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Re: Question re: Initial setup with GTOCP4
Worsel
Jill
My mount control setup is essentially the same. Mini-PC in observatory <--> Router<--> Ethernet port on 1100 Network <--> Router Remote access PC (TightVNC) <------> Router You can use your router software to find the IP address assigned to the 1100 or the AP GTOCP4 software. https://www.astro-physics.com/software-updates/ Bryan
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Astro-Physic's new cable length for the Mach2
Harley Davidson
A short video on AP's new 22" cable for the Mach2 mount.
tony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRANsIp4Eug 
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Re: Should I use my BARADV for the upcoming lunar eclipse?
DFisch
Daniel, a true work of art and I am so glad your retirement coincided with a great astronomical time. I had seen this image before and did not link the author to your signature here. Exceedingly well done and creative, glad you got an award for that one. Tom
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
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Re: Question re: Initial setup with GTOCP4
Frank Widmann kindly suggested a Kingdel industrial computer. It has 8 USB ports and an Ethernet connection. Everything plugs into that, which is the control computer. Then I access that computer with another one on a network using Remote PC in Win 10. It works great!
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Re: Question re: Initial setup with GTOCP4
Jil Tardiff
Thank you very much, Roger!
I've spent the past few months transitioning from an ASIAIR setup to a Win 10 NUC + NINA with tons of troubleshooting. Wanted to AVOID simple mistakes when incorporating APCC + GTOCP4 and leaving the USB on the GTOCP4 vacant just stuck in my craw a bit. Best, JT
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Re: Question re: Initial setup with GTOCP4
Exactly how mine is set up, except that I am direct connected from laptop to GTOCP4 via Ethernet.
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Re: Should I use my BARADV for the upcoming lunar eclipse?
No, I live about 40 km straight north of Montreal :-) If you follow the link to my Clear Sky Chart (in my signature block) and click on the light pollution map you'll get an idea: Last fall I spent many nights out to image Mars. I actually managed to image its whole surface over the months, make a map and project the map onto a globe. See: Daniel -------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Borcard Observatoire du Geai Bleu Clear Sky Chart: http://cleardarksky.com/c/ObGBlQCkey.html?1 Le ciel est assez grand pour que chacun y trouve sa place. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Mach2 vibration & noise issue from the RA axis
Harley Davidson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNQLvL1FY8Y
As per my video link above I have just noticed a vibration and noise issue from the RA axis. It only does it when going from the west side to the east side of the mount. Also, the Go-To speed must be at 1000 or 1800. Whats up??? thanks tony BTW - here is the description on my YouTube page for this video: Tonight, May 22 - 2021 I noticed a vibration from my Astro-Physics Mach2 mount at the 1000 and 1800 Go-To rates coming from the RA axis. It only occurs when going from the west side of the mount to the east side. Clip 2 is @ 1800 WEST SIDE to park 3 Clip 3 is @ 1800 EAST SIDE to park 3 Clip 4 is @ 600 WEST SIDE to park 3 Clip 5 is @ 1000 WEST SIDE to park 3 Clip 6 is @ 1800 WEST SIDE to park 3 Clip 7 is @ 600 WEST SIDE to park 3 Clip 8 is @ 1000 WEST SIDE to park 3 The rest of the video is documented verbally by me.
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Question re: Initial setup with GTOCP4
Jil Tardiff
Pretty sure I have this right, just wanted to verify before I powered everything up. Goal is to run APCC and Nina.
Have a backyard setup with the ATS Pier and a 1100GTO. I have ethernet from an extension of my mesh network wired to a small Netgear router next to the pier that currently goes just to the NUC. Rest of the gear is a NUC + Pegasus Powerbox Ultimate V2 (PPUV2). All powered by a Powerwerx 30A variable power supply + rig runner (except the NUC). Proposed setup for the 1100GTO : 1) Mount powered via supplied power pole to rig runner + Powerwerx 2) Connection to the GTOCP4 is from an ethernet cable from the router (and will need to find the IP of that connection) 3) A USB 3.0 to the PPUV2 from the NUC, and a power cord from the rig runner to the PPUV2. 4) Everything else run from the PPUV2 as I have been doing with my EQ6R Pro setup. I basically just want to verify that the only connection to the GTOCP4 I need, from either my NUC (or my laptop) is that ethernet cable from the Netgear router. It seems so simple and straightforward that I feel like I'm missing something ... Thanks in advance, JT
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Re: Should I use my BARADV for the upcoming lunar eclipse?
Roland Christen
That's a very nice image. You must live near or on the Mediterranean coast of France.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Borcard <daniel.borcard@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Sat, May 22, 2021 5:36 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Should I use my BARADV for the upcoming lunar eclipse? Mike,
In this thread I see a confusion between sampling and resolution.
What you refer to is sampling, i.e., the number of arcseconds per pixel. Sampling is indeed doubled if you double the focal length, all other things being equal.
Will your image have double resolution if you double the sampling? Well, that depends. The maximum resolution of a telescope is dependent on its diameter, with a rule of thumb like this: resolution in arcseconds = 120/diameter in mm. So a refractor with a lens 120 mm in diameter resolves 120/120 = 1 arcsecond. This means that you will be able so tell apart two points (stars, or contrasted dark features on a planetary surface) that are 1 arcsecond apart. A 240 mm scope has a resolution of 0.5 arcsecond. *No matter the electronic and computational wizardry, there is no way to overcome the maximum resolving power of a telescope*. Therefore, overampligying an image is like overmagnifying for visual observers: beyond some point expect no gain.
Now, from the imaging point of view, this means that (1) it is useless to amplify the image beyond what the telescope itself is able to resolve and (2) you must optimise the scope-accessory-camera rig to be able to project the two closest features on at least two different pixels. Enter sampling. To reach a sampling that allows you to achieve the maximum resolution of your system (with enough overhead to get a smooth image), I throw in another rule of thumb: aim at an f ratio (i.e., F/D) equal to 5 times the size of a pixel in microns. I could develop the math if there is interest.
Concretely, say you have a ZWO ASI224MC camera, with 3.75 micron pixels. The optimal sampling is approx 5 times this values, i.e. F/D = 18.75 or close to 20. If your scope is, for instance, an F/10 SCT, you will need a 2x barlow to achieve high resolution. If your scope is an F/4 newtonian, you need a 5x barlow.
The final size of the planet (or lunar feature or full Moon disk) will, of course, depend on the diameter of the scope: a 150 mm F/4 scope has a focal length of 600 mm whereas a 300 mm F/4 scope has a FL of 1200 mm. The latter will provide more resolved images *because of the larger diameter of the scope*.
Finally, note that it is useless to enlarge the image more than this rule suggests. Indeed, the gain in image size will not translate into increased resolution (since the scope is unable to resolve finer features), and furthermore the increasing F/D number translates into darker images that must be compensated by longer subframes (more prone to poor seeing) and/or increased gain (which gives noisier subframes).
As an example here is a Mars image that I took last fall (October 6) with a 10 inch (254 mm) F/4 newtonian with a 5x PowerMate and a ZWO ASI224MC camera. And to remain in the "scope" of this group I must say that all these nights were made extraordinarily easy by my trusty AP 1200 GTO mount :-)
Daniel
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Borcard
Observatoire du Geai Bleu
Clear Sky Chart: http://cleardarksky.com/c/ObGBlQCkey.html?1
Le ciel est assez grand pour que chacun y trouve sa place.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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Re: Should I use my BARADV for the upcoming lunar eclipse?
Mike,
In this thread I see a confusion between sampling and resolution. What you refer to is sampling, i.e., the number of arcseconds per pixel. Sampling is indeed doubled if you double the focal length, all other things being equal. Will your image have double resolution if you double the sampling? Well, that depends. The maximum resolution of a telescope is dependent on its diameter, with a rule of thumb like this: resolution in arcseconds = 120/diameter in mm. So a refractor with a lens 120 mm in diameter resolves 120/120 = 1 arcsecond. This means that you will be able so tell apart two points (stars, or contrasted dark features on a planetary surface) that are 1 arcsecond apart. A 240 mm scope has a resolution of 0.5 arcsecond. *No matter the electronic and computational wizardry, there is no way to overcome the maximum resolving power of a telescope*. Therefore, overampligying an image is like overmagnifying for visual observers: beyond some point expect no gain. Now, from the imaging point of view, this means that (1) it is useless to amplify the image beyond what the telescope itself is able to resolve and (2) you must optimise the scope-accessory-camera rig to be able to project the two closest features on at least two different pixels. Enter sampling. To reach a sampling that allows you to achieve the maximum resolution of your system (with enough overhead to get a smooth image), I throw in another rule of thumb: aim at an f ratio (i.e., F/D) equal to 5 times the size of a pixel in microns. I could develop the math if there is interest. Concretely, say you have a ZWO ASI224MC camera, with 3.75 micron pixels. The optimal sampling is approx 5 times this values, i.e. F/D = 18.75 or close to 20. If your scope is, for instance, an F/10 SCT, you will need a 2x barlow to achieve high resolution. If your scope is an F/4 newtonian, you need a 5x barlow. The final size of the planet (or lunar feature or full Moon disk) will, of course, depend on the diameter of the scope: a 150 mm F/4 scope has a focal length of 600 mm whereas a 300 mm F/4 scope has a FL of 1200 mm. The latter will provide more resolved images *because of the larger diameter of the scope*. Finally, note that it is useless to enlarge the image more than this rule suggests. Indeed, the gain in image size will not translate into increased resolution (since the scope is unable to resolve finer features), and furthermore the increasing F/D number translates into darker images that must be compensated by longer subframes (more prone to poor seeing) and/or increased gain (which gives noisier subframes). As an example here is a Mars image that I took last fall (October 6) with a 10 inch (254 mm) F/4 newtonian with a 5x PowerMate and a ZWO ASI224MC camera. And to remain in the "scope" of this group I must say that all these nights were made extraordinarily easy by my trusty AP 1200 GTO mount :-) Daniel -------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Borcard Observatoire du Geai Bleu Clear Sky Chart: http://cleardarksky.com/c/ObGBlQCkey.html?1 Le ciel est assez grand pour que chacun y trouve sa place. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 
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Re: Mach2 RA problem
Will do. Thank again Roland!
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Re: Mach2 RA problem
Roland Christen
Yes, we can send you another set of cables. I will alert the office on Monday. Meanwhile make sure that both cables are securely seated all the way into the connectors. I would also mark which cable was the RA (before you switched), maybe with a piece of tape so that you can replace that one with a new one. Then if you send it back, we can analyze it to see what may have gone wrong.
Roland
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Morrill via groups.io <helo4@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Sat, May 22, 2021 4:53 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Mach2 RA problem On Sat, May 22, 2021 at 04:35 PM, Roland Christen wrote:
RolandThanks for the quick reply Roland. After switching the cables as you advised the problem has gone away! Seems to be running great now. Do you think it would be a good idea to order another set of cables just in case one of these is going bad? Tim -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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Re: Mach2 RA problem
On Sat, May 22, 2021 at 04:35 PM, Roland Christen wrote:
RolandThanks for the quick reply Roland. After switching the cables as you advised the problem has gone away! Seems to be running great now. Do you think it would be a good idea to order another set of cables just in case one of these is going bad? Tim
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Re: Mach2 RA problem
Roland Christen
There are no gears grinding.
It sounds like the stepper motor in RA has lost connection to one of the phases and is trying to run on a single phase (this will do no harm to the motor or mount, it just sounds bad). Bad connection could be in the the cable between CP5 and mount. Try switching the two cables. Take the RA cable and pug it into the Dec on the CP5 and mount and take the Dec cable and plug it into the RA CP5 and mount. If the cable has a broken connection the problem will move over to the Dec side.
Roland
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Morrill via groups.io <helo4@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Sat, May 22, 2021 4:23 pm Subject: [ap-gto] Mach2 RA problem Hello I’ve had the Macy to for quite some time now and I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot! It has been performing perfectly. Except last night I went to image a object and it slewed way off target and acted like it was lost. I tried to home the amount but kept coming up with a communication error. And also for the park itself.
So I went out today to see if I could figure out what was going on and after powering on the mount and energizing the motors it makes a very loud clicking noise in the RA area. And when I’m trying to move the RA there is very loud gear grinding noise… So I just stopped and shut it off immediately.
Any idea what could have happened? And how to fix it? It’s been sitting in the observatory and nothing has changed.
I will attempt to upload a video so that you can hear the noise. Thanks Tim Morrill.
-- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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Mach2 RA problem
Hello I’ve had the Mach2 for quite some time now and I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot! It has been performing perfectly. Except last night I went to image a object and it slewed way off target and acted like it was lost. I tried to home the amount but kept coming up with a communication error. And also for the park itself. So I went out today to see if I could figure out what was going on and after powering on the mount and energizing the motors it makes a very loud clicking noise in the RA area. And when I’m trying to move the RA there is very loud gear grinding noise… So I just stopped and shut it off immediately. Any idea what could have happened? And how to fix it? It’s been sitting in the observatory and nothing has changed.
Tim Morrill.
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Re: NGC 6357 The Lobster Nebula with 1100GTO-AE
Beautiful image with amazing detail Jian! Don Anderson
On Friday, May 21, 2021, 10:59:53 a.m. MDT, jypeng@... <jypeng@...> wrote:
Hello, Recently, I acquired the NGC6357 (declination 34 south) from my backyard (declination 37 north) using my new AP 1100GTO-AE for 20 minutes subframes in the light-polluted area. It performed excellently during the sequences from 2 AM ~ 5 AM at 15~17 degrees above the horizon when I was asleep. It is an amazing telescope mount! It is uploaded to Astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/ipp2wk/ Hope you like it. Thanks, Jian Yuan Peng
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Re: NGC 6357 The Lobster Nebula with 1100GTO-AE
jypeng@...
Karen, Roberto, Rolando, Kenneth, Jeff, Lee
Thank you for your kind comments! 1100GTO is an excellent telescope mount and I am a happy owner. :-) Regards, Jian Yuan Peng
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Re: NGC 6357 The Lobster Nebula with 1100GTO-AE
Lee Dodge
Spectacular picture!
Lee
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Re: MGBox V2 mounting?
Jeffc
> I have my MGBoxV2 mounted at the top of the observatory walls, That makes sense. I'm just wondering if there is significant temperature and humidity change at localized heights. I sorta feel like humidity varies even within just a few feet of the ground. Also, I'm not even sure how much humidity affects the pointing model. In an observatory I suspect the environment is a bit more consistent. I'm out in the open. The computer is mounted on the pier... tho there's a USB hub on the OTA. Right now I have MGBoxV2 on the OTA which is kinda convenient to keep it out of the way. 
Jeff
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