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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
Joe Zeglinski
Hi Biker,
Glad to see that you concur.
Sometimes I feel I am shouting in the dark.
Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about improper designs in many if not
almost all controllers out there,. But I was hoping the later generation
controller, CP4 would have finally got it right – but it didn’t.
Hopefully, the CP5 got the chassis grounding right this time.
Sometimes this problem is so easy to fix just by
choosing the correct component to bolt onto the control panel.
For example, there is a choice for something as simple as the DB9 serial
port connector. Manufacturers can choose one that has its logic ground pin,
isolated and used strictly for power supply ground return. Or, for some
reason, they choose to buy one that already has the logic ground pin welded to
the DB connector body. As soon as that kind of serial connector is screwed onto
the panel, the logic ground on the circuit board, now shares “chassis
ground” with everything on the system, including the panel screws. How simple
would that practice be to correct?
I noticed, while ring out the resistance on other
connectors on my CP4, this sharing of logic ground with chassis ground doesn’t
seem to be done for USB, Ethernet, and other connectors, so it may only be
caused by a poor choice of serial port connectors during design, rather than
someone purposely attaching a wire between a chassis screw and the logic board
circuit ground during assembly.
However, I can see how some sloppy designers just assume
ANY ground is just a plain ground, so to protect the user and satisfy their own
lawyers, they divert ALL types of ground points to the chassis body lest a 5
volt signal might kill a customer, and the above serial connector is an
easy way to do that.
Anyway, not much we can do to protect our controllers
from this hazard. This kind of bad practice has been out there probably for
decades, and most of our equipment is already irreversibly affected. I’m
just shocked – excuse the pun – that this practice still continues.
Just have to be wary to watch out for distant thunder storms.
Joe
From: biker123@... [ap-gto]
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 5:25 PM
To: ap-gto@...
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] MACH1GTO VIBRATING Joe, Wow....did you cover a lot of sins manufacturers and weekend warriors
commit that can compromise their gear or kill it.To cover all this would take a
lot of typing ;-)
But you are dead right. The sad part is that electricians often don't get
it right and pass on bad information to others. One of my duties was to meet
with contractors to discuss electrical safety....low voltage as well as high
voltage when working around primary distribution lines (12 KV and higher). I and
my partner met several of these guys who argued with us....until we did some
demos to show we were right ;-)
For a start I recommend others to get that test block I mentioned above to
determine if their house wiring is good and wired correctly. And make sure
everything is connected correctly. I am not going to recommend that people take
their equipment apart to check chassis ground, etc. as they could likely get
into trouble if they don't know what they are doing. But if they ever get a
tingle when touching metal cases....that is a sign something isn't right.
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
Roland Christen
Thanks for your info, Bikerdude.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: biker123@... [ap-gto] To: ap-gto Sent: Fri, Oct 11, 2019 4:25 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] MACH1GTO VIBRATING Joe, Wow....did you cover a lot of sins manufacturers and weekend warriors commit that can compromise their gear or kill it.To cover all this would take a lot of typing ;-)
But you are dead right. The sad part is that electricians often don't get it right and pass on bad information to others. One of my duties was to meet with contractors to discuss electrical safety....low voltage as well as high voltage when working around primary distribution lines (12 KV and higher). I and my partner met several of these guys who argued with us....until we did some demos to show we were right ;-)
For a start I recommend others to get that test block I mentioned above to determine if their house wiring is good and wired correctly. And make sure everything is connected correctly. I am not going to recommend that people take their equipment apart to check chassis ground, etc. as they could likely get into trouble if they don't know what they are doing. But if they ever get a tingle when touching metal cases....that is a sign something isn't right.
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
Joe,
Wow....did you cover a lot of sins manufacturers and weekend warriors commit that can compromise their gear or kill it.To cover all this would take a lot of typing ;-) But you are dead right. The sad part is that electricians often don't get it right and pass on bad information to others. One of my duties was to meet with contractors to discuss electrical safety....low voltage as well as high voltage when working around primary distribution lines (12 KV and higher). I and my partner met several of these guys who argued with us....until we did some demos to show we were right ;-) For a start I recommend others to get that test block I mentioned above to determine if their house wiring is good and wired correctly. And make sure everything is connected correctly. I am not going to recommend that people take their equipment apart to check chassis ground, etc. as they could likely get into trouble if they don't know what they are doing. But if they ever get a tingle when touching metal cases....that is a sign something isn't right.
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Re: Best visual filters?
Hello, Mike:
Invest in an FL-D filter. It’s a filter from the days of film photography that adapted the color balance of daylight film (the “D”) to fluorescent lights (the “FL”). It coaxes out subtle details and adds contrast to gas giant planets. I use one screwed into my 2” diagonal when I study the planets. I use a 46 mm (E46) FL-D and a 46-to-48 mm step-up ring. B+W used to make a high-quality one, but it doesn’t seem that they do anymore. B&H Photo lists one made by Tiffen:
Clear skies,
Eric Baumgartner Redding, CT USA
From: Astro-Physics GTO users group
Anyone have any thoughts on 1.25" filters for visual lunar/planetary work? Who makes good quality stuff and what has people's experiences been?
Thanks...
Mike J. Shade: mshade@q.com Mike J. Shade Photography:
In War: Resolution In Defeat: Defiance In Victory: Magnanimity In Peace: Goodwill Sir Winston Churchill Already, in the gathering dusk, a few of the stars are turning on their lights. Vega, the brightest one, is now dropping towards the west. Can it be half a year since I watched her April rising in the east? Low in the southwest Antares blinks a sad farwell to fall... Leslie Peltier, Starlight Nights
International Dark Sky Association: www.darksky.org
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
Joe Zeglinski
Wise words indeed, “Biker”. Thank you for clarifying
this so eloquently, for many of us.
Since we are both retired electrical engineers, and
based on your obviously far greater professional experience on “grounding
issues” ... I wonder what you think about, how many Astro Accessories
designers, tie their electronics devices DC Logic Ground Return
DIRECTLY to Chassis Ground, which in turn connects to Earth ground via
AC/DC power supplies?
For example:
When I purposely isolated my CPx’s “negative” terminal –
(by wrapping the power cable cigarette lighter plug’s side terminals with
a slip of paper or tape) - I have seen sparks fly from the CP3 (and CP4)
serial port DB-9 panel connector bodies, or its panel screws, when my serial
cable connector even comes close to mating the DB-9 on the panel. As
proof, I have even rung-out the resistance between the DB9’s logic ground
pin and that same connector chassis screws, and they are indeed directly
connected – by design !
Obviously, such a test is not a common thing to do, but
I first discovered such sparking, quite by accident, when the ground
wire inside my AP-900 (or AP-1200) DC power cable’s cigarette lighter plug
had a broken ground return wire inside, and I needed to re-solder it. I wondered
why the CP3 still ran normally with that missing and broken connection.
In fact, even with a purposely “isolated” DC
ground return connection, the CPx’s (and many similar controllers),
run perfectly well, displaying coordinates, data, etc. because the
controller’s DC power returns to its source supply via the CPx
case/chassis, the mount, our body standing on dew damp grass, as well as
any other accessory’s improperly wired DC ground/chassis returns. I have
seen the same results – controllers running perfectly well with a disconnected
DC Return, when isolating DC Return terminals on AP’s CP3 & CP4, as
well as on my RCOS RC-14.5 telescope TCC controller, and Kendrick’s Premier Dew
Heater controller. The only device I have not seen such an improper DC Return
tied to Chassis ground, design fault, was when I ran the same test on my
SBIG STL-11000 camera. They did it right, that camera’s case (chassis) is NOT
tied to their board’s Logic Ground.
I’ve warned everyone about such improper grounding
danger to telescope equipment, but I guess this isn’t an issue until someone’s
very expensive, possibly now irreplaceable, controller(s) gets fried, and
then they wonder WHY. This is how an approaching storm can quite easily blow out
any such “astro electronics”, caused by the “regional elevated
earth ground potentials” entering the devices via a controller’s improperly
connected DC Logic Return terminals.
Of course, the commonly quoted and sound advice is to
“completely unplug all telescope electronics”, unless the telescope is being
used at the time, and even then, any distant lightening storms are still many
miles away. Not sure how such advice works with Remotely operated
observatories.
Joe
From: biker123@... [ap-gto]
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 12:10 AM
To: ap-gto@...
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] MACH1GTO VIBRATING The OP said he is getting tingling when touching anything on the mount, pier, CP 4 box, etc. that is NOT normal and could be an issue. I am a retired electrical engineer that worked many years for an electric utility in California. I assume you are running AC to a regulated DC power supply for
everything.
First thing I would do....get a phase check device from your hardware store
to confirm if your house is wired correctly. This is an inexpensive little block
that has the two flat prongs and the round prong like a standard electric
plug. The device will usually have three LEDs on it that will help
determine if you have the house circuit wired correctly. You would be amazed at
how many houses aren't wired correctly.
A little electrical class first. A standard plug will have two flat
blades one of which is wider than the other. The smaller blade is the hot leg, the larger flat blade is the
ground. The round lug is the
case ground and should not be grounded and it definitely is NOT a ground as many
think. Its purpose is to connect the case of your device to other device cases so they all have the same
"electrical potential". This means that if you touch two different devices you
won't get zapped. Often people will
find the two flat blades are reversed because the contractor wired the outlet
wrong.....or someone will use an old style two blade plug that has same size
blades on each side.and plug in upside down. Sometimes people have very old
house wiring that only has the two same size flat blades and no round
lug.....and they want to plug a modern two blade/round lug device in. They get
an adapter from the hardware store that is designed for that purpose. There is a
pig tail or sheet metal piece that acts as the round lug when it is screwed into
the center retaining screw on a wall plate. If the adapter is plugged in
backwards or the case ground is not connected you have a problem.
If you touch the metal of a a device and get a tingle that is an indicator
of this issue. You are standing on the ground and the path of least resistance
is through your body. When I was young my families refrigerator outlet was wired
backward which meant if one of us leaned against the metal door and someone else
leaned against the metal edge around our kitchen sink and you touched each other
you got a mild shock. Of course being kids we delighted in zapping our family
members and friends ;-) That came to an end when I became an engineer and
figured it all out. Kind of ruined my brother and sisters fun though ;-)
This may not be the final cause of your mystery bug....but something to
check. I would also take Roland's recommendation to heart. Run everything
from a 12 volt battery and see if the problem goes away. You won't get a tingle
from 12 volt equipment. But you could get zapped if you are using a 12volt DC to
120 volt AC inverter in the field for some reason. Those are notorious for bad
grounds since they don't have one normally and can cause all kinds of
gremlins.
---In ap-gto@..., wrote : Rolando,
Would it help isolate the problem source, if Martin
would unplug each of the servo motor cables, one at a time?
A vibration might potentially be caused by a stuck
servo motor, a fallen screw/part inside the motor box, or its rubbing internally
against its case/mount. Perhaps a wonky servo shaft. Might also explain the
electrical tingle he feels from touching the CP4, if the short was caused by a
motor power attachment, mechanical failure, leading to a DC short to the
case and mount. Otherwise, if there is still mount vibration when either motor’s
power is isolated, then as you suggested, it may likely be a power source leak
going to both motors via the CP4, causing the mount to conduct the
vibration.
Pure conjecture on my part, but I would eliminate each
motor’s power feed, in turn, since a “mechanical vibration” can only emanate
from a mechanical source and there are just these two, on the mount.
Besides changing the DC power supply, I suggest completely disconnecting all
accessories on the telescope – just power the mount directly, in case a current
leak is coming to the CP4 via some other device/accessory.
Joe
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
Roland Christen
The OP said he is getting tingling when touching anything on the mount, pier, CP 4 box, etc. that is NOT normal and could be an issue. We have actually seen this before on another customer mount several years ago, a 1200 mount operated from a 2 prong plug 120v to 12 volt power supply. He was getting tingling shocks whenever he touched the pier. I asked him to use a voltmeter between the pier and ground and he was getting high AC voltage readings. Using a 12V battery eliminated the problem. Using a properly grounded 3-way power supply also worked. The leaky power supply was removed and he stopped using it.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: biker123@... [ap-gto] To: ap-gto Sent: Wed, Oct 9, 2019 11:11 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] MACH1GTO VIBRATING The OP said he is getting tingling when touching anything on the mount, pier, CP 4 box, etc. that is NOT normal and could be an issue. I am a retired electrical engineer that worked many years for an electric utility in California. I assume you are running AC to a regulated DC power supply for everything.
First thing I would do....get a phase check device from your hardware store to confirm if your house is wired correctly. This is an inexpensive little block that has the two flat prongs and the round prong like a standard electric plug. The device will usually have three LEDs on it that will help determine if you have the house circuit wired correctly. You would be amazed at how many houses aren't wired correctly.
A little electrical class first. A standard plug will have two flat blades one of which is wider than the other. The smaller blade is the hot leg, the larger flat blade is the ground. The round lug is the case ground and should not be grounded and it definitely is NOT a ground as many think. Its purpose is to connect the case of your device to other device cases so they all have the same "electrical potential". This means that if you touch two different devices you won't get zapped. Often people will find the two flat blades are reversed because the contractor wired the outlet wrong.....or someone will use an old style two blade plug that has same size blades on each side.and plug in upside down. Sometimes people have very old house wiring that only has the two same size flat blades and no round lug.....and they want to plug a modern two blade/round lug device in. They get an adapter from the hardware store that is designed for that purpose. There is a pig tail or sheet metal piece that acts as the round lug when it is screwed into the center retaining screw on a wall plate. If the adapter is plugged in backwards or the case ground is not connected you have a problem.
If you touch the metal of a a device and get a tingle that is an indicator of this issue. You are standing on the ground and the path of least resistance is through your body. When I was young my families refrigerator outlet was wired backward which meant if one of us leaned against the metal door and someone else leaned against the metal edge around our kitchen sink and you touched each other you got a mild shock. Of course being kids we delighted in zapping our family members and friends ;-) That came to an end when I became an engineer and figured it all out. Kind of ruined my brother and sisters fun though ;-)
This may not be the final cause of your mystery bug....but something to check. I would also take Roland's recommendation to heart. Run everything from a 12 volt battery and see if the problem goes away. You won't get a tingle from 12 volt equipment. But you could get zapped if you are using a 12volt DC to 120 volt AC inverter in the field for some reason. Those are notorious for bad grounds since they don't have one normally and can cause all kinds of gremlins.
---In ap-gto@..., wrote : Rolando,
Would it help isolate the problem source, if Martin
would unplug each of the servo motor cables, one at a time?
A vibration might potentially be caused by a stuck
servo motor, a fallen screw/part inside the motor box, or its rubbing internally
against its case/mount. Perhaps a wonky servo shaft. Might also explain the
electrical tingle he feels from touching the CP4, if the short was caused by a
motor power attachment, mechanical failure, leading to a DC short to the
case and mount. Otherwise, if there is still mount vibration when either motor’s
power is isolated, then as you suggested, it may likely be a power source leak
going to both motors via the CP4, causing the mount to conduct the
vibration.
Pure conjecture on my part, but I would eliminate each
motor’s power feed, in turn, since a “mechanical vibration” can only emanate
from a mechanical source and there are just these two, on the mount.
Besides changing the DC power supply, I suggest completely disconnecting all
accessories on the telescope – just power the mount directly, in case a current
leak is coming to the CP4 via some other device/accessory.
Joe
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
The OP said he is getting tingling when touching anything on the mount, pier, CP 4 box, etc. that is NOT normal and could be an issue. I am a retired electrical engineer that worked many years for an electric utility in California.
I assume you are running AC to a regulated DC power supply for everything. First thing I would do....get a phase check device from your hardware store to confirm if your house is wired correctly. This is an inexpensive little block that has the two flat prongs and the round prong like a standard electric plug. The device will usually have three LEDs on it that will help determine if you have the house circuit wired correctly. You would be amazed at how many houses aren't wired correctly. A little electrical class first. A standard plug will have two flat blades one of which is wider than the other. The smaller blade is the hot leg, the larger flat blade is the ground. The round lug is the case ground and should not be grounded and it definitely is NOT a ground as many think. Its purpose is to connect the case of your device to other device cases so they all have the same "electrical potential". This means that if you touch two different devices you won't get zapped. Often people will find the two flat blades are reversed because the contractor wired the outlet wrong.....or someone will use an old style two blade plug that has same size blades on each side.and plug in upside down. Sometimes people have very old house wiring that only has the two same size flat blades and no round lug.....and they want to plug a modern two blade/round lug device in. They get an adapter from the hardware store that is designed for that purpose. There is a pig tail or sheet metal piece that acts as the round lug when it is screwed into the center retaining screw on a wall plate. If the adapter is plugged in backwards or the case ground is not connected you have a problem. If you touch the metal of a a device and get a tingle that is an indicator of this issue. You are standing on the ground and the path of least resistance is through your body. When I was young my families refrigerator outlet was wired backward which meant if one of us leaned against the metal door and someone else leaned against the metal edge around our kitchen sink and you touched each other you got a mild shock. Of course being kids we delighted in zapping our family members and friends ;-) That came to an end when I became an engineer and figured it all out. Kind of ruined my brother and sisters fun though ;-) This may not be the final cause of your mystery bug....but something to check. I would also take Roland's recommendation to heart. Run everything from a 12 volt battery and see if the problem goes away. You won't get a tingle from 12 volt equipment. But you could get zapped if you are using a 12volt DC to 120 volt AC inverter in the field for some reason. Those are notorious for bad grounds since they don't have one normally and can cause all kinds of gremlins. ---In ap-gto@..., <J.Zeglinski@...> wrote : Rolando, Would it help isolate the problem source, if Martin
would unplug each of the servo motor cables, one at a time? A vibration might potentially be caused by a stuck
servo motor, a fallen screw/part inside the motor box, or its rubbing internally
against its case/mount. Perhaps a wonky servo shaft. Might also explain the
electrical tingle he feels from touching the CP4, if the short was caused by a
motor power attachment, mechanical failure, leading to a DC short to the
case and mount. Otherwise, if there is still mount vibration when either motor’s
power is isolated, then as you suggested, it may likely be a power source leak
going to both motors via the CP4, causing the mount to conduct the
vibration. Pure conjecture on my part, but I would eliminate each
motor’s power feed, in turn, since a “mechanical vibration” can only emanate
from a mechanical source and there are just these two, on the mount.
Besides changing the DC power supply, I suggest completely disconnecting all
accessories on the telescope – just power the mount directly, in case a current
leak is coming to the CP4 via some other device/accessory. Joe
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Best visual filters?
Mike Shade
Anyone have any thoughts on 1.25" filters for visual lunar/planetary work? Who makes good quality stuff and what has people's experiences been?
Thanks...
Mike J. Shade: mshade@q.com Mike J. Shade Photography:
In War: Resolution In Defeat: Defiance In Victory: Magnanimity In Peace: Goodwill Sir Winston Churchill Already, in the gathering dusk, a few of the stars are turning on their lights. Vega, the brightest one, is now dropping towards the west. Can it be half a year since I watched her April rising in the east? Low in the southwest Antares blinks a sad farwell to fall... Leslie Peltier, Starlight Nights
International Dark Sky Association: www.darksky.org
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Re: Howard and George Need Technical Support!!
Eric Dreher
As has been mentioned by others, definitely Bracken's book. The reduction in "pain" is worth every penny, and more.
Eric
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Re: APCC occasionally loses contact with scope.
slawomirlipinski@...
I also used to have an occasional disconnection between APCC Pro and Mach1 - replacing my old laptop with a new one completely fixed this issue. I suspect the problem was in the ports ageing/oxidising in the old laptop, as well as overall slowness of the laptop.
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Re: Howard and George Need Technical Support!!
Bill Long
Call me. We can fix this.
206-255-5238
From: ap-gto@... on behalf of Ron Kramer ronkramer1957@... [ap-gto]
Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 8:41 PM To: ap-gto@... Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Howard and George Need Technical Support!! So I go to run my park script and I get this. I HAVE VERSION 5+ I use
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Re: Howard and George Need Technical Support!!
So I go to run my park script and I get this. I HAVE VERSION 5+ I use
this vbs script all the time. [image: wtf.JPG] On Tue, Oct 8, 2019 at 11:37 PM Ron Kramer <ronkramer1957@...> wrote: 3 hours wasted tonight trying to get past some error. I get this about -- Ron Kramer https://www.facebook.com/Ron.R.Kramer
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Re: Howard and George Need Technical Support!!
Bill Long
Ron call me.
206-255-5238
I am sure we can get this working in no time.
From: ap-gto@... on behalf of Ron Kramer ronkramer1957@... [ap-gto] <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 8:37 PM To: ap-gto@... Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Howard and George Need Technical Support!! 3 hours wasted tonight trying to get past some error. I get this about
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Re: Howard and George Need Technical Support!!
3 hours wasted tonight trying to get past some error. I get this about
every 3 months, normally I can mess around and get it working. 3.5 hours and a RARE CLEAR NIGHT WASTED = ( What can I go to get past this error? I did all my normal tricks and no help. Can't solve (I always can solve) Can't goto (I always can go to) What is RECALL - or RECAL and how the heck do I do it. It tells me I can't because it's to far off. normally I park 3 - tell it to unpark 3 and it's aligned but I have no clue what happened or how to fix it. Often I can also tell it to park 3 and align the white marks manually and unpark - but that didn't work either. FRUSTRATED 3.5 hours wasted as well as a clear night. = ( I hate APCC - don't tell me I can't RECAL - I know it's off - and I'm trying to set it. (why it's off, I have no idea). [image: howto restore.JPG] [image: recall.JPG] On Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 7:42 PM Howard howard@... [ap-gto] < ap-gto@...> wrote:
-- Ron Kramer https://www.facebook.com/Ron.R.Kramer
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Re: Helix - 200 hours of data
Congratulations, Suavi! A well-earned honor! It’s the prettiest Helix I’ve ever seen. Karen
From: ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...]
Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 4:30 AM To: ap-gto@... Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Helix - 200 hours of data
Thank you Rolando and Jim.
This attempt at the Helix has been recognised as an Image of the Day on Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/q9xl7a/G/#c396675
I would like to confess that data acquisition was MUCH easier than processing - thanks to Mach1 and SGP working night after night while I could sleep peacefully :-)
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
mike.hambrick@...
Hi Roland Regarding your comment about using a 3-prong plug for the power adapter, what about the Pyramid 13.8 Volt regulated power supply units that you sell ? They only have a 2-prong plug.
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Re: Helix - 200 hours of data
slawomirlipinski@...
Thank you Rolando and Jim. This attempt at the Helix has been recognised as an Image of the Day on Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/q9xl7a/G/#c396675 I would like to confess that data acquisition was MUCH easier than processing - thanks to Mach1 and SGP working night after night while I could sleep peacefully :-)
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
Joe Zeglinski
Rolando,
Would it help isolate the problem source, if Martin
would unplug each of the servo motor cables, one at a time?
A vibration might potentially be caused by a stuck
servo motor, a fallen screw/part inside the motor box, or its rubbing internally
against its case/mount. Perhaps a wonky servo shaft. Might also explain the
electrical tingle he feels from touching the CP4, if the short was caused by a
motor power attachment, mechanical failure, leading to a DC short to the
case and mount. Otherwise, if there is still mount vibration when either motor’s
power is isolated, then as you suggested, it may likely be a power source leak
going to both motors via the CP4, causing the mount to conduct the
vibration.
Pure conjecture on my part, but I would eliminate each
motor’s power feed, in turn, since a “mechanical vibration” can only emanate
from a mechanical source and there are just these two, on the mount.
Besides changing the DC power supply, I suggest completely disconnecting all
accessories on the telescope – just power the mount directly, in case a current
leak is coming to the CP4 via some other device/accessory.
Joe
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Unpredictable guiding with a 600e Goto
Tom Blahovici
Hi, I am trying to come to grips with strange guiding behavior using my 600e (with the CP2 controller and latest roms etc). I am wondering if perhaps I am not balancing the mount correctly for example. The camera is an STL11000 with a Tak FSQ106. The pixel scale is 3.5 arcs/pixel and I am using TheSkyX for autoguiding. The mount has been polar aligned with PemPro to within 20 arc seconds of the pole in both az and alt. Now in general it seems to be working with pulse guide and a rate of 1 and the aggressiveness has to be all the way down to 1 which means it is hardly doing anything. At times however, changing position of the telescope (same side of the meridian and maybe 20 or so degrees away) will result in one direction of guiding continuing to increase with the corrections doing nothing. To have it guide, I need to increase the aggressiveness higher in this direction. If I decide to use an overall higher aggressiveness then the guiding will have a strong sawtooth pattern of over 1 pixel. BTW I usually take 3 to 7 second exposures of the guide star. I am wondering if balancing has something to do with this. I keep the balance around the polar axis so that when the telescope is on the west of the meridian, the balance is heavier on the counterweight side. I never image on the other side of the meridian since I have trees there. The Dec balance is kind of tricky. Where should it be? Perfectly balanced? How does one do this since when the clutches are released there is quite a spread of balance points. As to the backlash, it was adjusted a while ago using a dial gauge and was as small as possible without causing any binding. Any hints would be great. Tom
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Re: MACH1GTO VIBRATING
Roland Christen
This has NOTHING to do with your CP4 and will NOT be fixed with a CP3. Use a battery first so you can convince yourself that there is no vibration.
When using a power supply outdoors it is vital that you use a 3-pin plug and not use a 2 pin extension cord. The 3rd pin is a grounding pin which will safely carry any leakage current back to the house ground instead of finding its way to the pier via the 12 volt connector on the CP4. Power supplies can break down internally and leak dangerous 120 volt power to the 12 volt DC pins and thus to the mount and potentially to the person touching any of the metal parts.
Let me know if a 12 volt battery solves the problem.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Martin A martin.artem14@... [ap-gto] To: ap-gto Sent: Sat, Oct 5, 2019 12:42 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] MACH1GTO VIBRATING Thank you Rolando,
I will do that, the POWER SUPPLY is the same since few years.. but I will do that, actually that was my next action to do.. I am already searching for one other power supply..
Thank you, I will send feedback..
PS! My GTOCP3 is also not available, a ASTRONOMY FRIEND; did ask me to give him my GTOCP3, since his GTOCP3 was nit working also..
But, I will follow your advice..
Thank you Rolandi
Martin
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