.j.heggie@...>
Dave, I believe you must always initialize on a star East of the meridian. Could that be it?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Stuart
On Monday, 21 December 2015, D Sidote dsidote@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Re: Sync without the hand controller
D Sidote <dsidote@...>
Hi Stuart, I made that mistake early on when I first got the mount. I now make sure that the time displayed in the APCC status window it correct when I start up. I think I am just not understanding the process for starting up and the initial sync when not using the hand controller. Everytime SGP does a plate solve its syncs which would be converted to a recal, but what about the initial plate solve? Would that automatically be a sync? Dave
On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 8:54 PM, Stuart Heggie stuart.j.heggie@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Re: Sync without the hand controller
Stuart Heggie <stuart.j.heggie@...>
Any chance the time zone offset has the wrong sign?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Stuart
On Monday, 21 December 2015, dsidote@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Sync without the hand controller
dsidote@...
The other night I tried to slew my mount to my imaging target and the mount unexpectedly went the wrong way. Nothing happened as I was there to stop the slew, but I would like to understand why. The date, time, lat/long were all correct. I assume its an issue with syncing.
My mount is permanently setup and polar aligned, so all I have to do it mount the telescope and plug in the computer to be ready for imaging. I use sequence generator pro to automate everything along with phd for autoguiding, and Cartes du ciel for planetarium. I do not use the hand controller. This is my workflow: 1. Start up APCC, and initialize the mount 2. Connect SGP, Phd, CdC 3. slew to the object in CdC 4. Plate solve in SGP (which performs a sync) to frame the object (I have sync -> recal checked in ASCOM driver) 5. Start taking images ... 6. finish taking images 7. park the mount 8. disconnect CdC, Phd, SGP 9. close APCC 10. power off so... Do I need to uncheck the sync -> recal for the initial sync or is the first rcal automatically a sync? How does one clear a sync and start over? I did search the yahoo group and the manuals but couldn't find the answers. Thanks! Dave
|
|
|
|
Re: APCC JNow/J2000
Manuel,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
I saw your post on the SGPro forum. Since you are in a country that uses "," as a decimal have you tried changing windows settings to make "." the decimal? -Ray Gralak Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): http://www.astro-physics.com/index.htm?products/accessories/software/apcc/apcc Author of PEMPro: http://www.ccdware.com Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: http://www.gralak.com/apdriver Author of PulseGuide: http://www.pulseguide.com Author of Sigma: http://www.gralak.com/sigma
-----Original Message-----
|
|
|
|
Re: APCC JNow/J2000
topboxman
What's SGPro is doing is correct.
It's correct to set astrometric engines (plate solvers) to J2000 and SGPro parses all mounts for EPCOH and A-P mounts always returns their EPOCH of JNow so that SGPro will properly convert from J2000 to JNow coordinates. Peter ---In ap-gto@..., <manuelj06@...> wrote : It seems SGPro is converting the J2000 to JNow, whatever the original format is. ---In ap-gto@..., <brian@...> wrote : What are you using to plate solve? If astrometry.net, make sure it is set to j2000...
|
|
|
|
Re: APCC JNow/J2000
Manuel Jimenez
It seems SGPro is converting the J2000 to JNow, whatever the original format is.
---In ap-gto@..., <brian@...> wrote : What are you using to plate solve? If astrometry.net, make sure it is set to j2000...
|
|
|
|
Re: APCC JNow/J2000
Brian Hitney
What are you using to plate solve? If astrometry.net, make sure it is set to j2000...
|
|
|
|
Re: APCC JNow/J2000
topboxman
Try posting at SGPro forum. There are several A-P mount users there.
http://forum.mainsequencesoftware.com/ I use SGPro with my A-P1100GTO mount and works perfectly but I do not use APCC. Peter
|
|
|
|
APCC JNow/J2000
Manuel Jimenez
Hi, I've just acquired a V1 chip and I'm trying APCC trial. But I found that when using APCC and SGPro the slews/syncs are not working the same as with the AP V2 driver. I'm asking here since with the same configuration, APCC is not working, and APV2 is, so I think APCC seems the culprit. Everytime I do a plate solve, the program does this: [21/12/2015 19:36:53] [DEBUG] [Telescope Thread] Telescope: Syncing to J2000 RA: 0,879982823775816 Dec: 56,6330053309054 [21/12/2015 19:36:53] [DEBUG] [Telescope Thread] Telescope Sync: Passed in J2000 but mount requires JNOW, converting... [21/12/2015 19:36:53] [DEBUG] [Telescope Thread] Telescope: Syncing to JNOW RA: 0,896109095375378 Dec: 56,7234332232776 After that, there is a slew to correct position, but the mount ends up in the same position over and over again. Do you have any ideas?. Regards, Manuel.
|
|
|
|
Re: ASCOM driver question
Joe Zeglinski
George,
If this would help. I have been using Cartes du Ciel
(Sky Charts) for many years, with all the ASCOM V2 versions, and never had a
problem. When APCC PRO came along, I continue to use it – again, absolutely no
problem.
However, I DID NOT assign it an APCC “Virtual Port” –
since it didn’t really seem necessary – and it continues to work just fine with
the latest ASCOM driver. Of course, the driver not only runs Cartes, but at the
same time, Ray’s other utilities also run well. So no worries on Cartes du Ciel
ASCOM V2 compatibility.
Joe Z.
|
|
|
|
Re: ASCOM driver question
jerry10137@yahoo.com <jerry10137@...>
Hi George, It is very ASCOM compliant. I've actually been using it pretty well now for a while outside this one little issue I'm tracking down. I've been working quite a bit with its behavior in relation to the AP ASCOM driver and EQASCOM. I was actually thinking this morning a little more about the problem I've been experiencing. It could be a number of different things and I've even put a second set of PHD2 experienced eyes on my PHD2 logs. Thinking more about what Ray mentioned, there is a tracking feature inside Cartes du Ciel. The next time I'm out testing, I am going to connect to the mount and then see if it's tracking feature can be disabled. I would hate for the two to be fighting one another but one would think of you initiated ASCOM, CDC tracking would automatically shut down. But this is why we test :-) Jerry Gardner
On Dec 21, 2015, at 8:35 AM, George george@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Re: ASCOM driver question
George
Jerry,
A question: Is Cartes du Ciel ASCOM compliant?
Regards,
George
George Whitney Astro-Physics, Inc. Phone: 815-282-1513 Email: george@...
From: ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...]
Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2015 11:23 AM To: ap-gto@... Subject: RE: [ap-gto] ASCOM driver question
Jerry,
|
|
|
|
Re: Hand controller cable
Suresh Mohan
Update, the white cable has snapped inside the casing ,as i checked i found that it simply came out without any effortI alrady know the red and black cable is a dummy cable . I took a photograph before i checked the cable so i dont re solder the wrong pin Suresh
On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 1:43 AM, chris1011@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
|
|
|