Thanks Rick,

Even so, that would still be useful, if you ever spot it again.
I went through all the "hundreds" of Yahoo Group's "observatories" - where I too thought might have been where I saw it - and did not find it.
I wish S&T would do a more extensive article on this kind of secure but "minimalist" enclosure.
The closest thing I have seen , are Robotic Observatories - but this are not easy to use manually (tight space).

Joe

Hi Mike,
CCDCommander will allow you to program it to jump back and forth as
well as many other things. Setup wil be especially easy if you have
TheSky. GO to the web site. There is a free trial for 30 days or
more. This is $99. Robofocus would cost you $425 and Focus Max is
free, and that would be all that is necessary for full automation
(assuming that you already have CCDSoft or Maxim).
Thanks, Rick

--- In ap-gto@..., "Mike" <mike@...> wrote:

Hello

I have an AP1200.

My requirement: I need to jump back and forth between my selected
composition/framing of an object, and a bright star suitable for
repeatedly focusing with different filters.

I am doing this by

1) slewing to a bright "focus star" near the intended target,

doing a

calibrate on it,

2) focus the camera

3) Then I do the short slew to the main target, and carefully frame
the image. Once the picture is composed, I go to object menu and

press

">" which seems to cache the RA/DEC of the current position for

later

retrieval.

4) When I'm ready to change filters I slew to the bright star

again by

name, and do the filters & focus work.

5) When ready to take photos again, I go to the objects menu and

press

"#7 - R/D" which has the coords of my careful framing remembered.

Repeat 4-5 for each filter or photograph series.

I know the easy way to do this is a robofocus and a filter wheel,

but

pretend I don't have $1200 for that stuff right now... Am I doing

this

repeated change between two sky positions in a silly manner?

Is there any handy software where I can tell it to remember a

number

of sky coordinates and just simply click on them A.. B.. A... B...

to

go between them?

Thanks!
Mike Clemens

Hi Guys,
Is electricity free out there? Out here in CA, electricity is very
expensive and I haven't calculated it, but would guess it to be much
less efficient (dollar-wise) than gas. The guys here that had the
original GM electric cars said their electric bills soared and
electricity has quadrupled since then. I think Toyota is on the
correct path. Their hybrids convert waste kinetic energy into stored
chemical energy (a nearly free other than the battery circuit
costs). The plug-ins connect directly to my wallet (Southern CA.
Edison in my case). I hope to continue to see use of the wasted
energy in addition to more cost/energy efficient fuels.
My O.T. 2 cents,
Thanks, Rick

--- In ap-gto@..., "Morgan Spangle" <msfainc@...> wrote:

Actually thinking about getting the Prius and then doing the plug-

in

upgrade, hear its not too difficult and gives over 100 mpg (and I

can

do it now - who knows when GM will get around to the Volt)
Morgan

--- In ap-gto@..., chris1011@ wrote:

In a message dated 4/8/2008 1:07:41 PM Central Daylight Time,
msfainc@ writes:

Money saved from building a remote observatory should buy me a

Prius...

Save for a Chevy Volt ;^)

Rolando


**************
Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel
Guides.

(http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?

ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Richard,
I think you are correct also. I to remember seeing an article;
however, I think it was many years ago.
Thanks, Rick

--- In ap-gto@..., Richard Seavey <reseavey@...> wrote:

Hi Joe
I think I remember a Sky and Telescope article a few years ago

that showed

the construction of such a pier top enclosure. I will try to find

this

article, but maybe someone else has a better recollection of

exactly which

issue it was in.

Richard




At 01:43 PM 4/8/2008 -0400, you wrote:

Hi Rick,

I have been searching the web for a "telescope-only pier housing"

for a

couple of years, and this was only one of two that I have been

able to find.

If you can locate any other links PLEASE post them - I really

would like to

build one as well. I saw a wonderful one a few years ago, and

have been

scanning the web to get it back, without much luck.

In my situation, I enjoy my lovely garden yard, where the ideal

spot for

a small ready made observatory would be in the corner - where all

the fruit

trees block a fair amount of the sky. I am not willing to

sacrifice the

trees and ruin the enjoyment of my "day space".

I thought that a less conspicuous pier mounted telescope

enclosure would

be a good compromise, with quick access to my set-up, but without

a

"building blocking my view" - sort of the large white elephant in

the middle

of my outdoors room.

I really hope you, or anyone else here, can share a link for this

specific

kind of project.

Thanks,
Joe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Wiggins"
<<mailto:rickwiggins%40earthlink.net>rickwiggins@...>
To: <<mailto:ap-gto%40yahoogroups.com>ap-gto@...>
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 12:27 PM
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Leaving as GTO mount outdoors

Hi Joe,
Thanks. That is similar, but the design that I was describing

only

covers the mount and is much smaller...just big enough to

surround

the mount.
Thanks, Rick

--- In <mailto:ap-gto%40yahoogroups.com>ap-

gto@..., "Joseph

Zeglinski" <J.Zeglinski@>

wrote:

Hi Rick,

Here is a link to the Hanna City Remote Robotic Observatory,

pics and

plans:
I think that is what you were referring to as a BOX

observatory.

<http://www.mtco.com/~jgunn/>http://www.mtco.com/~jgunn/

Joe

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Joe,
I will post if I see them again. They were posted on
the "Observatories" Yahoo group some time ago. However; Remember,
that I siad the design was for mount only...Not scope also. That
would require a much larger case and one that would be more likely
to draw attention.
Thanks, Rick


--- In ap-gto@..., "Joseph Zeglinski" <J.Zeglinski@...>
wrote:

Hi Rick,

I have been searching the web for a "telescope-only pier

housing" for a

couple of years, and this was only one of two that I have been

able to find.

If you can locate any other links PLEASE post them - I really

would like to

build one as well. I saw a wonderful one a few years ago, and have

been

scanning the web to get it back, without much luck.

In my situation, I enjoy my lovely garden yard, where the

ideal spot for

a small ready made observatory would be in the corner - where all

the fruit

trees block a fair amount of the sky. I am not willing to

sacrifice the

trees and ruin the enjoyment of my "day space".

I thought that a less conspicuous pier mounted telescope

enclosure would

be a good compromise, with quick access to my set-up, but without

a

"building blocking my view" - sort of the large white elephant in

the middle

of my outdoors room.

I really hope you, or anyone else here, can share a link for this

specific

kind of project.

Thanks,
Joe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Wiggins" <rickwiggins@...>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 12:27 PM
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Leaving as GTO mount outdoors

Hi Joe,
Thanks. That is similar, but the design that I was describing

only

covers the mount and is much smaller...just big enough to

surround

the mount.
Thanks, Rick

--- In ap-gto@..., "Joseph Zeglinski" <J.Zeglinski@>
wrote:

Hi Rick,

Here is a link to the Hanna City Remote Robotic Observatory,

pics and

plans:
I think that is what you were referring to as a BOX observatory.

http://www.mtco.com/~jgunn/

Joe

Hi Richard,
I can add that these are very tough. The best protective cover I
have seen. Industrial!
Thanks, Rick

--- In ap-gto@..., Richard Crisp <rdcrisp@...> wrote:

I have three brand new scope covers I will offer to the first that

want them,

these are more of what I had made last year.

they are 144" x 70" (open on the 70" side) and are made of SCRIM

material

this is Mil Spec material as used for protecting sensitive

equipment shipped on-deck on Navy ships to whereever.

here's a link to a webpage that offers more info

http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/scope_bags.htm

I only have three and they are the 70" x 144" size

I've been using these for the last two years.



Rick Wiggins <rickwiggins@...> wrote:
Hi Joe,
Thanks. That is similar, but the design that I was describing only
covers the mount and is much smaller...just big enough to surround
the mount.
Thanks, Rick

--- In ap-gto@..., "Joseph Zeglinski" <J.Zeglinski@>
wrote:

Hi Rick,

Here is a link to the Hanna City Remote Robotic Observatory,

pics and

plans:
I think that is what you were referring to as a BOX observatory.

http://www.mtco.com/~jgunn/

Joe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Wiggins" <rickwiggins@>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 4:34 PM
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: Leaving as GTO mount outdoors

Hi Morgan,
Have you seen the little boxes that some people have made? I

wish I

had a link to them, but will attempt a brief description.

Imagine the closed position of a wooden box around just the

top

of

the pier and just big enough to cover the mount. The box comes

in

two pieces that fit together with overlapping weather seals.

It

has

a round cutout in the bottom to fit around the pier and spring
loaded closer hasps to seal it tight when closed.

Another version has two flat pieces that fit together just

below

the

mount and around the pier to form the bottom of a box and then

a

top

hat box that fits over the mount and clamps to the bottom.

Top off the design with a 15 watt light bulb and some bottom

vent

holes to allow minimum air flow and I think you have a winner.

Even

better, cover the mount first in a nice warm, breathable, non-
hygroscopic blanket (i.e. Gore-tex fabric) first, then cover

it.

Just another idea.
Thanks, Rick

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi I am using the keypad only. So perhaps I am already using the
simplest method for jumping between coords "A" and B" with the keypad.

I like Rolands idea but its expensive. Sometimes I am sure there will
be a star that falls on even my puny sensor once framed : ) That
would be nice.

TheSky sounds very nice.


Mike

In the Sky6 0.57 version a new button was added. This is use to sync
the Sky with the AP mount. Clear enough. Does anyone know what the
software will use (like Maxim DL) when it plate solves and does a
sync. I don't want it to do the wrong one which is why I turned that
feature off. I know this is a software question, but I thought I would
try here first.

Thanks, Gilles. Yea, programming did bring it down pretty well and the guider kept up with it rather well.

The scale was right (1.45"/pixel), so the data, I believe, is pretty accurate.

Take care,
Bob

www.pennastroimaging.com

Hi folks,

I'm wondering if the result I'm seeing is "normal" with my recently
acquired 600E (while I wait for a 900 or Mach1 <g>). I've uploaded
an Excel file to the Files section for those who might be able to
help.

PEMPro gave a +/- 25" error--which stunned me... It does seem that
the worm is running slow(?) for the majority of the run. Any ideas
as to what I'm seeing here?

The mount's carrying an 8" M806, Pyxis rotator, and ST8. Probably
right around 27 pounds--so probably overloading a bit, but I believe
it's pretty well balanced. Other than the PE concern, though, the
mount ran great last night and guided fairly well after programming
(was able to get it down to +/- 8", but need to run a few more curves
to refine--maybe I can get better).

Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks,
Bob

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the ap-gto
group.

File : /AP600 PE Curve-4-9.xls
Uploaded by : bbenamati <bobbenamati@...>
Description : PE Curve

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ap-gto/files/AP600%20PE%20Curve-4-9.xls

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/original/members/web/index.htmlfiles

Regards,

bbenamati <bobbenamati@...>

Are you using a planetarium program to control your mount? For
instance, in theSky6 pro, if connected to the mount and controlling it
with theSky, you can simply slew to your focusing star, do your focus
routine, then slew to your target and frame etc. Once done there, you
can synch your position; once done with imitial imaging, you can go to
the button "slew prior" and it will take you back to your focus star.
Do your second focus, then hit the slew button to take you back to
your target. You can do this all night if you need to...very simple,
very few steps.
Morgan

Go here:

http://www.astro-physics.com/tech_support/tech_support.htm

download the latest manual. Read it fully, cover to cover except for
the tables at the back. Read any parts you don't understand again.

Rick.

--- In ap-gto@..., Gerald Sargent <sargentg@...> wrote:

I am a new user of AstroPhysics coming from the Vixen SS2KPC stable.
The first time I switched on the unit (not having studied the manual

at all

well) is seemed to go OK as it did the second time. Each time I had

just

switched off, then before restarting loosened the clutches and put
telescope to the pole (I am in the S. Hemisphere). The third time I

could

not get it to do anything and had to resort to phoning a colleague in UK
who has an AP. He told me how to unpark it, (I had not parked it)

which I

did and it then went. I then read the manual and concluded that it was
impossible to work the mount except by first "unparking". Also that

before

switch off one must "park". So far OK.Now for the problems for which I
need help please......

1. In using some of the polar Alignment programs it is necessary to stop
the tracking temporarily then restart it. I can find no way of doing

this in

the manual. Howard explained to me, very thoroughly, that the stop

button

onlly stops slewing but does not affect the tracking. How can I

stop/restart

tracking withpout switching off the mount ?

2. If I switch off (accidentally or power failure) how do I resume use,
preferably
at the same spot ?

--- In ap-gto@..., "George Whitney" <gwhitney@...> wrote:

Hello George,

I'll second Roy's opinion about I/O Gear. Tech support has been great. I've been
using their equipment outdoors in all weather conditions with no problems. Look into
their Edgeport rs 232 to usb converters and the Anywhere ethernet to usb hubs. They
work with Windows and Mac ( with VM Fusion).

Howard,

A while back you said that AP was investigating a serial / USB converting
device. Has there been any progress? I recall that it was a single company's
device that had caught your attention.

Thank you,

George



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello,
I want to thank you all for your responses. I am currently looking into another insurer
(Chubb) for coverage. I will also look into AIG. State Farm provided me with a bad
experience years ago, so they are not even in the running.
I do appreciate all of your help...........Jerald

I concur that the manual is quite good and should be read. It's not
like the Meade manuals which leave rather much to be desired. (I can't
speak for Vixen, but if their translations are anything like
Takahashi's, well, they can be pretty rough going.)

One thing though -- if you bought your mount used then download the most
recent manual off Astro-Physics' web site. Whenever they find something
that wasn't explained well enough in the manual they tend to update it
-- so the most recent one is by far the most clear.

-- Jeff.



________________________________

From: ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...] On
Behalf Of Steve Reilly
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 4:51 AM
To: ap-gto@...
Subject: RE: [ap-gto] help please - various items



The mount is "parked" in any position you when you power off.
There are
three designated park positions as referred to in the manual. I
highly
recommended a through reading of the manual. You can also
configure your
mount for auto-connect which means it reads your time and
location that you
have programmed into the hand controller. When you power on, the
mount is
automatically initialized and starts to track. You can slew to
your targets
if Polar aligned. The manual gives you all the necessary
information and is
quite clear. It should be read before trying to do anything.

If you are referring to using PemPro for Polar alignment, the
program sends
the code by itself. If you are using some other program and it
does not send
the code then look at your tracking rates. There is a stop rate.


If you loose power or turn off the power to the mount, it is
parked. Simply
turn the power back on and it knows where it is already unless
you have
physically moved the mount. Again, and I can not stress this
enough, read
the manual. I don't know anything about using the mount in the
Southern
hemisphere but I'm sure the manual covers any differences
between Northern
and Southern hemisphere operations.

HTH,

Steve


_____

From: ap-gto@... <mailto:ap-gto%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:ap-gto@... <mailto:ap-gto%40yahoogroups.com> ] On
Behalf Of
Gerald Sargent
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 11:36 PM
To: ap-gto@... <mailto:ap-gto%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [ap-gto] help please - various items

I am a new user of AstroPhysics coming from the Vixen SS2KPC
stable.
The first time I switched on the unit (not having studied the
manual at all
well) is seemed to go OK as it did the second time. Each time I
had just
switched off, then before restarting loosened the clutches and
put
telescope to the pole (I am in the S. Hemisphere). The third
time I could
not get it to do anything and had to resort to phoning a
colleague in UK
who has an AP. He told me how to unpark it, (I had not parked
it) which I
did and it then went. I then read the manual and concluded that
it was
impossible to work the mount except by first "unparking". Also
that before
switch off one must "park". So far OK.Now for the problems for
which I
need help please......

1. In using some of the polar Alignment programs it is necessary
to stop
the tracking temporarily then restart it. I can find no way of
doing this in
the manual. Howard explained to me, very thoroughly, that the
stop button
onlly stops slewing but does not affect the tracking. How can I
stop/restart
tracking withpout switching off the mount ?

2. If I switch off (accidentally or power failure) how do I
resume use,
preferably
at the same spot ?

Finally had a good night last night and took out the Questar 7 on the
600E for some visual double star observing. Setup was easy - I used
the polar scope (pasill4) from my 1200 mount (I didn't tune it to the
600 before using it, so it was probably a little off), and followed
the 2 star routine in the manual, using Dubhe in the east and Procyon
in the west; did three iterations and according to Tpoint, that
brought me to 7 arcminutes west, and 12 arcminutes south of the pole.
Question: on my 1200, you know what one turn of the fine az adjusters
means in terms of arcminutes; is there a similar known value for the
alt/az adjusters on the 600E?
Anyway, I couldn't get the stars to converge on the center but I
figured the alignment was close enough for visual observations; plus,
I hooked up to theSky6 and did a short 12 star Tpoint run - after
that, every target was in the field of a 16mm Brandon - at about
2750mm focal length, I thought that was really good! Using
astroplanner to control the scope, I ran through a list of doubles in
CVN and COM; the seeing was really good, tho there was a high haze,
but I was still able to split an unequal Struve double at 1.1
arcseconds - fun! All in all, the time flew while I was enjoying the
views. The mount held the Q7 rock solid. A lovely spring evening...
Morgan

Dans un e-mail daté du 09/04/2008 18:23:58 Paris, Madrid,
bobbenamati@... a écrit :

PEMPro gave a +/- 25" error--which stunned me... It does seem that
the worm is running slow(?) for the majority of the run. Any ideas
as to what I'm seeing here?



Are you sure your parameters (focal length...) were OK?

In any case, your curve is smooth, so PEM should work fine with your mount,
much better than a small PE that shows sudden jumps.

Gilles






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In a message dated 4/8/2008 10:36:12 PM Central Daylight Time,
sargentg@... writes:

1. In using some of the polar Alignment programs it is necessary to stop
the tracking temporarily then restart it. I can find no way of doing this in
the manual. Howard explained to me, very thoroughly, that the stop button
onlly stops slewing but does not affect the tracking. How can I stop/restart
tracking withpout switching off the mount ?

The mount has 4 tracking rates: Sidereal, Solar, Lunar and Stop. The last one
will stop tracking. It's on your keypad in the Main Menu.

2. If I switch off (accidentally or power failure) how do I resume use,
preferably
at the same spot ?

Place the keypad in Autostart YES mode and it will automatically start every
time you turn power on. Turning power off will park the mount in the spot
where you left the scope. Turning power back on automatically resumes the mount
from the previous position. No need to do anything else.

Rolando


**************
Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel
Guides.

(http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)

Hello Howard,

I used a keyspan with 4 serial ports. The connection with the
computer is realized cause of the long distance with a ICORON 4 port
Hub. When I try to use the newer ICRON USB 2. the Keyspan didn't
worked. Now I use for USB 2.0 the edgeport. It works fine with both,
the USB 1.1 and USB 2.0

Konstantin


Konstantin v. Poschinger

Hammerichstr. 5
22605 Hamburg
040/8805747
01711983476

Am 09.04.2008 um 01:08 schrieb Howard: