Terrific, Mike, thanks again. 
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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

Jeff,

You have done your homework in contouring both Meridian Limits and Horizon Limits according to the requirements of your fixed setup.  You should be able to contour the Meridian Limit to enforce the 10 minutes you say is appropriate for a small DEC range.  If this is the case, the "one-size-fits-all" gear angle limit is redundant and can be disabled. 

Regards,
Mike Hanson

That’s it, Mike, thanks.  My RA limit was set to 10 minutes from Meridian and the prescribed action is Home and Park.  That’s what has been happening.

From the instructions, I’m not clear on the interplay between these limits and Meridian Limits.  The RA limit on the Homimg tab is a one-size-fits-all limit that the manual says is for a worst case.  For a few DEC positions 10 minutes is about right for me if the filter wheel is rotated a certain way, but when I point far south, as I have been doing, I can track safely for 2 more hours. 

Should I just deactivate the RA Limit on the Homing tab? 

Thanks,

Jeff
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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

Hi Jeff,

With the mount connected in APCC, please check the "Homing/Limits" tab.  This tab will not be present if the mount is not connected.  There are settings in this tab for another type of limit enablement.  You may need to adjust or disable these limits.

Regards,
Mike Hanson

I'm no expert on reading APCC logs, but this excerpt seems to show me hitting an RA limit as my target crossed the Meridian.  From this point on, the ASCOM log shows a slew E in RA and then N in DEC back to Home.  Can anyone help me understand why I am hitting an RA limit at the Meridian?

Thanks very much,

Jeff


--
Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

Thanks, Mike and Linwood. I have CP3 with a V2 chip and I don't have a keypad.

I believe the chart shows that at lower DECs, like where Sh2-308 is, my skinny scope is able to go far E and W of the meridian without coming close to contacting the tripod.  I turned my filter wheel inward for each DEC step to be as conservative as possible, and in those lower DECs I still had room to run when I set the limit.  At the zenith, I have set the limit so the scope can barely pass the meridian, though the only contact would be a cable for a while. But if I've erred with Limits Explorer and a re-do would fix my woes, I'd be delighted.

Best,

Jeff
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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

I can't tell negative from positives very well, but isn't that showing at some DEC angles you have it trying to stop (or now flip) 60 degrees before meridian (4 hours)?  That seems huge.  Or am I misreading?  

Hi Jeff,

What version of firmware do you have in your control box? Do you use a keypad?  If so, what version does it run?

If possible, please provide an APCC log file.

Regards,
Mike Hanson

Thanks, both.  I have a MACH1, no encoders.  Here are snips of my Safety Park, Meridian and Horizon tabs, and I've attached my .mlm file.  I think I followed directions in creating the mlm.







Sh2-308 transits at 34 degrees from Tucson these days, so despite that bump at 180 degrees, I don't think the Horizon limit was involved.

I've checked my images and the Park has been happening a few minutes earlier each night, consistent with it being tied to the target crossing the Meridian. Sh2-308 transited last night at 10:27 pm MT. My last good image was at 10:36 pm.  The next, at 10:44 pm, was circumpolar star trails.  I've been shooting 4' guided exposures.

Please LMK if there's any further useful info I can share, and many thanks for your help.

Jeff


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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

Thanks, both.  The exceed limit setting was Park Mount two nights ago but last night I changed to Flip Mount, figuring that gave me hope of saving the night.  I will look at the other settings tonight and share my limits file (which I suspect I did wrong).

Best,

Jeff
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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

--

On Fri, Feb 3, 2023 at 09:41 AM, Jeff Rothstein wrote:

Seems like the issue is in my APCC setup but I don’t know where to look next for a solution.

You might want to share what you have set up on the Meridian, Horizon, and if you have encoders the AE tabs.  To me this sounds like you are hitting some limit before you expect to.  In particular look for any APCC setting that is "Park mount" as opposed to "Stop tracking" or "just warn". 

Also check the Park tab, Safety Park and see what its position is set to (default I think is "in place" but if it's park 3 that is also a possibility). 

Linwood

So I tried again last night but I kept Smart Meridian Flip in my sequence because APCC told me I would reach my limit after I would have switched to my second target of the night, so I figured it wouldn’t be a factor.

Nevertheless, at 10:45 pm the mount parked at Park 3  and NINA clicked off star trails around Polaris for the rest of the night. 

When I checked before dawn this morning, my NINA sequence was still running as scheduled.

I’m no expert on log files, but I do see Smart Meridian Flip mentioned in the NINA log right before the mount skewed to Park 3.  I see no NINA command to do so.  After a few minutes there are many errors in the log—plate solve failures, guiding errors—that I would expect from a parked mount.  

Seems like the issue is in my APCC setup but I don’t know where to look next for a solution. Would it make sense to share my APCC log?

Thanks,

Jeff


--
Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

Thanks, Dale.  I was using Smart Meridian Flip, pointed to the .mlm file I set up in APCC (Standard).

Tomight I targeted the Pleiades as it approached the Meridian.  As it crossed the Meridian, APCC reported 37 minutes to the limit and Smart Meridian Flip showed the flip at that time. 20 minutes before that, though, the scope started slewing to Park.  As you note, I was nowhere near a horizon limit  

It’s clear to me that I’ve set something wrong, either in NINA or APCC. I’m going to try the regular NINA Meridian Flip for this evening and see if it makes a difference. 

Any further suggestions most welcome. 

Jeff
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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

If you're using Advanced Sequencer in NINA, you can use the Smart Meridian Flip plugin. You can point it at the .mlm file that APCC recorded your meridian limits to. It will turn off tracking before reaching the limit and stay that way until the target transits the meridian and clears any east-side limits of your mount. The flip will then be done and imaging resumes.

What you're currently running into with the stock NINA meridian flip engine is that you probably have not specified a sufficient value for the Pause Before Meridian setting, so your mount is rolling up on to the limit and parking before NINA turns off the tracking.

Thanks, Dale, I believe it’s an issue with my limits and should be able to check that out tonight.  

Best,

Jeff
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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

NINA won't park the mount in response to reaching the meridian or being unable to flip, though. From NINA's point of view, parking the mount is an explicit, not implicit, instruction - NINA will do it only if it has reached a point in the sequence where a Park instruction is the next thing to do, or if you press the Park button in NINA's telescope control area.

As Ray noted, there are few configurations in APCC that can cause the mount to park - reaching a horizon or meridian limit, or the CP watchdog's loss of contact with APCC. Since this seems to involve being at or near the meridian, I'm inclined to think you're not flipping before reaching the meridian limit you've defined for the mount, and your "Action when limit reached" setting is "Park". A violation of the meridian (or horizon) limits will also be indicated in the Telescope Position area of APCC, with the Meridian block blinking yellow.

Just saw your note, Ray, thanks.  APCC said “Parked” this morning. Clutches were tight. I went through the Meridian exercise last weekend and I think I did it right. In any event, a target straight south would allow the mount a lot of runway past the meridian in my setup, and since the failure occurred around fifteen minutes after the meridian, I’m going to focus first on NINA.  
--
Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

I think I’ve figured out my issue: the Dolphin Nebula crossed the meridian at 22:29 last night, so my problems must stem from the Smart Meridian Flip command in NINA.  I’ll move my question to the NINA Discord server.  
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Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler and Mach1GTO; Pegasus Motor Focus Kit and UPBv2; ASI 2600MC PRO; ZWO EFW; Optolong UV/IR, L-Pro and L-Enhance filters; NINA, PHD2 and PixInsight

Hi Jeff,

First, check the Mach1's clutches to make sure they are tight so there is no slippage. Symptoms of slipping clutches would be trailing stars, poor goto accuracy, and parking to what looks to be the wrong position.

If you rule that out, some reasons for the mount to park include:
1) A software limit (Horizon or Meridian limit).
2) The RA axis reaching a limit.
3) A low or complete power loss event.
4) A temporary communications loss with APCC.
5) A park command from a software application.

Lastly, are you sure the mount was parked and not at zero (or lunar, solar, custom) tracking rate? That can also cause star trailing.

-Ray