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Re: Problem with PEMPRO polar alignment
Ray Gralak
Hi Dave,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
I am not sure why this is not obvious, but a bright round star is not a good choice because it is almost certainly saturated, which will cause centroiding to be inaccurate. PEMPro will reject stars that are too large. You need to adjust the minimum/maximum brightness values to be reasonable for your camera. For a 16-bit camera you want to set the maximum brightness to about 1/2 the range, or about 30,000. Minimum should be set maybe at 5,000. Also, people, please post your PEMPro questions to the CCDWare PEMPro forum. This forum is for Astro-Physics mounts!! -Ray Gralak Author of PEMPro Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): https://www.astro-physics.com/apcc-pro Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: https://www.siriusimaging.com/apdriver
-----Original Message-----
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Re: Does APCC think I'm in the southern hemisphere?
#APCC
Ray Gralak
Does APCC think I'm in the southern hemisphere?No, but APCC and the driver think the mount is pointing below the horizon. Maybe the mount was initialized incorrectly? -Ray Gralak Author of PEMPro Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): https://www.astro-physics.com/apcc-pro Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: https://www.siriusimaging.com/apdriver -----Original Message-----
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Does APCC think I'm in the southern hemisphere?
#APCC
DaveB
I'm getting my setup going in my new house, in a new backyard ROR observatory. I booted everything up from my previous setup, and I *think* that everything looked ok. Then I switched my location, and during that time, I upgraded APCC and the AP ASCOM driver to the latest versions. I'm running ASCOM 6.4 SP1.
Somewhere along the way, the image of the globe in the Telescope Position window swapped North and South (see attached screenshot1). Also, my North and South movements are reversed when I try to slew with the virtual NSEW buttons on the GUI. East and West seen fine. A second thing that I noticed is that my Longitude readings are showing a +76 degrees rather than a -76 degrees. You can see in the screenshot2 attached that the driver correctly shows it as 76 degrees W, but the APCC control panel shows it as +76 degrees rather than -76 degrees. Is this a non-issue other than a mistake on the display, or is it possible affecting something, perhaps the first issue that I'm seeing? Let me know if there is something that I'm doing wrong, or something that I can do to debug things if there is an issue. Goto seems to be going to the correct locations, at least roughly where it should be pointed (i.e. not going to the wrong hemisphere or the wrong direction from the meridian). Or, let me know if nothing is wrong in both cases. Thanks, Dave
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Re: Problem with PEMPRO polar alignment
DaveB
I'm seeing the same issue, struggling tonight to get my new setup going. I'm using SGP as the camera (QSI583 is the real camera), and I can see a nice, bright, round star on SGP (it shows each image), but PemPRO will most often switch back to "finding star". I rarely am getting more than four or five data points plotted at a time before it switches back to "finding star" even though the star is visible on SGP.
Let me know if I can provide any data for debugging.
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Re: GTO4 wifi password
I was using the PW for an old box, but the PW for SN on the current one also does not work.
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Re: A bunch of APCC woes...
Ray Gralak
Tom,
Again, I think you are over complicating things. The AP V2 ASCOM driver supports multiple simultaneous applications from one instance. You do not need a separate COM port for each ASCOM client connection. One port will do.So my remaining question is still, can you have multiple use of the The reason APCC tries to allocate two virtual COM ports is that a second instance of the driver will be invoked if an ASCOM client is run "as administrator". But, you don't need to worry about that. -Ray Gralak Author of PEMPro Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): https://www.astro-physics.com/apcc-pro Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: https://www.siriusimaging.com/apdriver -----Original Message-----
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Re: A bunch of APCC woes...
Tom Blahovici
Well, the keypad had the time set to -4. This obviously contributed to the issues of pointing which are now resolved. However, the issues with the virtual ports are still there.
I deleted all the ports. Then created com16 and com17. The original ones com5 and com6 do not show up in the device manager or in the ascom drivers. However, I still had one device that had the driver set to com5. This one still works! Even though you cannot see it anywhere. So my remaining question is still, can you have multiple use of the ascom driver for multiple applications each of which is configured for a different comport? Doesn't seem to work but could be related to the still two remaining phantom ports. And yes, I showed hidden devices and deleted them and rebooted.
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Re: A bunch of APCC woes...
Ray Gralak
Tom,
Let's add a couple of more issues...after rebooting, the virtual ports I was using disappeared. They were replacedTom, you are overthinking this. You don't have to worry about setting up the AP V2 ASCOM driver. APCC will auto-configure the AP V2 ASCOM driver if you set the options I suggested in my last post. And BTW, the virtual ports do not stick around through a computer reboot. They are created when you run APCC. Lastly, please take a look at the help file! Here's a link to the online version of one of the first pages you should read: https://www.siriusimaging.com/Help/APCC/getting_started_workflow.htm Thanks, -Ray Gralak Author of PEMPro Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): https://www.astro-physics.com/apcc-pro Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: https://www.siriusimaging.com/apdriver -----Original Message-----
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Re: Low temp version of the
#Mach2GTO
Terry Martin
Thanks Sébastien,
The reason I asked was I have ordered a Mach 2 through a dealer and the dealer had told me when I placed the order that the standard encoder was good to -20C, which would probably work for me (I guess I'm a bit of a wimp), but I did see on the Renishaw website that the Standard encoder has an operating range of 0C to +80C. I have sent an email to my dealer asking if I could change my order to the Low Temp version. Terry
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Re: A bunch of APCC woes...
Ray Gralak
Tom,
Here's where you went wrong:
> First: After a successful evening of imaging where I initially > do a manual sync with the keypad on a star
If APCC does not initialize the control box then the settings will not be set because they have been already set by the keypad.
I suggest:
1) You try parking the mount to park 3 with the keypad. 2) Disconnect the keypad for now. 3) In APPC enable the following checkboxes: Mount - Auto-Connect Mount – Create Virtual Ports first AP V2 Driver – Auto-Config
See screen shot:
4) Close APCC 5) Power cycle the mount. Make sure the keypad is not connected. 6) Start APCC and let it initialize the mount. Make sure it initializes the mount from Last Parked position, which it should by default.
> I hope not to waste another evening of clear skys.
Hint: It is best to try setting up new software and/or hardware well in advance in the daytime so that you will have enough time to setup and test things.
-Ray Gralak Author of PEMPro Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): https://www.astro-physics.com/apcc-pro Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: https://www.siriusimaging.com/apdriver
> -----Original Message----- > From: main@ap-gto.groups.io [mailto:main@ap-gto.groups.io] On Behalf Of Tom Blahovici > Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2020 6:02 PM > To: main@ap-gto.groups.io > Subject: [ap-gto] A bunch of APCC woes... > > First: After a successful evening of imaging where I initially do a manual sync with the keypad on a star, I send > the mount to Park 3. I then power everything down. > Next night, I open the sky, slew to Deneb for example and attempt to plate solve the location using Image link in > TheSky. Always fails. The only way I can get things working is if I first manually position the scope with a finder, > after telling it to go to a star and then doing a recal. When I had the advanced option in APCC to reject recals that > were off selected I would just get errors. > Second: And this is probably where this issue come from: If I look at the site data in APCC, and select Manage > sites, I set the time to Eastern time -5. However, the program then sets it to -4 when I press save. On that same > screen "Mount Location" Ihe time offset is displayed as -3. What??? > Isn't the mount supposed to get things from the PC? If APCC cannot do this right, the PC can. > > Second: I have created two virtual ports, com5 and com6. Using the Ascom driver in the sky for the mount, it > connects correctly using com6. I then try to connect another program, FocusMax to com6 using the AP driver > and it fails. It attempts to connect to com6 again even though it was told com5. What am I doing wrong? Do I > need to load another instance of the ASCOM driver, if that can be done? > I hope not to waste another evening of clear skys. > Tom
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Re: Low temp version of the
#Mach2GTO
Sébastien Doré
Hi Terry,
I think Rolando has often stated (in other threads) that the standard encoder version can perform well in the cold winter of Illinois (if it means something to you,.. it didn't to me) but the point, I think, is rather that the low temp version is rated (hence garanteed by design / sampling) by the manufacturer (Renishaw) to work accurately through their specified operating temperature range (-40 to +80C)... Clear skies! Sébastien
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Re: Low temp version of the
#Mach2GTO
Sébastien Doré
Thanks Rolando ! A few more questions if you will:
Would you say the ice/frost meltdown is a possible hazard to the mount when temp rises or are the housings waterproof enough not to worry about it ?
In the long run (several years of chilly winters), besides reducing
slew rate and regreasing the worm when applicable (and obviously keeping obs roof shut during snowstorm 😉), are there any other precautions needed to keep the mount operation optimal ? Should the CP5 be kept inside (at room temperature) between imaging sessions,
for example ?
Sébastien
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Re: A bunch of APCC woes...
Tom Blahovici
Let's add a couple of more issues...after rebooting, the virtual ports I was using disappeared. They were replaced with two others. These two do not show up in the Windows device manager, nor do they show up in the ASCOM settings. Tom
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A bunch of APCC woes...
Tom Blahovici
First: After a successful evening of imaging where I initially do a manual sync with the keypad on a star, I send the mount to Park 3. I then power everything down.
Next night, I open the sky, slew to Deneb for example and attempt to plate solve the location using Image link in TheSky. Always fails. The only way I can get things working is if I first manually position the scope with a finder, after telling it to go to a star and then doing a recal. When I had the advanced option in APCC to reject recals that were off selected I would just get errors. Second: And this is probably where this issue come from: If I look at the site data in APCC, and select Manage sites, I set the time to Eastern time -5. However, the program then sets it to -4 when I press save. On that same screen "Mount Location" Ihe time offset is displayed as -3. What??? Isn't the mount supposed to get things from the PC? If APCC cannot do this right, the PC can. Second: I have created two virtual ports, com5 and com6. Using the Ascom driver in the sky for the mount, it connects correctly using com6. I then try to connect another program, FocusMax to com6 using the AP driver and it fails. It attempts to connect to com6 again even though it was told com5. What am I doing wrong? Do I need to load another instance of the ASCOM driver, if that can be done? I hope not to waste another evening of clear skys. Tom
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Re: Updating Cabling
I have had my NUC operating in -15C nights with no serious problems. During one session the display was pixelated but I’m not sure it was because of the temperature.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
On Sep 20, 2020, at 9:16 AM, Dale Ghent <daleg@...> wrote:
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Re: APCC Temperature Sensor Input
Marcelo Figueroa
Oh thanks, Dominique.
Somehow I didn't see it, I thought those text boxes had to do with the Model / APPM buttons next to it.
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Re: More unguided imaging with the Mach2 - the open cluster NGC 129
#Mach2GTO
Thanks for taking a look Brian.
-- Dean Jacobsen http://astrophoto.net/wp/ Image Gallery - http://astrophoto.net/wp/image-gallery/ Astrobin Image Gallery - https://www.astrobin.com/users/deanjacobsen/ Amateur Radio Call Sign - W6DBJ
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Re: More unguided imaging with the Mach2 - the open cluster NGC 129
#Mach2GTO
wow looks great, really nice work
On Sun, Sep 20, 2020 at 1:16 PM Dean Jacobsen <deanjacobsen@...> wrote: Hi All, --
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Re: More unguided imaging with the Mach2 - the open cluster NGC 129
#Mach2GTO
Thanks Dominique.
The field is very nice with the reduced FSQ-106. The camera was a nice surprise. I have never had an OSC camera so I though that I was taking a risk. However, I think that I will be keeping the camera. :-) -- Dean Jacobsen http://astrophoto.net/wp/ Image Gallery - http://astrophoto.net/wp/image-gallery/ Astrobin Image Gallery - https://www.astrobin.com/users/deanjacobsen/ Amateur Radio Call Sign - W6DBJ
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Re: More unguided imaging with the Mach2 - the open cluster NGC 129
#Mach2GTO
Dominique Durand
Super Dean,
We are very happy to have this new mount. What a field with the 2600 !!! Dominique
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