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Re: What specs should a new Mach1 adhere to?
Woody - thanks will do. I didn't get a tag and extra sheet? (that I remember) it's like a kid on Christmas when they arrive and well paper is flying everywhere never to be seen again. I will do a mesh on my dec - though I don't think it needs it - it can't hurt? I didn't think my RA needed it - but I recently swapped scopes and after mounting the 127mm I could wiggle it with a clicking noise. I felt it was the cheap rings on the ES scope... and tried to track it down. I could hear the click in the RA gearbox. Luckily I had just read about the adjustment the night before. So I loosened the 2 screws and with a little thumb pressure laid the two gears (how ever they are configured in there) together more. Tightened. That took the tiny bit of slop, wiggle and the click out of the RA access. (not sure if I'm getting better because of it) but I feel better. I don't feel any slop in the DEC, but I'll do the same to check. I do love it - I just wish I could run a over all test and be sure it's doing well. I have to say that the pointing is amazing. Dead center... my camera is in for warranty repair and I wanted to play with the mount so I told it - point at the sun. I ran sharpcap (since SGP can't handle sun exposures) and bam... dead center in my 80mm and guide camera. Ohhh that ASI290mm is a low res offering. I'd really hate to use it for imaging. I'll tweak the dec mesh - just to be sure.
On Sun, Nov 26, 2017 at 4:16 PM, 'Woody Schlom' woody@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
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Re: Thru Mount Cabling Best Practices
I've refined it even more since this PHOTO (BELOW) On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 10:42 AM, fyrframe@... [ap-gto] < ap-gto@...> wrote:
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Re: Thru Mount Cabling Best Practices
fyrframe@...
Here is gallery of images using the Moonlite Nite Crawler. The images depict all kinds of cabling scenarios.
https://focuser.com/products.php at the home page select the gallery at the top of the page on the right.
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Thru Mount Cabling Best Practices
Steven Waldren
Is there a resource of best practices for running your cables through the mount on a MACH1?
I think I am getting some cable drag issues. I have the motor cables, 1 USB, and one DC power cable running through. Best, Steven
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Re: APCC issue for Ray
ericpdreher@...
I appreciate your fast responses. Thank you, sir! :)
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Re: APCC issue for Ray
Ray Gralak
OK Eric, then disregard my last post!!
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
-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-----
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Re: APCC issue for Ray
Ray Gralak
Exactly. I have APCC set to start PEM when it initializes the mount.I just tried it 5 times and every time PEM was enabled, so let's see if you can reproduce the problem: 1) With the mount off start APCC and uncheck the driver "Auto-connect" option. 2) In Settings select "Edit Mount Initialization Settings..." and make sure that the "Set PEM" checkbox is checked and that the setting is "Enable PEM". Save and close the Initialization settings box. 3) Power on the mount and wait for it to initialize. 4) Wait for the PEM status in the status bar to update. It should read "PEM = Enabled". 5) Power down the mount. Wait a couple seconds and power it on. 6) Repeat until you are satisfied (or not!) that PEM is always enabled. BTW, you don't need clear skies to do this test. -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-----
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Re: APCC issue for Ray
ericpdreher@...
I did enable that in APCC which is why I couldn't figure out why it was inconsistent, but your answer did put me on to the solution.
I had PEM enabled in the V2 driver as well. Apparently that was a bad idea as it seemed to conflict with APCC's initialization enabling PEM. Once I unchecked the box and disabled PEM in the driver setup, after APCC goes through its boot and initialization of the mount with PEM enabled in APCC only, PEM is now running when the process completes. I ran the entire process four times with this result. Thanks, Ray. Eric
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Re: Chicken Ridge
Terry Robison
Thankyou Eric
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Re: APCC issue for Ray
Ray Gralak
The problem is the inconsistency of PEM starting at the same time my Mach1 CP4 begins tracking. PEM onlyPEM does not automatically start when tracking starts. PEM does not get initialized by APCC if the mount has been initialized already. APCC will set PEM when the mount is initialized only if you have APCC set to initialize PEM. -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-----
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APCC issue for Ray
ericpdreher@...
Ray, I have APCC Standard set up for auto initialization with a five second delay. I also have PEM set to start via initialization. The problem is the inconsistency of PEM starting at the same time my Mach1 CP4 begins tracking. PEM only starts automatically about one in four times. Between each try, I park, shut-down APCC and power cycle the CP4, waiting for 15 seconds before powering up again. Ideas? Thank you. Eric
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Re: Chicken Ridge
ericpdreher@...
Spectacular!
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Re: Chicken Ridge
Terry Robison
Hi Ron, Thanks. But you have to back up a little. There is only a small part of the chicken in the image. A wider FOV will reveal it.
Terry
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Re: Chicken Ridge
Terry Robison
Thanks Stuart
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Re: What specs should a new Mach1 adhere to?
Sure Andy,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
I’m away at the moment with work, it will be a few days. Regards,
Matt Hughes
On 27 Nov 2017, at 08:53, Andy Galasso andy.galasso@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
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Re: What specs should a new Mach1 adhere to?
Andy Galasso
>>> Matt wrote: >>> When I do a calibration with my 1100 with Absolute Encoders I get a text book result. No backlash. The guiding assistant after a 8 min run a few nights back said I had 248 rms error in backlash. With encoders I know my backlash is zero. Hi Matt, That sure does sound like a PHD2 issue. Would you mind posting your PHD2 Debug Log and your PHD2 Guide Log in the PHD2 Forum so the developers can look into it? (Instructions for locating the PHD2 log files here.) Thanks, Andy
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Re: What specs should a new Mach1 adhere to?
Woody Schlom <woody@...>
Ron,
1) I haven’t been following this thread until now. So I don’t recall if you have a brand new Mach1 with the “new” adjustable gear assembly or not. I have an older Mach1 that came from AP with more than one tag on it telling me I needed to, and how to do an initial (and necessary) backlash adjustment. It was quite simple and quick, but made a lot of difference. AP felt this backlash adjustment was so important they put at least one tag on the mount, and then enclosed another separate sheet of 8.5” x 11” piece of paper reminding me of the importance of doing this, and how to do it. The instructions are also in one of the booklets AP included with the mount. 2) Measuring backlash is also easy and mechanical. You don’t need software – just a stopwatch. You can do it with your scope and eyepiece mounted and pointing at a distant fixed terrestrial object. You move the mount one way until the object is at the extreme edge of the FOV, then move it to the opposite direction to the other extreme edge of the FOV while measuring the seconds it takes to accomplish that. And then opposite move button again and measure the seconds before the image actually moves. If you know the speed the mount is moving (published in the AP manuals) and the horizontal or vertical FOV (function of how long it takes the object to move from edge to edge of the FOV), you can calculate the backlash by counting the seconds the mount doesn’t move between direction changes. This is a direct mechanical/optical/time measurement and there shouldn’t be any software “bugs” or “bad code” involved. 3) Before jumping to conclusions and assuming your mount is “bad” or a “lemon”, do and read what AP recommends. These mounts really are head-and-shoulders better than anything coming out of China. And even more important than that, each and every one is adjusted and calibrated by hand before it’s shipped out. Nevertheless, you must use common sense and follow AP’s instructions on setup and adjustment – particularly out-of-the-box.
Woody
From: ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...]
Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2017 7:33 AM To: ap-gto@... Subject: [ap-gto] What specs should a new Mach1 adhere to?
I'm so frustrated. Being totally new to this I junked in head first... (had problems using a NEQ6) sold it and jumped in again. Figuring 6,000 would solve my problem.
Did I get a lemon? or am I just still a noob that is doing something wrong. I dumped the NEQ6 due to excessive backlash. Everyone said - well you must have got a bad one. I pulled it all apart - remeshed gears re-lubed and reduced the backlash by 50% but was still out of control. Sold it - Mach1 arrives and it's beautiful. However the proof is in the pudding?
Guide assistant in PHD2 shows a lot of backlash again in the Mach1. Doing a long test it often reports around 1200ms and a (consistent map during backlash testing) where as the NEQ6 was never consistent.
Is this normal? did I get a lemon? is there a repair I (or AP) can do? PHD2 says "set backla! sh in phd2 to 1200ms". I do and guiding is quite poor. I turn "OFF" backlash compensation and guiding inproves!?!?
PHD2 tends to auto adjust the backlash setting and if I set it to 500ms. When I look later its at 836 oi 1248 or some other auto-set number? So I find it best to just uncheck backlash compensation all together. Is PHD2 the best way to test the mount and BL? - is there another way? PEMProv3 have a way? How do I tell if my mount is bad or needs repair? I can't believe I got two BAD mounts - whats the odds.
I just don't know where to turn and well - 6K + APCC at 500 and Pempro at 150 - it's getting rather pricey. What should the mount do for it's 6K price tag? And how to test it for that? I'd like to be sure if it's the mount or me. (likely me).
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Re: What specs should a new Mach1 adhere to?
Makes me feel much better thanks. (all) Still I wish I could run some sort of test and feel secure in my purchase.
On Sun, Nov 26, 2017 at 12:14 PM, Matthew Hughes matthughes77@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
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Re: Chicken Ridge
outstanding - can't find a chicken though = )
On Sun, Nov 26, 2017 at 2:42 PM, Stuart Heggie stuart.j.heggie@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
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Re: Chicken Ridge
Stuart Heggie <stuart.j.heggie@...>
Beautiful result Terry! Stuart
On Sun, Nov 26, 2017 at 1:04 AM, terry.robison@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...> wrote:
--
Stuart Heggie
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