Mike, I think there have been several recent OPTEC firmware updates. Try shutting down the Gemini, once you have focused on a target, so as to eliminate the OPTEC device – in your 10 minute and longer

Hi Diego, The “ADMINISTRATOR mode” gets changed in the “application” either by the user installing it that way on purpose, or by some unknown “installer” default. I used to set this mode myself, for a

Hi, I would investigate the guider. Maybe its cable or its connector went bad, etc. Have you tried unplugging your guider cable (not just guiders DC supply), from the mount? Some unguided shots might

Wade, After you calibrate your guider at the Celestial Equator, do you also recalibrate again each time – near the target you will be imaging, to maximize guider accuracy? Or, is a single CE calibrati

Chris, I wonder if there is a motor ”kick setting” on such dome control software, to overcome its static load. If that could be lessened, so that the drives ramp up rather than slam into motion, those

By chance have you set APCC LIMITS, so that the option is set to Park the mount at some Home coordinates or standard Park, when one is reached? Joe

Hi, Don’t know what you can do,since you realized that the dome and the concrete pier induce vibrations to the non-isolated pier. I would suggest you investigate “industrial type vibration pads” – as

Don’t they just hate it when their automatic rifle (AR-15) jams as the SWAT team shows up to confront them :-) Anyway, I commend your decision – AeroShell 33MS will give you peace of mind for using th

Rolando, Have you ever tried stirring molasses – grease is worse. After even the 4 years expiry, NOT worth the effort and mess of $20 for a “calking tube” sized amount of 33MS. Just buy another one –

The AeroShell 33MS is the recommended grease for “airplane service mechanics” almost exclusively at all airports, to use on landing gear parts. One reason is of course the extreme cold the grease need

Hi Antoine, There is a lower limit perhaps on guiding time, based on which guider camera sensor (CCD chip), and guider f/number is used ( if a separate guide scope is used instead of the imaging camer

Thanks Rolando, Makes sense – since it was told to “disconnect itself”, Sky Charts has “no further reason” to poll the mount for tracking status – Sky Charts job had come to an end. Perhaps a tidier w

Thanks Ray, I suspected it is an oversight in CdC/Sky Charts, but wondered if it was something I had failed to do, in a specific sequence on Sky Charts mount disconnect command. I suppose that since I

Thanks Bryan, I will have to investigate why my own copy of CdC is still showing tracking enabled, when everything else is shut down. The mount is surely, not actually tracking. Joe

Hi, This is sort of off-topic, but something there is something odd about what I see happening in Cartes du Ciel (SKY CHARTS) when APCC has already PARKED the mount. Sky Charts shows that the mount is

Rolando, An alternate solution to the CP4 “blocked antenna” case might be the “CBA912KIT” bracket option to mount the CP4 directly to the side of the mount’s fork. That gets the antenna 90 degrees awa

Bill, In your case – any chance you are in an area where there is “continual” or even sporadic 2.4 GHZ band noise (restaurant’s microwave ovens, “cordless” phones, etc. and other common noise sources

Fantastic – as always Rolando ... You are constantly many steps ahead of everybody – not just the competition, but in what astronomers like us, would like, and would be even better for us, before we e

Rolando, Given what you say, then would it be theoretically possible – in some future CPx development – to “bump” the mount sidereal rate periodically while it is tracking normally? I’m thinking that

FYI – Misalignment on power loss – under very “unique” situations. I had such a problem in the past, just one time, under exceptional conditions, in how the mount was used. Downloading the very latest