GeorgeCarey

I haven't had this error yet, but it is useful information. Thanks Christer.

I use Excel 2003. Perhaps it does not work well on anything other than a Windows PC?

I think I have solved it. I reset the active worksheet which did not work at first but now seems OK. If you want to save the spreadsheet you still have to reset the filetype, directory and filename, but that is not too bad. At least when you close the spreadsheet now it does so without any messages. http://geoastro.co.uk/object_list_planner_V21.xls

Hi Martin, I removed the 'Application.Quit' and soon remembered why I put that in. This is the error message when you try to close down/save the spreadsheet: The last thing the spreadsheet did before close down was to save the object list with whatever name you gave it, as filetype .txt. This is remembered, so when you shut down the spreadsheet it will prompt you to save it. If you say 'No' it will just close. If you say Yes, then it tries to save the whole spreadsheet as filetype .txt with the last object list name. This annoyed me so I added the Application.Quit. Not an elegant solution, I know. I need to find the VB that will reset the 'Save as' parameters.

What happens if you remove Application.Quit?

Yes, dithering on comets is a big problem. Maybe Philip Keller can incorporate this in a new version. I think there was talk some time ago of a future version of Autoslew that would do what my spreadsheet does, automatically. That is, to access the ephemeris directly, and also read the RA and DEC drifts. This would be the only way to do satellite tracking. I think the problem of the spreadsheet closing was due to message boxes popping up. Asking for 'save as' file name or something. I wrote it some years ago and just can't remember. If I look at the VB code it might come back to me.

In the spreadsheet there is a worksheet called 'Manual'. You can use this to generate object lists for items such as Messier objects etc.

A sample object list: 8 ***************************** Object Number 1 Object Name 20:50 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.5743055555556 DE : 61.8066666666667 ***************************** Object Number 2 Object Name 21:00 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.5736111111111 DE : 61.8247222222222 ***************************** Object Number 3 Object Name 21:10 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.5728888888889 DE : 61.8425 ***************************** Object Number 4 Object Name 21:20 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.5721666666667 DE : 61.8602777777778 ***************************** Object Number 5 Object Name 21:30 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.5714444444444 DE : 61.8783333333333 ***************************** Object Number 6 Object Name 21:40 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.57075 DE : 61.8961111111111 ***************************** Object Number 7 Object Name 21:50 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.5700277777778 DE : 61.9141666666667 ***************************** Object Number 8 Object Name 22:00 Tue 19 Jan Epoch: 2000 RA : 13.5693055555556 DE : 61.9319444444444

The spreadsheet can be downloaded here: http://geoastro.co.uk/object list planner V20.xls

Other steps.... Put name of object in cells A1 and A2 You can remove the numbers 1,2....8 by clicking 'Clear Selection'. I put my coordinates in cells B5 and E5 just to be handy for when I enter them in the ephemeris page. Clicking the link in B4 takes you to the ephemeris site. Columns M and N show object altitude and Sun altitude. I have conditionally formatted the object altitude to be green if it is higher than 17 degrees for my observatory. It is a good idea to Save the spreadsheet before you click on "Save object list". This is because the spreadsheet closes itself when the data is written. (I can't remember why I could not stop this happening). The data is then written as an object list into ProgramData/ASA/Autoslew/MyObjectLists

Spreadsheet layout:

Sample output:

Example of input to get Catalina for tonight:

I will sort out the spreadsheet tomorrow. It won't cope with a changing speed. I think Autoslew would need to be rewritten to do that. With comets and asteroids I use 10 minute intervals and make an object list with 8 positions. That is usually good enough for most purposes.

Catalina has the Designation C/2013 US10

I use this site. http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html You enter the name of the comet, dates etc and your location. Further down the page you can ask for the movement of the comet/asteroid. I wrote a spreadsheet to make this easier. The spreadsheet produces an object list that Autoslew can use to point to the object. I can make the spreadsheet available if needed.

It is strange that it does not work for you. Perhaps the Mac Excel is different in some way. These are the two graphs from the logfiles you posted: 2015_12_13_17h17m 2015_12_14_16h59m The currents in both axes seem to want to rise.

Save the spreadsheet to your hard drive. Do not run it within a web browser - I got 1004 errors when I ran it in Internet Explorer. It was OK in Firefox.

Hi Christian, The spreadsheet failed for two reasons. 1) Your log files do not show magnetic angles, which made the data format a bit different. Magnetic angles logged: 12:33:45.001: Axis 2 Pos:+035.36° Curr:+02.0A MagAng:+121° PosErr:+00.00arcsec 12:33:45.890: Axis 1 Pos:-002.41° Curr:+02.0A MagAng:+167° PosErr:+00.00arcsec 12:33:51.178: Axis 2 Pos:+035.36° Curr:+02.0A MagAng:+121° PosErr:-00.03arcsec 12:33:52.114: Axis 1 Pos:-002.38° Curr:+02.0A MagAng:+167° PosErr:+00.00arcsec 12:33:57.450: Axis 2 Pos:+035.36° Curr:+02.0A MagAng:+121° PosErr:+00.00arcsec Angles not logged: 01:57:35.415: Axis 2 Pos:+004,81° Curr:+00,2A PosErr:-00,02arcsec 01:57:40.587: Axis 1 Pos:+001,10° Curr:+00,1A PosErr:+00,04arcsec 01:57:41.712: Axis 2 Pos:+004,81° Curr:+00,2A PosErr:+00,02arcsec 01:57:46.806: Axis 1 Pos:+001,10° Curr:+00,1A PosErr:+00,04arcsec 01:57:48.009: Axis 2 Pos:+004,81° Curr:+00,2A PosErr:-00,02arcsec 2) Your logfiles are HUGE. It looks like the mount is left running long after the imaging has finished. This version of the spreadsheet works on my PC http://geoastro.co.uk/asa/no_magn_angle_V03.xls Let me know if it works for you. Regards, George

Some people still have problems with their mounts and need inspection of the current logs. I have improved my spreadsheet that displays the currents as a graph. The latest modification is to sort out the problem that in some countries the decimal is a "," and in others a "." To get the graph, copy all the text in the logfile - I use (CTRL-C). Then simply click the "Process" button in the spreadsheet. You can download the spreadsheet here: http://geoastro.co.uk/asa/Motor_current_analysis_V20.xls

your latest log:

When you are finished, send the log file and I can make a graph.

Have you changed the balance?

I plotted your motor currents. The rising RA current is plain to see:

It looks like you may have a similar problem to one I had. See this thread http://forum.astrosysteme.com/index.php?/topic/526-what-does-this-mean/ Your RA axis has a rising current problem. When the current gets to 5A the mount does a slew to try and fix it. This is why your images show those spikes. This can happen because the balance is not good but sometimes it is because there is a mechanical problem with the mount such as a stiff bearing. I advise you to contact ASA.