I am having a weird issue with the AP V2 driver. Currently I use the version v5.21.01. The mount is a Mach1 GTOCP3 with the V chip and I am not using the hand controller. 
This happens with both SGP and NINA. If I connect the mount and I try to nudge the mount with the direction keys in either software the mount will not move at the requested speed. I think the software is issuing a move axis command to the mount. I have the move rate set at 5 degrees per second. 

When I push the button I see the custom tracking rate in the driver window change to 1195.7233, that is either in Dec or RA depending on which button I pushed. However the mount will only move in the requested direction at the sidereal speed instead of 1195.7233x.
If I move the mount using the buttons in the driver window, then it will move at the correct speed set in the driver window.

Since this happens with two different programs I think it may be related to the driver, unless I am missing something?
This has not been an issue so far but now I am unable to use the three point polar alignment routine in NINA because the mount does not move fast enough between points. It does it at the sidereal rate and that would take hours.

Maybe there is a setting int he driver that I am unaware of? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Hi Andy,

I believe that the MoveAxis rate is limited to 999x in firmware. Try using 4 degrees instead.

-Ray

Thank you Ray, I tried 1,2, 3 and 4 degrees with both programs and the same thing happens. I see the numbers change in the driver window but the mount always moves at sidereal rate. 

Could it be that the firmware of the mount does not allow any move axis over sidereal speed?

Could it be that the firmware of the mount does not allow any move axis over sidereal speed?

No... Andy, are you physically in front of the mount to verify this?

If so, and you are sure that's what happening, please run the AP V2 Log Zipper utility (it's included with the A-P driver) and zip up the most recent logs and post them here.

-Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io [mailto:main@ap-gto.groups.io] On Behalf Of Andy Ermolli
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2021 2:17 PM
To: main@ap-gto.groups.io
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] AP V2 driver, move axis command help.

Thank you Ray, I tried 1,2, 3 and 4 degrees with both programs and the same thing happens. I see the numbers
change in the driver window but the mount always moves at sidereal rate.

Could it be that the firmware of the mount does not allow any move axis over sidereal speed?

BTW, it can take 3-5 seconds for the mount to spin up to full speed, so the RA/Dec changes will appear slower until the target rate is reached.

-Ray

Ray, I have new information. I set the slew rate to 4 degrees/second. The Driver showed a move rate of 937.3870. I pushed the north button for a few seconds in the image capture software and I could see the dec axis move. I would say it was moving a bit faster than 64x, maybe 100x. So it's doing something. 

Another curious behavior that I noticed is that even if I kept the north button clicked, the driver would stop the dec motion after a few seconds.
Here is the log, I hope that I did this correctly. I never used the log zipper before.

Thank you!

One more observation: If I push north, the mount moves north. Then I release the north button and it push it again, the mount now moves south but the numbers in the driver are the same and they don't change to a negative value as one would expect to reverse the motion (south in this case).

Andy,

Another curious behavior that I noticed is that even if I kept the north button clicked, the driver would stop the dec
motion after a few seconds.

The driver just sends a rate command to the mount. The driver doesn't issue a stop after a period of time. That may be the ASCOM client doing that, or maybe the mount hit a limit.

-Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io [mailto:main@ap-gto.groups.io] On Behalf Of Andy Ermolli
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2021 3:46 PM
To: main@ap-gto.groups.io
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] AP V2 driver, move axis command help.

Ray, I have new information. I set the slew rate to 4 degrees/second. The Driver showed a move rate of 937.3870.
I pushed the north button for a few seconds in the image capture software and I could see the dec axis move. I
would say it was moving a bit faster than 64x, maybe 100x. So it's doing something.

Another curious behavior that I noticed is that even if I kept the north button clicked, the driver would stop the dec
motion after a few seconds.
Here is the log, I hope that I did this correctly. I never used the log zipper before.

Thank you!

Andy,

Where are you pressing the button? In the driver or a third-party application? The driver just issues the commands given to it by the client application. Note that if the scope passed through the Celestial pole (Dec = 90) the Dec direction will appear to change.

-Ray

Here is the log, I hope that I did this correctly. I never used the log zipper before.

There are no logs in your zip file. Do you have logging enabled?

-Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io [mailto:main@ap-gto.groups.io] On Behalf Of Andy Ermolli
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2021 3:46 PM
To: main@ap-gto.groups.io
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] AP V2 driver, move axis command help.

Ray, I have new information. I set the slew rate to 4 degrees/second. The Driver showed a move rate of 937.3870.
I pushed the north button for a few seconds in the image capture software and I could see the dec axis move. I
would say it was moving a bit faster than 64x, maybe 100x. So it's doing something.

Another curious behavior that I noticed is that even if I kept the north button clicked, the driver would stop the dec
motion after a few seconds.
Here is the log, I hope that I did this correctly. I never used the log zipper before.

Thank you!

Sorry I did not have logging enabled. It's the first time that I do this.
I enabled logging and created a new .zip file, attached.

Regarding the move axis, I push the buttons in the client software, not in the driver window.
You are correct. I was pushing north and south with the mount in park 3 position. I then moved the mount east and south and the nudge arrows were working as expected. 

Regarding the duration of the nudge command. It works fine, I saw the driver change from custom rate to sidereal but the dec axis was actually moving sorry for reporting that incorrectly.

It seems that the direction buttons work as expected but the movement speed is much lower than what the driver is showing in the custom rate windows.

I can't speak for the software or drivers, but one thing you said rang a bell -- about it being in the Park 3 position when you are trying this.... have you tried this test looking at a star field far away from Park 3?  If you are pointing at Polaris, East/West movements looks much slower while watching the star field because it's like 100% rotation instead of moving straight across the field.  That wouldn't explain North/South slow speeds though so perhaps this doesn't help.
-Ken

Andy,

The commands to the mount look okay to me. I can't explain why the Dec axis wasn't moving. Did you say you actually were physically at the mount to see movement? The dec axis would take 90 seconds from Park 3 to the celestial equator at one degree per second. It may not seem very fast.

All commands to start and stop the mount movement were issued by the client application, not the AP V2 driver. In some cases you did not wait very long before releasing so the mount didn't have time to ramp up speed. Also, since the driver polls the mount at 1-second intervals the position can be delayed by up to one second.

-Ray

Yep I was standing by the mount. I wonder if I can upload a video on here? 

So I timed the time that the mount took from park 3 to dec zero. I had the move rate set in the client software set at 4 degrees per second. The dec axis took about 3 minutes and 45 seconds to reach declination zero. I was able to upload a video! I reduced it to e 480P to keep the file size manageable.
I hope this is helpful!

Oh yes I can do that. I also was able to attach the video to my last reply but I will put it on YouTube.

Here is the link!
https://youtu.be/9hRNe1jq5m4

Andy,

As I said, the commands to the mount looked good in your log, so it's not clear why the mount is moving so slowly.

Which client application are you using? Maybe I can replicate this.

-Ray

I have tried with NINA and with Sequence Generator pro. Those are the only two that I have but If there is another client that I should try I can probably download its trial version and see if I observe the same behavior.
Which client do you recommend?

If it is of any help, I have an AP900 GTOCP3 with the V chip that behaves exactly the same. I also have the 1100 GTOCP4 but I have not tested this with that mount yet.

Added question: I have the S chip that my Mach1 came with. Should I try swapping out the chip and see if that changes anything? I believe I won't have to retrain the PEM when I reinstall the V chip, correct?