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Re: weather station
Jim Crumly
Brian
My station is vantage pro 2
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 1:22:10 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station Jim which Davis weather station do you have? is it the vantage pro?
On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 12:04 PM Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote:
Brian
Brian Valente
astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/
portfolio brianvalentephotography.com
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Re: weather station
Jim which Davis weather station do you have? is it the vantage pro? On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 12:04 PM Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote:
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Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com |
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Re: weather station
Jim Crumly
Thanks All
I will look into all the options and try to find one that works.
I have my WX hooked up to the internet via weatherLink live and then weather link.com to CWOP and now to WU. I believe WeatherLink plain is not supported by Davis. So I'll have to do some testing.
Jim
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Get Outlook for Android From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Glenn Wallace <gwwallace@...>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 12:45:09 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station I'm using a MeteoBridge -- which connects to many weather stations including Davis, and services like WU. (these were sold by Ambient Weather for a while) https://www.meteobridge.com/wiki/index.php/Home I wrote an ASCOM driver for the meteobridge to access observing conditions into the ASCOM environment for my imaging (MaximDL). (The meteobridge has a known URL which the ASCOM driver I wrote accesses.)
So my chain goes Davis->meteobridge -> WU and my driver accesses meteobridge locally. |
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Re: weather station
Glenn Wallace
I'm using a MeteoBridge -- which connects to many weather stations including Davis, and services like WU. (these were sold by Ambient Weather for a while) https://www.meteobridge.com/wiki/index.php/Home I wrote an ASCOM driver for the meteobridge to access observing conditions into the ASCOM environment for my imaging (MaximDL). (The meteobridge has a known URL which the ASCOM driver I wrote accesses.)
So my chain goes Davis->meteobridge -> WU and my driver accesses meteobridge locally. |
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Re: weather station
Jim Crumly
I'm running a win 11 upgraded from win 10 computer.
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Dale Ghent <daleg@...>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 10:05:29 AM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station NINA's built-in WeatherUnderground client uses the https url for their API service. When it comes to TLS 1.2 support, the only issues here are people who are still running Windows 7. Windows 7's system TLS library does not grok TLS 1.2 without a specific patch and a registry tweak to enable it. Since NINA uses the .NET HTTP client, and that in turn uses the system TLS library, any communications with TLS 1.2-only sites will fail on Windows 7 without that patch+registry change. Generally, any issues in NINA will be logged in its log file. You can open the log folder in File Explorer by clicking on the button next to Log Level under Options > General > Advanced, or by entering %LOCALAPPDATA%\NINA\Logs in your File Explorer window's address bar. As far as getting data from your Davis weather stating into APCC for model adjustment purposes, the built-in WU client in NINA is not what you want to use, as that is not an ASCOM driver that APCC can use. It only wires NINA into that as a source of weather info. There does not seem to be an ASCOM driver for interfacing with WU in particular, but there appears to be one for talking directly to David VantagePro stations: https://github.com/blumzi/ASCOM.VantagePro/releases I would connect both APCC and NINA to the ASCOM ObservingConditions Hub (OCH) and then configure OCH to use this driver for the various types of info it provides. This will allow both NINA and APCC use the driver at the same time and will also allow you to mix in multiple sources of weather information if you desire that. > On Nov 14, 2022, at 11:23, Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote: > > I got nina to see my station in weather underground but the API key dosen't respond. > WU just changed there security to TLS version 1.2 all calls must begin with https://. > I don't know if nina is up to date or not. > > Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone > Get Outlook for Android > From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Bill Long <bill@...> > Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 9:28:16 PM > To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> > Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station <!-- p {margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0} --> Does it output a boltwood compatible file? > From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...> > Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 8:01 PM > To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> > Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station Hi Jim > > it's been a few years but I don't think Davis has an ASCOM observing conditions driver for it? you might know better than me or check with them > > On Sun, Nov 13, 2022 at 9:14 AM Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote: > Hellow All > I have a Davis weather station which transmits my weather date to the web. > has any one used a Davis weather station to update weather data on a AP mount specificly CP4. APCC. > > Clear Skys > Jim > > > > > -- > Brian > > > > Brian Valente > astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ > portfolio brianvalentephotography.com > astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/bvalente/ > |
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Bill Long
My experience is the same. The delta values are higher in the West
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 8:34 AM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] APPC & Mach2: Dec Arc model results and RA drift connection? #APCC #Mach2GTO I don't think a newt would have mirror shift that would explain what you're seeing.
LIke others, my western mapping results tend to be "worse" than the eastern side
it could be more attributable to flexure, though I don't know for sure
On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 8:28 AM Andrea Lucchetti <andlucchett@...> wrote:
Brian
Brian Valente
astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/
portfolio
brianvalentephotography.com
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APCC MERIDIAN SETTINGS
Sam
Hi
I have not set up my meridian functionality in APCC pro, but would like to allow my AP1100 / scope to track about 15 minutes past the meridian to reduce waiting time for a meridian flip during long subs.
I have space around my pier for at least 15 minutes of tracking past meridian for all declinations.
NINA has a setting “Max minutes after meridian ” which I would like to set to “15 minutes”. My Nina settings for meridian flip are attached.
Initially, I was thinking to just set the APCC meridian setting to “enable meridian tracking limits = checked “ and "flip offset = 15 minutes" and everything would be fine (see image).
But as I read the manual, I realized that the instructions say this is the allowed time to flip BEFORE the meridian (ie not after):
"Flip Offset: This defines a period of time during which the mount can be "flipped" before the actual Meridian Limit is reached. This may be useful when using third party applications so they can perform a meridian flip before reaching the Meridian Limit, which may trigger tracking to stop or parking the mount."
So to allow tracking past the meridian, I believe that I have to set the "counterweight UP slews within" to the desired figure. I am focused on setting the "WEST LIMITS because I want to track slightly past the meridian, rather than point to an object before it reaches the meridian; The terminology is explained in the manual as follows = "In APCC's Meridian Limits, East and West define where the scope is pointing."
So in my scenario the scope would be on the West of the pier, pointing East; as the scope tracks past the meridian it will eventually point West - so it is the West limits that are most important to me: The manual says this: "Think of West Limits as SAFETY LIMITS. These are the limits that protect you from tracking into the pier, and most people would consider them to be the most important"
I am not concerned about East limits (for now) because they say "Think of East Limits as OPPORTUNITY LIMITS. With an AP mount, you have the opportunity to start tracking an object that is in the east from a counterweight "up" orientation.....
So I checked the box "West limits" in "counterweight UP slews within" is set the “flip offset to 15’.
So do these settings look right (see images below)?
I appreciate any help / insight
I realize that the best thing to do is to map out the entire clearance around the pier (with the APCC meridian explorer) which would get much more out of the mount for tracking past the meridian - I hope to eventually do this, but for now I want to start with “baby steps” to prevent a pier crash . Thanks 
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Re: weather station
Dale Ghent
NINA's built-in WeatherUnderground client uses the https url for their API service. When it comes to TLS 1.2 support, the only issues here are people who are still running Windows 7. Windows 7's system TLS library does not grok TLS 1.2 without a specific patch and a registry tweak to enable it. Since NINA uses the .NET HTTP client, and that in turn uses the system TLS library, any communications with TLS 1.2-only sites will fail on Windows 7 without that patch+registry change.
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Show quoted text
Generally, any issues in NINA will be logged in its log file. You can open the log folder in File Explorer by clicking on the button next to Log Level under Options > General > Advanced, or by entering %LOCALAPPDATA%\NINA\Logs in your File Explorer window's address bar. As far as getting data from your Davis weather stating into APCC for model adjustment purposes, the built-in WU client in NINA is not what you want to use, as that is not an ASCOM driver that APCC can use. It only wires NINA into that as a source of weather info. There does not seem to be an ASCOM driver for interfacing with WU in particular, but there appears to be one for talking directly to David VantagePro stations: https://github.com/blumzi/ASCOM.VantagePro/releases I would connect both APCC and NINA to the ASCOM ObservingConditions Hub (OCH) and then configure OCH to use this driver for the various types of info it provides. This will allow both NINA and APCC use the driver at the same time and will also allow you to mix in multiple sources of weather information if you desire that. On Nov 14, 2022, at 11:23, Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote: |
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Re: weather station
Jim Crumly
I just renewed the API key so I'll give it a couple hours to settle in. Got som errands to run then lunch. So I'll check when I get back home.
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Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Get Outlook for Android From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 9:24:28 AM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station >>>I don't know if nina is up to date or not.
it's worth asking on the NINA discord server
On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 8:23 AM Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote:
Brian
Brian Valente
astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/
portfolio brianvalentephotography.com
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I don't think a newt would have mirror shift that would explain what you're seeing. LIke others, my western mapping results tend to be "worse" than the eastern side it could be more attributable to flexure, though I don't know for sure On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 8:28 AM Andrea Lucchetti <andlucchett@...> wrote:
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Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com |
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Andrea Lucchetti
It is a Newtonian. The mirror has a minimal clearance to avoid astigmatism. It is small enough that collimation is not affected. But it is not a refractor Il giorno lun 14 nov 2022 alle 17:04 Brian Valente <bvalente@...> ha scritto:
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Re: weather station
>>>I don't know if nina is up to date or not. it's worth asking on the NINA discord server On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 8:23 AM Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote:
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Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com |
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Re: weather station
Jim Crumly
I got nina to see my station in weather underground but the API key dosen't respond.
WU just changed there security to TLS version 1.2 all calls must begin with https://.
I don't know if nina is up to date or not.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Get Outlook for Android From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Bill Long <bill@...>
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 9:28:16 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station
Does it output a boltwood compatible file?
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...>
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 8:01 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station Hi Jim
it's been a few years but I don't think Davis has an ASCOM observing conditions driver for it? you might know better than me or check with them
On Sun, Nov 13, 2022 at 9:14 AM Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote:
Hellow All Brian
Brian Valente
astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/
portfolio
brianvalentephotography.com
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Hi Andrea >>>My hypothesis was mirror flop. are you using a telescope that has mirror flop? On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 8:01 AM Andrea Lucchetti <andlucchett@...> wrote:
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Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com |
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Andrea Lucchetti
Thank you Ray. I can increase settling time. For the number of points, it is a nomad setup so I need to optimize the set up time. May be I can also play with the number of arcs? I though 3 were the minimum but if there is a trade off between arcs and number of points I could play with that. For settling, I think it can be the case at the flip but the points are acquired on the same pier side and they all show the deviation. After the first point it should be less impacting. My hypothesis was mirror flop. But my question is: can these deviations be modeled such as the adjusted RA rate is not right? Ad I said, in DEC the model seems to give wonderful result’s. Thank you for looking into my data Andrea Il giorno lun 14 nov 2022 alle 15:47 Ray Gralak <iogroups@...> ha scritto: Hi Andrea, |
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Re: A Mach1GTO Adventure: Does RA Gear Meshing Require Generating a New PEC?
Bill Long
Its all about the movement of the gears, which turn the worm against the wheel. As long as those do not move, you are fine.
I posted this same info about 45 minutes ago. Unfortunately, it has not landed on the group yet.
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Chris White <chris.white@...>
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 8:32 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] A Mach1GTO Adventure: Does RA Gear Meshing Require Generating a New PEC? Ben,
You probably don't need to remesh RA unless you have a performance problem. RA doesn't reverse direction like DEC so reasonable amount of backlash won't be a problem. That said, it's not a bad idea to refresh your REC curve every few years of normal use as your mount wears a little. Before doing anything, you can use penpro to test your curve. That test should give you an indication of the state of things... |
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Re: weather station
Bill Long
Does it output a boltwood compatible file?
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...>
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 8:01 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] weather station Hi Jim
it's been a few years but I don't think Davis has an ASCOM observing conditions driver for it? you might know better than me or check with them
On Sun, Nov 13, 2022 at 9:14 AM Jim Crumly <jimwc@...> wrote:
Hellow All Brian
Brian Valente
astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/
portfolio
brianvalentephotography.com
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Re: AP1200GTO - CP3 - Firmware Upgrade
Bill Long
This was added in the T Revision:
Added safety timer (also called a “Park Timer). This is a countdown timer that puts the mount into a parked state once the timer counts down to zero. Software can be configured to reset this timer at defined intervals to protect the mount from an external computer-related
problem. For example: The timer can be set to expire in 2 minutes, and can be reset by the computer software every minute. As long as the computer and the COMs are functioning properly, the timer will be reset every minute, and the 2 minute countdown will
never expire. However, if the computer crashes, the reset will not occur, and the mount will park at the end of the 2 minute countdown preventing an eventual pier crash.
Meridian Delay no longer requires calibration before accepting command. • Invoke King Rate • Added commands that utilize Hour Angle (HA) coordinates (along with Declination coordinates) to supplement and complement normal RA and Dec coordinates. Hour Angle
is converted to RA inside the GTOCP3 which minimizes timing errors. Hour Angle compliments RA in this way: On a tracking mount, RA remains constant while HA changes with time. RA coordinates are the appropriate choice for normal astronomy. On a stopped
mount, HA remains constant while RA changes with time. HA coordinates are the appropriate choice for parking, terrestrial viewing and pointing recovery. As with RA coordinates, HA coordinates can be used in GoTo slews, Syncs and ReCalibrates.
This was added in V:
Fixed a bug in the ReCalibrate function that could result in a logically incorrect pier side on a mount that had tracked past the meridian. The reported pier side was correct, but the next slew direction was likely to be wrong
This was added in V1:
Increased the range of the custom tracking rates from 99x to 999x. NOTE: Implemented in ASCOM V2 Driver v.5.10.00 and APCC v.1.6.0.0
The chip upgrade is $92:
I would get it, IMO.
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of rboudah@... <rboudah@...>
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 4:28 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] AP1200GTO - CP3 - Firmware Upgrade It appears the upgrade is not needed if I'm not using APCC. I also didn't see any significant bug fixes that would affect my usage.
Am I missing something. Rick |
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Re: A Mach1GTO Adventure: Does RA Gear Meshing Require Generating a New PEC?
Bill Long
No, it does not. As long as you do not move the RA spur gears manually your PEC Curve is fine.
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Ben Koltenbah <benjamin.e.c.koltenbah@...>
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2022 4:21 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: [ap-gto] A Mach1GTO Adventure: Does RA Gear Meshing Require Generating a New PEC? Greetings, AP mount users and (in my case) abusers!
Last night, I rediscovered, after several years of neglect, the need to adjust the gear meshing on my Mach1GTO. After watching my guiding performance slowly deteriorate over the summer, followed by a particularly disastrous night watching the DEC guiding oscillate like a freshman physics class demonstration on periodic motion, the epiphany was conjured from the deep, increasingly inaccessible recesses of my mind that I should re-mesh the DEC gearing using the prescribed method from the AP documentation. Prior to that, I meandered on an embarrassingly long and futile journey inspecting and adjusting all other possible contributors to this DEC bouncing, including checking for dragging cables over every cable that could be dragged, shifting of center of gravity of every part that could be shifted, tweaking of every PHD2 software setting that could be tweaked. In the end, and after less than five minutes of effort, I re-meshed the DEC worm gear, armed only with my 5/32" hex wrench. Starting the guiding anew, a feeling of unbridled glee washed over me once I saw the DEC oscillations were now replaced by excellent, gently dampened randomized performance. But this feeling was soon replaced by shame and anger at having forgotten to do this re-meshing months earlier when the problem first arose. Now I have settled on the feeling of quiet acceptance and satisfaction. Life will go on. Here are a couple of screen captures from PHD Log Viewer that show the performance just before and after the DEC gear mesh adjustment.   And the following shows a close-up of the imaged stars around the center of M33 before and after the adjustment with guiding on. I have zoomed in quite far to demonstrate the improvement.  Now I turn my attention to the RA gear meshing. I wish to adjust this as well since I realize just how long it's been since I last worked on it that I forgot about the existence of worm gear meshing altogether. My latest guiding curves indicate that the RA axis now under-performs the DEC axis, although not nearly as badly as the DEC misbehaved before. Will adjusting the RA worm gear require that a new periodic error correction (PEC) curve be generated? The AP documentation noted that if I opened the RA gear box and turned the gears by hand, I would need to mark and return them to their original position or risk invalidating the current PEC. But what about the mesh adjustment procedure? I'd very much appreciate your advice on this. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your helpful comments. Best Regards, Ben |
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Re: Sky Safari and GTO
Howard Ritter
I’ve installed it. I’m waiting for a clear night so I can prove you guys right!
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—howard
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