lukepower

Hi Bernard, thank you very much. I already tested it and yes, the holding screws were quite loose. I tightenend them a bit and it became better, but not perfect. Still needs some work it seems...

Odd thing... Do you know where the ACC software can be downloaded?

Hi Bernard, thank you, I really appreciate your help. I just sent you a PM with my mail adress. Best regards Lukas

Hi guys, finally I got my new 12" astrograph from ASA, where my old OK3Z has been mounted. I never really used that focuser, and am now facing an odd problem: There is some slippage when I reverse directions, to a point that the positions are not repeatable. I mean: if I focus perfectly at, say, 13.0, then go out of focus to, for example, 12.0, and then run back to 13.0 the image is still way out of focus. I guess that there are some screws that might need to be tightened, but I found absolutely zero documentation for the focuser (hell, even for the driver it's nowhere to be found). Any hint would be very appreciated Best regards Lukas

Oh damnit...

Honestly I gave up. SOmetimes Dr. Keller is very helpful and quick to fix bugs and implement new functions. This particular MLPT request, flying around since several years, has never been regarded at all

Max, your logic is correct, but due to the lack of documentation - how would you load the data in Autoslew? One could reverse engineer that part, but god knows how many possible bugs sleep there...

Well, in ACP there is a UserAction system that could be used to run that app before each imaging set. In SGP I don't know, but basically one would need a way to execute a command/executable or script right before the actual imaging happens (thus, after positioning and AutoFocus, but before the exposure of the single frames). Maybe there is already a function which is available... As for ASA; I dunno. I know a few of them personally and asked them to inquire Philipp about this feature, to no avail... I mean, honestly, why would I bother to reverse engineer their routines to build n alternative MLPT tool

Jay, in theory, it's enough to let the mlpt.exe be run before every imaging run. In CCD AutoPilot there is even a particular setting for this: It has been added a while ago by the CCDWare coder explicitely for ASA mounts, but no software followed from ASA side... Anyway, insert the path to the mlpt.exe and you should be set.

Well guys, this topic flames up about twice a year. I have been in touch with Philipp Keller about this but there was not much interest in doing it, so I tried it myself. The main problem is that the connection that most of the software packages offer (i.e. ACP, CCD Autopilot and so on) is quite limited. The main issue is the meridian flip: How should we behave if a meridian flip will occour during a run? We could detect it and then shorten the MLPT run accordingly, in the hope that the automation package will flip afterwards and request a new MLPT run. If this would be ok then my hacked version could do the trick. The other issue is that the interfaces that Sequence uses to send MLPT data to Autoslew may change with every new version, and being undocumented it could be a challenge to keep it working. This all said, I uploaded the latest version to my Dropbox here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1bixepr8wanh6wj/AABLJfnQsXgqRLHgq9xznPPla?dl=0 It may work and it might not work. Right now when you execute it will basically execute the same stuff Sequence would do when you start an MLPT run: Connect everything Start an MLPT run for 50 minutes Send it to Autoslew Quit So, basically one could simply invoke the "mlpt.exe" in the script field before the actual imaging will happen. Let me know any problems you find. As it has been tested only on my computer running Win10, who knows . Any bugs or requests please PM me.

not really. Or at least, I don't know. Knut got the executables I created to test it, maybe it is working. It is truly only a hack, and after a few tests it seems to work reasonabily well. But who knows for sure...

hm well, I think it still needs a serial, as the serial holds the information which is specific to each mount's motor settings... YOu might try to ask Philipp Keller about the details for the fast tracking you seek

Hi VIncenzo, the ASA mounts have been used for exactly this quite a few times, but I honestly don't know how to deal with such a situation on the software side. Mechanically they are able to easily track very fast objects. It would be a matter of software. Tracking asteroids and comets is easy, though...

Well I had the pleasure to see the raw data of a FLI ML 16200 in Namibia this year, taken with an ASA 12" astrograph. The noise was very little and smooth. While I know that Moravian will have more noise I am confident that it still is on the low end. It seems the CCD producer improved the chip in many areas, resulting in an overall smoother image...

Very nice Mark. Can't wait to test my new setup, which will be very similar to yours, soon

And do not forget the corrector performance: the ASA Wynne used in the N serie won't correct and not even illuminate a 16803 chip. The 16200 hits the right usable size better, plus you can stick with smaller filters. For me the main reason for the 16200 is the clean data you get - it is a leap ahead of the 8300 or even 16803 in that regard

Maybe its temperature related? Like very fast temperature drop...? Could you try to make a series of unguided frames with no model/corrections at all? With such a good polar align the results should be quite good on their own...

Pelle, either you have some flexure (the fact that if you slew to a predefined position and back makes it better would support this theory), or something is wrong with AUtoslew in combination with high altitude... I really dunno...

simply great!

I really love what the Veloce is able to yield. Great image, and especially considering the relatively short exposure time...

Hm interesting.. What about motor tuning? Maybe the tuning on RA is too aggressive? Or the slew settle time is too short?

Hi Admin, well, there is already a community effort to build a wiki going on. There we use MediaWiki for obvious reasons (mainly as it is one of the most well supported Wiki softwares round, being used in Wikipedia). I think Max' idea would be very nice, adding a section in the forum like "Ask ASA engineers" where users could post their questions and one of your guys would regularily check and answer. Then of course adding content originally written by ASA to the wiki would be great - if this is fine for ASA; that is

Max, hm, what about polar alignemnt and radial balancing? What kind of OTA do you have on your mount?

Max, I didn't look at your file, however there is a remote possibility that the axis is not tracking well due to mechanical reasons, like a defective bearing, a strong hit during operations or transport, and the likes... This is something you should discuss with ASA support...

Being able to run an external program is fine - that program could then connect to Sequence via COM, if that would be available.