1. main@ap-gto.groups.io
  2. Messages
   Date   
Re: AP600 vs Mach 1

weems@...
 

I tightened the foot connections and the leg pivot points on the hardwood tripod and got the tap test vibration time down to between 2.5 and 3 seconds. I also put the 600E on a Losmandy HD tripod for comparison. Slightly less amplitude vibration, with a higher frequency, which takes longer to fully dampen, but decreases to a small amplitude faster.

Practically, it was easier to focus with it on the Losmandy. The shaking isn’t as bad, and it decreases to a usable level in a second. On the AP tripod, the shaking takes more time to get to a level where it’s possible to evaluate the focus. But using a second hand to hold the focuser to steady it made it nearly as effective as the Losmandy. 

If I were doing photography with the setup, the extra weight of the Losmandy would be justified, and a pier might be even better. But for quick setup visual teaching use, the original tripod is pretty impressive. 


Chip
Re: AP900 informations

fernandorivera3
 

I think the V2 & V1 chips are for programming instructions that can be understood by encoder equipped mounts like the 1100, 1600 & 3600 mounts, which was not part of the V chip.

For the 900 <and 1200> mounts- which are "not upgradeable to encoders", the V1 or V2 chips won't impact performance- I believe. 

So upgrading the CP3 from V1 to V2 for the 900 mount shouldn't be noticeable. 

Fernando

Re: The AP YouTube Channel

Brian Valente
 

>>>When it is mentioned, it should actually be *shown* to be already done or else it'll perplex the viewer.

Indeed, you have eagle eyes :) Again, I take this tutorial to be a general starting point, I don't know if AP was looking at this like "here's an example of excellent guiding" so much as here's the process, but point taken

>>>Yes, I agree that PHD2 calibration has to be done at the intersection of the meridian and equator to be accurate. But IMO guiding assistant should be done at the target.

Guiding assistant is to set the min moves for seeing conditions. Yes it's possible seeing conditions can change based on sky location, but at some point there's a diminishing return. You could argue we should run the guiding assistant for every target, or as conditions change during the night. Right now there isn't any software that would automate such a task, and I don't know how much added value such effort would yield.


>>>I think LP2 is for low backlash mounts and AP spring loaded worms are low backlash. 

LP2 is not specifically about low backlash, it's for stable tracking conditions that focus mainly on large scale steady drift, such as slight polar misalignment. I've seen situations where seeing conditions are poor enough that LP2 would not be good even for an encoder mount. 



On Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 10:28 AM Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:


On Monday, April 4, 2022, 11:21:47 AM CDT, Brian Valente <bvalente@...> wrote:


Hi Cytan

just a couple thoughts regarding your comments

1. In the video during the prerequisites slide part, it mentions the mount should be polar aligned prior to using PHD 

When it is mentioned, it should actually be *shown* to be already done or else it'll perplex the viewer.


2. It's actually ideal to calibrate at the intersection of meridian and celestial equator. When using ASCOM, the mount position is reported, and PHD makes adjustments to its guiding algorithms to account for different sky positions (i.e., different targets, but also tracking through the night). That's one of the biggest benefits of ASCOM connection vs ST-4: calibrate once, use everywhere


Yes, I agree that PHD2 calibration has to be done at the intersection of the meridian and equator to be accurate. But IMO guiding assistant should be done at the target.




3. The default Dec algorithm for non-encoder mounts is Resist Switch, so I think it was roughly covered in "stay with the defaults". That being said, I think this video is more of an introductory video to get things up and running reasonably well than to cover all possible tweaks. Generally for a non-encoder mount, lowpass2 can be tricky: if you have a lot of reversals or larger excursions, the algorithm will reset its hysteresis and produce less than ideal results. Of course, ymmv. Encoder mounts should be defaulting to lowpass2 which happens when you select the encoder option during the Profile Wizard.

I think LP2 is for low backlash mounts and AP spring loaded worms are low backlash. 

Anyway, going to the algorithms page and showing the default selection and saying that the defaults are chosen on that page seems appropriate to me.

cytan





On Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 8:05 AM Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Updated with a few typos corrected :)


On Monday, April 4, 2022, 10:01:36 AM CDT, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:


Hi Karen,
   I watched the AP PHD2 video and I have some suggestions/feedback. I think the workflow shown in the video is a little strange to me because:

1. Shouldn't the video have the mount has already polar aligned to < 5 arc min? In real life, I would have done a good polar alignment before messing with PHD2 calibration because I'd have to move the mount via the knobs and that can mess up PHD2 calibration.

2. I have used of the guide assistant after I point to the target and not at the intersection of the equator and the meridian. I'm not sure that it is actually good practise to do it there because sky conditions can be different there than at the target.

3. No mention was made about the guide algorithm used. I'd assume it is "Resist Switch" in PHD2 because the video is *not* or encoder mounts. Perhaps mentioning that "LowPass2" is also a good algorithm (in fact, I think it's better than "Resist Switch") for spring loaded worms.

I hope the above helps.

cytan
  

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 09:25:35 AM CDT, Andrew J <andjones132@...> wrote:


Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J



--
Brian 



Brian Valente



--
Brian 



Brian Valente
Re: The AP YouTube Channel

Cheng-Yang Tan
 



On Monday, April 4, 2022, 11:21:47 AM CDT, Brian Valente <bvalente@...> wrote:


Hi Cytan

just a couple thoughts regarding your comments

1. In the video during the prerequisites slide part, it mentions the mount should be polar aligned prior to using PHD 

When it is mentioned, it should actually be *shown* to be already done or else it'll perplex the viewer.


2. It's actually ideal to calibrate at the intersection of meridian and celestial equator. When using ASCOM, the mount position is reported, and PHD makes adjustments to its guiding algorithms to account for different sky positions (i.e., different targets, but also tracking through the night). That's one of the biggest benefits of ASCOM connection vs ST-4: calibrate once, use everywhere


Yes, I agree that PHD2 calibration has to be done at the intersection of the meridian and equator to be accurate. But IMO guiding assistant should be done at the target.




3. The default Dec algorithm for non-encoder mounts is Resist Switch, so I think it was roughly covered in "stay with the defaults". That being said, I think this video is more of an introductory video to get things up and running reasonably well than to cover all possible tweaks. Generally for a non-encoder mount, lowpass2 can be tricky: if you have a lot of reversals or larger excursions, the algorithm will reset its hysteresis and produce less than ideal results. Of course, ymmv. Encoder mounts should be defaulting to lowpass2 which happens when you select the encoder option during the Profile Wizard.

I think LP2 is for low backlash mounts and AP spring loaded worms are low backlash. 

Anyway, going to the algorithms page and showing the default selection and saying that the defaults are chosen on that page seems appropriate to me.

cytan





On Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 8:05 AM Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Updated with a few typos corrected :)


On Monday, April 4, 2022, 10:01:36 AM CDT, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:


Hi Karen,
   I watched the AP PHD2 video and I have some suggestions/feedback. I think the workflow shown in the video is a little strange to me because:

1. Shouldn't the video have the mount has already polar aligned to < 5 arc min? In real life, I would have done a good polar alignment before messing with PHD2 calibration because I'd have to move the mount via the knobs and that can mess up PHD2 calibration.

2. I have used of the guide assistant after I point to the target and not at the intersection of the equator and the meridian. I'm not sure that it is actually good practise to do it there because sky conditions can be different there than at the target.

3. No mention was made about the guide algorithm used. I'd assume it is "Resist Switch" in PHD2 because the video is *not* or encoder mounts. Perhaps mentioning that "LowPass2" is also a good algorithm (in fact, I think it's better than "Resist Switch") for spring loaded worms.

I hope the above helps.

cytan
  

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 09:25:35 AM CDT, Andrew J <andjones132@...> wrote:


Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J



--
Brian 



Brian Valente
Re: The AP YouTube Channel

Cheng-Yang Tan
 

Hi Wade,

It's just disconcerting to me that the PA error was this big in the video, and IMO is a distraction.

cytan

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 11:07:45 AM CDT, W Hilmo <y.groups@...> wrote:


Regarding the first point, guider calibration consists of two parts:  Determining the rotation angle of the camera and determining the movement rate during guide commands.

Neither of these would be affected by minor changes to polar alignment, at least not enough to make any difference.

That said, yeah, polar aligning the mount is something that I do right away after setting it up, so my normal workflow would have it done by the time I start the guide software.  But I doubt that it actually matters.

-Wade

On 4/4/22 8:05 AM, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io wrote:
Updated with a few typos corrected :)


On Monday, April 4, 2022, 10:01:36 AM CDT, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299@...> wrote:


Hi Karen,
   I watched the AP PHD2 video and I have some suggestions/feedback. I think the workflow shown in the video is a little strange to me because:

1. Shouldn't the video have the mount has already polar aligned to < 5 arc min? In real life, I would have done a good polar alignment before messing with PHD2 calibration because I'd have to move the mount via the knobs and that can mess up PHD2 calibration.

2. I have used of the guide assistant after I point to the target and not at the intersection of the equator and the meridian. I'm not sure that it is actually good practise to do it there because sky conditions can be different there than at the target.

3. No mention was made about the guide algorithm used. I'd assume it is "Resist Switch" in PHD2 because the video is *not* or encoder mounts. Perhaps mentioning that "LowPass2" is also a good algorithm (in fact, I think it's better than "Resist Switch") for spring loaded worms.

I hope the above helps.

cytan
  

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 09:25:35 AM CDT, Andrew J <andjones132@...> wrote:


Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J

Re: The AP YouTube Channel

Brian Valente
 

Hi Cytan

just a couple thoughts regarding your comments

1. In the video during the prerequisites slide part, it mentions the mount should be polar aligned prior to using PHD 

2. It's actually ideal to calibrate at the intersection of meridian and celestial equator. When using ASCOM, the mount position is reported, and PHD makes adjustments to its guiding algorithms to account for different sky positions (i.e., different targets, but also tracking through the night). That's one of the biggest benefits of ASCOM connection vs ST-4: calibrate once, use everywhere

3. The default Dec algorithm for non-encoder mounts is Resist Switch, so I think it was roughly covered in "stay with the defaults". That being said, I think this video is more of an introductory video to get things up and running reasonably well than to cover all possible tweaks. Generally for a non-encoder mount, lowpass2 can be tricky: if you have a lot of reversals or larger excursions, the algorithm will reset its hysteresis and produce less than ideal results. Of course, ymmv. Encoder mounts should be defaulting to lowpass2 which happens when you select the encoder option during the Profile Wizard.



It sounds

On Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 8:05 AM Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Updated with a few typos corrected :)


On Monday, April 4, 2022, 10:01:36 AM CDT, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:


Hi Karen,
   I watched the AP PHD2 video and I have some suggestions/feedback. I think the workflow shown in the video is a little strange to me because:

1. Shouldn't the video have the mount has already polar aligned to < 5 arc min? In real life, I would have done a good polar alignment before messing with PHD2 calibration because I'd have to move the mount via the knobs and that can mess up PHD2 calibration.

2. I have used of the guide assistant after I point to the target and not at the intersection of the equator and the meridian. I'm not sure that it is actually good practise to do it there because sky conditions can be different there than at the target.

3. No mention was made about the guide algorithm used. I'd assume it is "Resist Switch" in PHD2 because the video is *not* or encoder mounts. Perhaps mentioning that "LowPass2" is also a good algorithm (in fact, I think it's better than "Resist Switch") for spring loaded worms.

I hope the above helps.

cytan
  

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 09:25:35 AM CDT, Andrew J <andjones132@...> wrote:


Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J



--
Brian 



Brian Valente
Re: The AP YouTube Channel

W Hilmo
 

Regarding the first point, guider calibration consists of two parts:  Determining the rotation angle of the camera and determining the movement rate during guide commands.

Neither of these would be affected by minor changes to polar alignment, at least not enough to make any difference.

That said, yeah, polar aligning the mount is something that I do right away after setting it up, so my normal workflow would have it done by the time I start the guide software.  But I doubt that it actually matters.

-Wade

On 4/4/22 8:05 AM, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io wrote:

Updated with a few typos corrected :)


On Monday, April 4, 2022, 10:01:36 AM CDT, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299@...> wrote:


Hi Karen,
   I watched the AP PHD2 video and I have some suggestions/feedback. I think the workflow shown in the video is a little strange to me because:

1. Shouldn't the video have the mount has already polar aligned to < 5 arc min? In real life, I would have done a good polar alignment before messing with PHD2 calibration because I'd have to move the mount via the knobs and that can mess up PHD2 calibration.

2. I have used of the guide assistant after I point to the target and not at the intersection of the equator and the meridian. I'm not sure that it is actually good practise to do it there because sky conditions can be different there than at the target.

3. No mention was made about the guide algorithm used. I'd assume it is "Resist Switch" in PHD2 because the video is *not* or encoder mounts. Perhaps mentioning that "LowPass2" is also a good algorithm (in fact, I think it's better than "Resist Switch") for spring loaded worms.

I hope the above helps.

cytan
  

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 09:25:35 AM CDT, Andrew J <andjones132@...> wrote:


Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J

Re: AP900 informations

Roland Christen
 

No need to re-grease the axis - don't try to take the axes apart. You can regrease the worm gears by removing the motor boxes. See the website for instructions.

Roland

-----Original Message-----
From: Julien LECUYER <lecuyerj@...>
To: main@ap-gto.groups.io
Sent: Mon, Apr 4, 2022 7:37 am
Subject: [ap-gto] AP900 informations

Hi everybody,

I just became the owner of an AP900GTO of 1999 fitted with CP3 V1 chip and a Keypad.
What is the procedure to perform a re-greasing of the motor box because the grease seems to be old (there is dried deposit)?
Is-it also necessary to check and re-greasing the RA and DEC axis, is there a procedure to do this?

Is there a list of possible upgrade of the AP900GTO version to the latest one (CP3 to CP4, V1 to V2, new motor box...)?

Thanks for your feedback,

Julien.

--
Roland Christen
Astro-Physics
Re: The AP YouTube Channel

Cheng-Yang Tan
 

Updated with a few typos corrected :)


On Monday, April 4, 2022, 10:01:36 AM CDT, Cheng-Yang Tan via groups.io <cytan299@...> wrote:


Hi Karen,
   I watched the AP PHD2 video and I have some suggestions/feedback. I think the workflow shown in the video is a little strange to me because:

1. Shouldn't the video have the mount has already polar aligned to < 5 arc min? In real life, I would have done a good polar alignment before messing with PHD2 calibration because I'd have to move the mount via the knobs and that can mess up PHD2 calibration.

2. I have used of the guide assistant after I point to the target and not at the intersection of the equator and the meridian. I'm not sure that it is actually good practise to do it there because sky conditions can be different there than at the target.

3. No mention was made about the guide algorithm used. I'd assume it is "Resist Switch" in PHD2 because the video is *not* or encoder mounts. Perhaps mentioning that "LowPass2" is also a good algorithm (in fact, I think it's better than "Resist Switch") for spring loaded worms.

I hope the above helps.

cytan
  

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 09:25:35 AM CDT, Andrew J <andjones132@...> wrote:


Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J

Re: The AP YouTube Channel

Cheng-Yang Tan
 

Hi Karen,
   I watched the AP PHD2 video and I have some suggestions/feedback. I think the workflow shown in the video is a little strange to me because:

1. Shouldn't the video have the mount has already polar aligned to < 5 arc min? In real life, I would have done a good polar alignment before messing with PHD2 calibration because I'd have to move the mount via the knobs and that can mess up PHD2 calibration.

2. I use of the guide assistant after I point to the target and not at the intersection of the equator and the meridian. I'm not sure that it is actually good practise to do it there because sky conditions can be different there than at the target.

3. No mention was made about the guide algorithm used. I'd assume it is "Resist Switch" in PHD2 because the video is for encoder mounts. Perhaps mentioning that "LowPass2" is also a good algorithm (in fact, I think it's better than "Resist Switch") for spring loaded worms.

I hope the above helps.

cytan
  

On Monday, April 4, 2022, 09:25:35 AM CDT, Andrew J <andjones132@...> wrote:


Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J

Re: AP900 informations

Steven Panish
 

Julien,
You can upgrade the control box itself or at a minimum upgrade the CP3 to the V2 chip, which will enable you to use the latest drivers.  The chip upgrade is not difficult if you are familiar with changing socketed chips.

Steve

On Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 10:51 AM Julien LECUYER <lecuyerj@...> wrote:
Hi everybody,

I just became the owner of an AP900GTO of 1999 fitted with CP3 V1 chip and a Keypad.
What is the procedure to perform a re-greasing of the motor box because the grease seems to be old (there is dried deposit)?
Is-it also necessary to check and re-greasing the RA and DEC axis, is there a procedure to do this?

Is there a list of possible upgrade of the AP900GTO version to the latest one (CP3 to CP4, V1 to V2, new motor box...)?

Thanks for your feedback,

Julien.



--
PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!!!
Due to Google eliminating cheap domain serving, Virginia and I are changing to regular gmail addresses.  The old panishnet address will forward to this address for a short while, but please add the new address, scpanish1@..., to your contact list.
Re: AP900 information

George
 

Julien,

 

Contact me directly and I can forward to you the Grease Kit instructions.

 

Regards,

 

George

 

George Whitney

Astro-Physics, Inc.

Phone:  815-222-6538 (direct line)

Phone:  815-282-1513 (office)

Email:  george@...

 

From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> On Behalf Of Julien LECUYER
Sent: Monday, April 4, 2022 7:37 AM
To: main@ap-gto.groups.io
Subject: [ap-gto] AP900 informations

 

Hi everybody,

I just became the owner of an AP900GTO of 1999 fitted with CP3 V1 chip and a Keypad.
What is the procedure to perform a re-greasing of the motor box because the grease seems to be old (there is dried deposit)?
Is-it also necessary to check and re-greasing the RA and DEC axis, is there a procedure to do this?

Is there a list of possible upgrade of the AP900GTO version to the latest one (CP3 to CP4, V1 to V2, new motor box...)?

Thanks for your feedback,

Julien.

AP900 informations

Julien LECUYER
 

Hi everybody,

I just became the owner of an AP900GTO of 1999 fitted with CP3 V1 chip and a Keypad.
What is the procedure to perform a re-greasing of the motor box because the grease seems to be old (there is dried deposit)?
Is-it also necessary to check and re-greasing the RA and DEC axis, is there a procedure to do this?

Is there a list of possible upgrade of the AP900GTO version to the latest one (CP3 to CP4, V1 to V2, new motor box...)?

Thanks for your feedback,

Julien.
Re: The AP YouTube Channel

Andrew J
 

Hi Karen.

A slight variation of the well known sentiment, "videos are worth a thousand forum posts". This forum has been and will continue to be a fantastic resource. However, authoritative video's on various maintenance and system integration topics will make the AP brand even stronger. If have already found these videos to be very helpful. For example, until I watched the SGP video I never knew that APCC automatically updated the flip offset in SGP. I always thought you had to set the two setting independently. I have already referred back to the video several times when I wasn't sure about a particular setting or couldn't remember the rational. This is and will continue to be extreamly valuable resource as new content is added. 

Off the the top of my head, here are a few more suggestions for Videos:
  • How to regrease an AP mount
  • Daytime Polar alignment for Solar
  • Best way to create/update Horizon/Meridian Limits
  • Homing/Limits vs. Horizon/Meridan Limits - avoiding conflicts
  • PEC Curve Programming using PEMPro 
  • Optimizing Polar alignment using PEMPro Polar Alignment wizard
  • Creating a APPM models for portable setup, permenant setups, domes, etc?
  • Correctly setting up dome geometry for an AP mount
Some of these are covered in detail in posts and in the documentation, but again, it is always nice to have a video reference to tie it all together. 

Thanks again for creating this new resource.

Clear Skies,
Andrew J
Re: AP 1100 GTO CP4 - Pempro V3 #Polar_Alignment

Erkaslan Aygen
 

Hey Ray,

Thank you for your kind help. 

Yeah, it's very cold tonight. But it's okay because usually I just press a button a let my automation software to work all the night for me :)

Will follow your recommendations.

Best regards,
Aygen
Re: AP 1100 GTO CP4 - Pempro V3 #Polar_Alignment

Ray Gralak
 

Hi Aygen,

I'm sorry to hear that you are freezing. :-(

Instead of trying to locate and move the star in the cold, just use the steps where it measures the drift and skip the steps trying to center the star.

So, after calibration:

1. Do steps 4 and 5 (move mount then measure Azimuth error)
2. Instead of step 6, adjust mount while in step 5 until alignment error is less than 2 arc-mins.
3. Do steps 7 and 8 (move mount then measure Altitude error)
4. Instead of step 9, adjust mount while in step 8 until alignment error is less than 2 arc-mins.

So, skip steps 6 and 9.

-Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io [mailto:main@ap-gto.groups.io] On Behalf Of Erkaslan Aygen
Sent: Sunday, April 3, 2022 2:22 PM
To: main@ap-gto.groups.io
Subject: [ap-gto] AP 1100 GTO CP4 - Pempro V3 #Polar_Alignment

Dear astro-friends,

As I am typing this message (I am out, it's freezing here in Switzerland), I am trying to fine tune my polar
alignement with PEMPRO V3. I need to say that I am just bluffed by the quality of the software.

For my understanding, what shall I do exactly based on the below image ? As per the instructions I need to move
the star to near to the end of the arrow ? I don't see "end of arrow" my azimuth is already well aligned ?

Thank you, very very much for your kind help.

Clear skies,
Aygen
Re: AP 1100 GTO CP4 - Pempro V3 #Polar_Alignment

Pete Tuson
 

Hi Aygen

While I can't help with PemPro, I can speak very highly of a free and open source polar alignment tool in N.I.N.A's Three Point Polar Alignment plugin. If you are struggling with PemPro you could give this a go. I get near perfect alignment from the boot of my car in about 3-4 minutes. Even if you just used the program for that it may be worth considering. They also have a plugin for AP mounts and solid support in their Discord channel.

Sorry to not answer your question directly.


On Sun, 3 Apr 2022 at 22:22, Erkaslan Aygen <aygen.erkaslan@...> wrote:
Dear astro-friends,

As I am typing this message (I am out, it's freezing here in Switzerland), I am trying to fine tune my polar alignement with PEMPRO V3. I need to say that I am just bluffed by the quality of the software. 

For my understanding, what shall I do exactly based on the below image ? As per the instructions I need to move the star to near to the end of the arrow ? I don't see "end of arrow" my azimuth is already well aligned ? 

Thank you, very very much for your kind help.

Clear skies,
Aygen
AP 1100 GTO CP4 - Pempro V3 #Polar_Alignment

Erkaslan Aygen
 

Dear astro-friends,

As I am typing this message (I am out, it's freezing here in Switzerland), I am trying to fine tune my polar alignement with PEMPRO V3. I need to say that I am just bluffed by the quality of the software. 

For my understanding, what shall I do exactly based on the below image ? As per the instructions I need to move the star to near to the end of the arrow ? I don't see "end of arrow" my azimuth is already well aligned ? 

Thank you, very very much for your kind help.

Clear skies,
Aygen
Re: A note on the video of the SGP and APCC settings for the meridian flip #APCC

Brian Valente
 

HI Marcelo 

A couple things

Make sure you are using the latest APCC as mentioned in the video. There were some updates on SGP integration with that and later releases

Is your meridian limit prior to the actual meridian? If so, then yes you need to use negative numbers for the offset. I think the video covered the most often use cases, but having a limit prior to the actual meridian was not one of them

Brian
Re: A note on the video of the SGP and APCC settings for the meridian flip #APCC

Eric Claeys
 

Do you know the exact message SGP gives when it "complains"?
I may have the same issue.
6661 - 6680 of 92383