maxmirot

Thanks will do. Max

John, The new DDM 60 does sound like a leap forward for moble imagers . I am like you, I have a permanent observatory. Most of us agree on that better communication and documentation on the software is needed. What did it cost you to upgrade to the absolute encoders? Max

Good work We need something that will eventually work with CCDAP and CCDcommander too Max

Good question. I bought my DDM recently having owed an Paramount ME too. From what I can tell you can resync at will. No short mapping run is need. I would loved to understand the differences of the two systems. No many documents on this one. Max

Seriously, no one can answer these upgrade and development issues? How can ASA announce 2.0 and not have answers to these questions. Max

It would be nice to know more details of 2.0 and the absolute encoders. I sure the can be a upgrade. I am guessing the cost will be 6K USD.

Btw, It was a slight disappointment to me that the DDM85 it did not have them. Not a show stopper but this would be a advantage remotely. Right now I check via video before homing. Besides homing I am not sure how it would effect other software/hardware improvements. A Tablet sounded like the big new feature. Max

That would be costly 3K USD per axis.

I would like to know this too. Max

Hard to know what's going on. We hear 2.0 etc too. Without knowing more, I would only assume that a beta version of Autoslew and Sequence might make it to final release. Why would think the beta testers would be out of the loop?

Sure, I think there needs to be someone from ASA reading every post, every work day. ASA should respond to question within a working day if that question has not been address by another user. The forum should be shrunk from multiple categories to two. Beta software and everything else. A person or two needs to take responsibility for beta testing. It needs a separate moderator that is coding. They need to respond to posts routinely. I can imagine ASA does not want to reveal their source code, however, there might be few trusted volunteers willing to help write code. The are probably a few people on the forum the have the skill that would really help for free just to have the new feature move forward. Perhaps a Wiki to develop better documentation in the many languages . This or some way for native speakers to help with ruff drafts. Thanks Max

We have a officially sponsored forum on the ASA web site and they don't participate. That's really a shame. If they want a really user to user forum then it needs to go back to Yahoo with an independent moderator. Other companies support both a forum and direct email. I don't understand them. This perhaps the cheapest advertising they can have. People join or review the boards before they buy. Also, why even have a beta group if the authors don't respond to questions or come out new versions frequently. My 2 cents Max

I has a switch interface. Will that work?

Make sure your primary mirror is not pinched. If the screws are too tight you will definitely see aberrations. I had a mirror with turned edge that caused extra spikes. To test for this, make a mask out of paper that goes right over the mirror's surface. Make it about 10mm wide to cover the edge. Take a image. If the spikes are gone or much better then it is the mirror's edge. Sometimes the mirror is very good except the last 2-3mm. Bad edges can be missed on some test systems. Max

I am going through standard setup. I tell it set park east at Zenith as step one. Step 2, home is found. After homing, the Dec axis is reversed north and south. It now thinks home was done on the west side. How can I fix this? Max

What is up with the post NEAF info?

Thanks Guys That makes sense. Max

I am hearing to two different stories. One is the standard will work with a bent pier=Bernard. Verses, I need to rebuild the mount to even start=Lukas. So I need some clarification. I was hoping that I a user could just add the pier to a standard version. Might as well sell the mount and start again if you have to rebuild everything. It would not be a realistic cost for a upgrade. I am guessing 5-6K USD plus shipping. By the way, you guys guessed it. I am thinking about making my own pier. Some was hoping for easy path to attach my version of a bent pier. Max

Can the DDM 85 standard be upgraded to the bent pier? Thanks Max

Sequence does not seem to know the dome geometry. It controls my ASCOM dome directly but does not have access to the dome radius and other offsets. Most of the time I am taking image of the inside of the dome. The ASCOM dome Control and POTH uses geometry. If I use ASCOM Dome control or POTH Sequence never waits for the dome to finsh its slaved slew. I think this needs a solution. Max

Thanks for answering the question. I though they were absolute encoders. Webcam is no big deal. Max

If I move the scope 90 degrees will it then still point to zenith ? Or will it be confused and possibly hit the pier? I know if I visually bring the scope to East Zenith and then find home it will be perfect ever time. Do have to have a web cam to verify its position to be safe if I am working remotely? Thanks Max

Looking forward to it. Thanks

If the mount is powered down without parking, will it still know where it is when powered up? Or if it is parked and gets bumped/moved with power off will know it is position? I am trying to understand if when I need to find home. Also if the scope is moved will it have trouble finding home? I have assumed that these are absolute encoders. Therefore, autoslew would know a correct position as long as the time was correct and a sync was properly done. Max

Is there a Autoslew balance tool? I don't see it in current version of autoslew. I have seen some screen shots. Perhaps it was only on older versions? Max