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Re: GoTos
weems@...
I haven’t weighed the whole setup. The C14 has a carbon tube, so it’s a tiny bit lighter than standard. The refractor is about 22lbs. Counterweight is 2 30s, a 24, and an 18, tight against the top of the bar, plus a 10 that provides fine balance, and is 2” below the rest. So 112, but with a shorter moment arm than the OTAs. The bar also adds a few lbs.
Chip
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Erkaslan Aygen
Ray,
Below is the message that I get when I use a period as a decimal point. As soon as I put the setting back to normal, then the message vanishes and I can again open Voyager. Aygen 
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Re: New JPL Format for Horizons Ephemeris #APCC - Format Causes Issue
#APCC
I used Horizons for the first time after these changes on the JPL website and I get the same error, also the time format is 12hr off. I hope APCC Horizons gets fixed soon :-) Best regards, Geert Vdbulcke Op do 14 okt. 2021 om 13:52 schreef Ray Gralak <iogroups@...>:
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Re: GoTos
Scott Cooke
Chip, Thanks for responding. Impressive setup. I love how you made it not much wider than the dovetail saddle. How much weight do you think the mount is carrying? 90-100 lbs? How much counterweight do you have? I use 4 18lb weights with just my C14 setup for visual.
On Sun, Oct 17, 2021 at 3:54 PM <weems@...> wrote: Responding to Scott, here are some photos of the tandem setup on my 900. The main saddle is a DOVELM162. The tandem plate is an SBD18SS, the C14 is on another DOVELM162, with a Losmandy C14 dovetail and mounting blocks. The 6"f9 is on an ADM TGAD, with a custom riser block to match the hole patterns, and allow it to clear the raised, central section of the SBD. The scope is on a Losmandy plate that has AP mounting hole patterns, so the rings can attach to it.
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Ray Gralak
The only problem with the decimal point adjustment is that I will not longer be able to use my automationYou said you have a problem with Voyager, right? I think Voyager software works fine here in the U.S. using a period as a decimal point, so it should be possible. -Ray -----Original Message-----
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Re: GoTos
Another thought....Do you have a location for your observing stored in the HC and are you sure you are using that one. I have a few different sites saved in my hand controller so if you have the wrong one in use it is going to throw everything off. This could also apply if you are using some software such as The Sky or Sky Safari....make sure you have the correct observing site. If you are using Sky Safari there was a bug in a version about 2 back which had the wrong hour even when you set it correctly. I notified them and it was fixed.
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Re: GoTos
try removing both scopes and put a refractor on in standard position...centered instead of offset. See if that helps. With that much weight and I suspect not equally balanced side to side, that may be part of the issue. I have a AP 900 and AP 1100. At one time I did run a 14" SCT on the 900 by itself along with heavy full frame SBIG camera, auto guide scope and camera, autofocuser, etc. That is a lot of possible flex culprits. I remember seeing an article about the effect of flexure....as I recall just a few thousands of an inch makes a big difference.
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Erkaslan Aygen
The only problem with the decimal point adjustment is that I will not longer be able to use my automation software properly !
I will keep you posted as soon as I perform some test with a former version (e.g. 5.21.01). Aygen
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Erkaslan Aygen
Good point. I did check and the last update was around August - so two month ago.
I change lots of settings to minimize windows update... but as you mentioned, there are always some coming in.... and messing with our stuffs.
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Ray Gralak
Aygen,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Your setup is behaving unexpectedly, so it is up to do what you need to get running. The problem seems to be with the ASCOM driver, not APCC. However, it is puzzling because this should be happening in version 5.30.10 of the driver. The only temporary solution using the driver is to run everything in U.S.floating-point format. -Ray
-----Original Message-----
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
ap@CaptivePhotons.com
Erkaslan Aygen wrote:
I can try to install a former version just for sanity check... who knows ! The thing is I am also getting the same error message with APT if the decimal point is not adjusted. _._,_._,_ Windows update?
Microsoft still sneaks into my system at unexpected times and changes things I did not get told about.
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Erkaslan Aygen
Not to the best of my knowledge. I remember having upgraded about 3 weeks ago...
I can try to install a former version just for sanity check... who knows ! The thing is I am also getting the same error message with APT if the decimal point is not adjusted.
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Re: Followup: Re: [ap-gto] Mr. Whang's Mach2 with TOA150
Chris White
On Sun, Oct 17, 2021 at 04:03 PM, fernandorivera3 wrote:
As for maintenance of an old legacy 900 GTO mount- no plans to re-grease the gears using the AP special grease kit 🤔 ???I guess I should have used the word "tinker-wise" lol... I actually have the special grease kit and plan to do a re-grease at some point here after I've finished tinkering with scopes and cameras.
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
ap@CaptivePhotons.com
Erkaslan Aygen wrote:
Is it possible that Voyager changed, I know it gets pretty rapid updates. Did you update it? Maybe it introduced some internationalization into its APCC connection data (or ascom v2 connection, not sure how it ties in) that aren't liked on the receiving end?
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Erkaslan Aygen
Good evening Ray, Honestly, I don't know why all of this is happening all of a sudden. I didn't change anything software / drivers wise. So, tomorrow I will install a former version (5.21.09 ?) and see what comes next. I was also wondering whether I should uninstall APCC and give it a go with the AP driver only. Anyway, very sorry to bother you all with this ongoing issue. Best, Aygen
Le dim. 17 oct. 2021 à 22:27, Ray Gralak <iogroups@...> a écrit : Hi Aygen,
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Ray Gralak
Hi Aygen,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
You could go back to the old driver, but it's not clear to me why this version of the driver is not working, especially since you said it was working a few days back. Can you tell me what has changed? -Ray
-----Original Message-----
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Re: VPort2 / Fault / Sync Target: Valid Alt/Az, RA/Dec, HA/Dec has not been received!"
Erkaslan Aygen
Dear Ray, Dear All,
I did apply thoroughly Ray's recommendation to adjust Windows regional setting to use "." as a decimal point rather than the "," that we have in Switzerland / Europe. Here are my findings following the above adjustment :
However, by adjusting the decimal point by ".", I can no longer access my automation software, i.e. "Voyager" ! Needless to say that I am stuck and embarrassed ! What can I do ?
I am gently getting desperate :( Thank you for your help. My best regards, Aygen
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Re: Followup: Re: [ap-gto] Mr. Whang's Mach2 with TOA150
fernandorivera3
As for maintenance of an old legacy 900 GTO mount- no plans to re-grease the gears using the AP special grease kit 🤔 ???
Fernando
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Re: GoTos
weems@...
Responding to Scott, here are some photos of the tandem setup on my 900. The main saddle is a DOVELM162. The tandem plate is an SBD18SS, the C14 is on another DOVELM162, with a Losmandy C14 dovetail and mounting blocks. The 6"f9 is on an ADM TGAD, with a custom riser block to match the hole patterns, and allow it to clear the raised, central section of the SBD. The scope is on a Losmandy plate that has AP mounting hole patterns, so the rings can attach to it.
To adjust out cone error for the C14, I made some brass plates to go between the plate and the blocks, which allows the safety knob to be replaced with a SS cap screw. Otherwise, the screw would go into a recess in the blocks. It's much easier to dial in the correction this way, rather than trial and error with shims, for such a heavy scope. Once the C14 is set, the TGAD allows the refractor to be made parallel. However, the TGAD does have some flexure, so the relative position of objects shifts a little in different orientations. If there's a better solution for two-axis alignment, I'd love to try it. With the dew shield the C14 extends nearly as far forward as the refractor, but being tail-heavy, it doesn't extend out as far in back. Chip  
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Re: Followup: Re: [ap-gto] Mr. Whang's Mach2 with TOA150
Chris White
On Wed, Oct 13, 2021 at 12:54 PM, Roland Christen wrote:
I have a legacy mount, 900GTO and perhaps I've never pushed the equipment enough but I'm not sure how much more precision I could get that would even translate into better images. I purchased the mount second hand last winter, and I don't think I've thrown out a single sub due to mount issues. I'm guiding at +/- 0.3" Total RMS using APCC Pro modeling and PEC. My load is pretty light for the mount, with a GTX and full imaging train so maybe I don't notice any of these issues discussed here. I'm using tiny pixels 3.76um and generally take 10 to 20 minute subs. My stars are tight and performance is seeing limited as far as I can tell. Roland, are you saying that I might notice some limitations with the mount if I wanted to use for example a 12.5" iDK? The only thing maintenance-wise that I have had to do is re-mesh my DEC worm. I suspect that is something I may need to do seasonally as I live in a climate with vast temperature swings through the seasons. Otherwise it seems like this mount's performance is simply astounding, and I don't know what getting a newer design with encoders would do for me in my final images. If I do decide to upgrade mounts in the future it would be to acquire a second mount not an "upgrade." I do appreciate the history lesson, and it makes total sense why the design has evolved to respond to more demanding usage situations. And I know you aren't saying that the old mount designs are bad, just that the newer designs are the way they are for the reasons stated. Thanks again!
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