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robertp

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Posts posted by robertp

  4. Is my GSC 1.1 data file corrupted?

    in ASA DDM60/PRO

    Posted

    Hi Mike,

    I just compared your sequence.ini to mine. I agree with Mark, that "Readout Mode of CCD during Focusing =  -1" looks very suspicious. I would suggest that you set it to 0 and see what's happening.

    Under [Scheduler] the "Quantity of Readoutmodes offered by the CCD (how many)=0", so I guess you should also try to set "Dont set readoutmodes=True" (at the moment, yours is set to "false").

    But before doing that, I would propose that you try to change you ascom-settings in the "current location and hardware" window. You currently use the ASCOM.FocusLynx.Focuser directly. I would suggest to switch that to the DeviceHub.focuser and connect your focuser via the DeviceHub. If you also need to connect your focuser from within MaximDL, then do it there via the DeviceHub as well.

    I once experienced a corrupt sequence.ini about a year ago shortly after updating Sequence from verison 2.1.1 to 2.1.3 and also had a hard time to get everything running again. Therefore I recommend to do a backup of the "personal settings" directory from time to time. If I remember correctly, I finally switched back to Sequence version 2.1.1. to get everything running again.

    Good luck and please keep us posted on your progress,

    Robert

     

  5. Is my GSC 1.1 data file corrupted?

    in ASA DDM60/PRO

    Posted

    Hello Mike,

    I get the same error message in case the ascom-settings in Sequence are not identical to the settings in MaximDL. Can you please verify that the settings are identical? If so, could you please try whether you also get the error message in case you do not have the focuser connected in MaximDL?

    I guess you could do those tests even when it's cloudy by using the "Simulator" within the camera-setup of MaximDL.

    Best regards,

    Robert

  8. (Need your help) Back and Forth movement error while tracking in my DDM85X-SL

    in ASA DDM85, 100, 200, 500

    Posted

    Hello Kazuo-san,

    no problem, this forum is about helping each other - so don't hesitate to ask or share.

    It's strange, that you do not see the relax-slew. You should easily be able to see the relax slew, it's very obvious. Maybe you can set it to 15 degrees to make it even more obvious.

    The relax-slews are only performed, when you have a sequence-run started, meaning that you are automatically taking exposures via Sequence. When the mount is just tracking without a sequence-run, the relax-slew setting has no impact.

    I think that the starting point for the relax-slew countdown is when the sequence-run actually starts (so when the first real image is started).

    So when you start a sequence-run with e.g. 20 exposures of 5 minutes, I would expect that you see a relax slew after every single image when you set the relax slew time interval to 5 min.

    You can see the relax-slews in the corresponding log-file of Sequence under C:\ProgramData\ASA\Sequence\SequenceLogs. Here's an example:

    21:31:08.035: Time since last Autofocus = 16,2 minutes
    21:31:08.035: Performing Relax Slew
    21:31:08.113: Slewing to 23h21m37,0  +61°16m40
    21:31:14.354: Slewing to 23h21m37,0  +61°16m40
    21:31:27.394: Selecting Filter 4
    21:31:27.456: Slewing to 23h21m36,6  +61°16m57 Pierside West
    21:31:36.110: Setting Readoutmode to 0
    21:31:36.500: Selecting Filter 4
    21:31:36.500: Exposing now 300,0 Filter 4
    21:36:40.168: Saved Image C:\ProgramData\ASA\Sequence\Images\\2021-10-9\bubble-ha_-0010.fits

     

    You can also spot it in the servo-log, where it looks like this (I think the 3rd slew is from dithering):

    21:31:06.254: Axis 2 Pos:-094,27° Curr:+01,0A MagAng:+311° PosErr:+00,03arcsec
    21:31:07.347: Axis 1 Pos:-204,49° Curr:+03,7A MagAng:+069° PosErr:+00,00arcsec
    21:31:09.059: Axis 1 slewing to -194,46
    21:31:09.090: Axis 2 slewing to -104,26
    21:31:11.261: Axis 2 Pos:-100,24° Curr:+00,9A MagAng:+239° PosErr:+04,57arcsec
    21:31:13.339: Axis 1 Pos:-194,46° Curr:+00,4A MagAng:+180° PosErr:+00,98arcsec
    21:31:15.038: Axis 1 slewing to -204,43
    21:31:15.054: Axis 2 slewing to -94,27
    21:31:16.554: Axis 2 Pos:-101,46° Curr:+00,2A MagAng:+238° PosErr:-00,21arcsec
    21:31:18.615: Axis 1 Pos:-204,37° Curr:+00,7A MagAng:+070° PosErr:-06,41arcsec
    21:31:21.849: Axis 2 Pos:-094,27° Curr:+00,2A MagAng:+311° PosErr:-01,84arcsec
    21:31:23.926: Axis 1 Pos:-204,42° Curr:+00,1A MagAng:+070° PosErr:+00,12arcsec
    21:31:27.316: Axis 2 Pos:-094,27° Curr:+00,5A MagAng:+311° PosErr:-00,35arcsec
    21:31:28.034: Axis 1 slewing to -204,39
    21:31:28.065: Axis 2 slewing to -94,26
    21:31:29.362: Axis 1 Pos:-204,39° Curr:+00,3A MagAng:+070° PosErr:+03,46arcsec
    21:31:32.751: Axis 2 Pos:-094,26° Curr:+00,2A MagAng:+311° PosErr:-00,51arcsec
    21:31:34.704: Axis 1 Pos:-204,37° Curr:+00,4A MagAng:+071° PosErr:+00,02arcsec
    21:31:38.187: Axis 2 Pos:-094,26° Curr:+00,1A MagAng:+311° PosErr:+00,00arcsec

     

    Hope this helps and as I said - don't hesistate to ask further questions and please report your findings,

    clear skies,

    Robert

  9. (Need your help) Back and Forth movement error while tracking in my DDM85X-SL

    in ASA DDM85, 100, 200, 500

    Posted

    Hello Kazuo-san,

    so it looks like you experience the same problem I and some others had. As you are using Sequence, I would recommend to activate the "relax-slew" option, set it to e.g. 30 minutes and check whether that prevents the problems from occuring. That worked well for me for about 1 year, then the over-current-error showed up in ever shorter timespans. So I would also recommend to monitor the situation, maybe you can live with it for several years without it getting worse.

    There was also a recommendation from ASA to try to re-distribute the lubrication of the bearings by making the mount slew all over the place for several hours. I tried that, but it did not improve the situation in my case. But maybe it works for you.

    I can imagine that sending in the mount for repair is not an easy thing from Japan, therefore I hope that some of the workarounds work for you.

    I contacted ASA via this email-adress: support@astrosysteme.com

    best regards,

    Robert

     

  11. (Need your help) Back and Forth movement error while tracking in my DDM85X-SL

    in ASA DDM85, 100, 200, 500

    Posted

    Hello Kazuo-san,

    the log-intervall of 5.5 sec is fine, mine is set to 5 seconds.

    You will see the over-current-error in this logfile. Here's an example from one of my log-files:

    21:48:23.181: Axis 2 Pos:-085,37° Curr:+00,4A MagAng:+038° PosErr:-00,03arcsec
    21:48:26.117: Axis 1 Pos:-000,85° Curr:+05,0A MagAng:+146° PosErr:+35,97arcsec
    21:48:28.648: Axis 2 Pos:-085,37° Curr:+00,4A MagAng:+038° PosErr:-00,08arcsec
    21:48:31.553: Axis 1 Pos:-000,83° Curr:+05,0A MagAng:+146° PosErr:+128,84arcsec
    21:48:34.052: Axis 2 Pos:-085,37° Curr:+00,4A MagAng:+038° PosErr:+00,03arcsec
    21:48:34.802: Axis 1 trying to correct OverCurrent Error
    21:48:34.849: Axis 1 slewing to -2,83
    21:48:37.598: Axis 1 slewing to 1,17
    21:48:41.097: Axis 1 slewing to -0,83
    21:48:43.877: Axis 2 Pos:-085,37° Curr:+00,4A MagAng:+038° PosErr:-00,03arcsec
    21:48:44.018: Axis 1 Pos:-000,83° Curr:+01,7A MagAng:+146° PosErr:+04,96arcsec
    21:48:49.266: Axis 2 Pos:-085,37° Curr:+00,5A MagAng:+038° PosErr:-00,29arcsec
    21:48:49.391: Axis 1 Pos:-000,75° Curr:+02,0A MagAng:+147° PosErr:+00,10arcsec

    Here you see, that the current on RA (which is axis 1, not 2 as mentioned above) drops from 5,0A down to 1,7A after the slew that autoslew performs in order to correct the OverCurrent Error. The same thing happens, when you do a relax-slew between images before the current-limit is reached.

    Hope this helps,

    Robert

     

  12. (Need your help) Back and Forth movement error while tracking in my DDM85X-SL

    in ASA DDM85, 100, 200, 500

    Posted

    Hello Kazuo-san,

    I'm pretty sure that what you are experiencing is a problem with the current of the RA-axis rising over the time when you track for a longer time. Once the current reaches a certain limit (5 amp for a DDM60, not sure what the limit is for a DDM85), the mount will report an over-current-error and try to resolve the problem by performing the slews that you are seeing. If this is the problem that you are experiencing, you should be able to see it in the servo log-file (in the logs directory of autoslew). There you can see the current and the tracking errors for your sesssion. If  you see the current for RA (I thinks that is axis 2) raise and causing an over-current-error, then the root cause is likely a problem in the RA-bearing of the mount.

    There have been several cases reported in this forum and I have my DDM60 Pro at ASA right now to get the bearings replaced as I had the same problem. At the beginning, this happened about once an hour, in the end about every 10 minutes. If you are using Sequence, you can perform a relax-slew e.g. every 30 minutes during an autorun-session to prevent the current to reach the limit.

    Please check the servo log-file and let us know whether you see errors there,

    best regards,

    Robert

     

  14. DDM 85 - theoretisch und zeitlich getrennt - über 2 PC ansprechbar?

    in ASA DDM85, 100, 200, 500

    Posted

    Hallo Robert,

    theoretisch müsste es funktionieren, wenn Du sowas wie ein y-USB-Kabel baust, also ein USB-Kabel auftrennst, ein Ende für die Montierung und dann 2 USB-Stecker parallel an die 4 Litzen anlötest. Solange Du immer nur einen Rechner bootest, sollte das stabil funktionieren. Ist aber irgendwie keine elegante Lösung.

    Was spricht dagegen, nur einen Rechner zu verwenden und dort über dual-boot 2 Windows Installationen einzurichten, jeweils für Deine beiden Setups optimiert? Dann musst Du nur beim booten zwischen Newton-Installation und 135mm-Installation entscheiden und kannst ansonsten die Verkabelung und alles gleich lassen.

    Ansonsten müsste ein USB-Switch aus meiner Sicht auch stabil funktionieren, aber jedes vermeidbare Gerät kann natürlich Probleme im Dauerbetrieb/bei Feuchtigkeit/kalten Temperaturen/... bringen.

    Gruß,

    der andere Robert

     

  15. Satelite tracking

    in ASA DDM60/PRO

    Posted

    Hi,

    I would like to track satelites or the ISS with my DDM60 Pro. Using theSky6 I was not able to track a satelite continously along its visible path.

    According to Wolfgang Promper, that should be feasible using theSkyX. Is there anybody out there who has done that successfully and is willing to share his/her experiences?

    Best regards,

    Robert

     

  18. DDM100 : What is the minimum weight on the OTA side?

    in ASA DDM85, 100, 200, 500

    Posted

    Hello Jeremy,

    have you tried to do an auto tune of the servos before trying to optimize the balance? You mentioned that with the additional weights the mount vibrates gently. I can imagine that as soon as the balance routine tries to move your RA axis, the maximum error of the axis will be reached and therefore the motor shuts off. So I would recommend that you either do an auto tune or if that fails do a manual tune making sure that you get no vibrations (neither in tracking mode nor when doing fast slews) and then try to balance the mount perfectly.

    Have you checked the servo-log whether it contains some hint what the problem might be?

    Hope you get your problem resolved,

    clear skies,

    Robert

  21. Sequence Autopoint PointingError.pox

    in Software

    Posted

    Hi Stephan,

    strange, usually when you install autoslew from scratch on win10, it creates the correct subdirectories under c:\ProgramData\Asa.

    Maybe you have to run it as adminstrator (but then you have to make sure that you run e.g. Sequence as adminstrator as well).

    We keep the fingers crossed that this resolves your problems,

    clear skies,

    Robert

  22. Sequence Autopoint PointingError.pox

    in Software

    Posted

    Hi Stephan,

    do you have one of the first DDM60 where the user had to find out the encoder settings or one of the second generation, where ASA provided the correct parameters?

    If you still have the *.ini-files from your last working configuration, you should be able to keep your new configuration with the latest versions of autoslew and sequence and just replace the cl-servos.ini with the one from your working configuration. Within the cl-servos.ini, you find the parameter "encoder resolution per revolution (in mm)" for both axis. Please check whether these are identical in the old and new ini-files.

    Good luck,

    Robert

     

  23. Sequence Autopoint PointingError.pox

    in Software

    Posted

    Hi Stephan,

    reminds me of a problem I once had and that caused me a lot of headaches ...

    When you sync on a star e.g. near the meridian and slew to different stars e.g. on the east side: does the pointing error gets bigger the further away you are from the synced star?

    I had that behaviour once until I realised, that my autoslew.ini file somehow got corrupted. There's one parameter that determines the ration between the axis and the encoders and somehow that parameter was wrong for one axis (I only realized that when I compared all settings to an older configuration that I had archived). So if you have a backup of a former configuration where everything worked properly, that might be worth a look.

    BTW: Which mount do you have? I have a DDM60Pro but with an RC10 (2000mm focal lenght) and a KAF8300 chip, pointing accuracy is good enough to platesolve all pointing files across the sky with Sequence.

    Clear skies,

    Robert

  24. Sequence Autopoint PointingError.pox

    in Software

    Posted

    Hi Stephan,

    when you do the platesolve directly within PinPoint: does PinPoint solve the pictures immediately or does it have to do several iterations using the spiral search?

    If the latter is the case, then Sequence probably fails to solve the pointing pics because of the expected position deviates too much from the real position (the expected position is not within the field of view).

    There are several options to mitigate that problem:

    * Do a small manual pointing file (5 stars or so) across the sky and use that to get a rough model of the sky that will ensure, that the pointing accuracy is good enough to get stars in all parts of the sky within the field of view of your camera.

    * Improve your polar alignment (e.g. using the great routine within SharpCap), make sure that the geo-coordinates within autoslew are correct as well as date and time are perfect. Then slew to a reference star, center it and sync autoslew. This should also ensure a sufficiently high pointing accuracy without a pointing model.

    * Center a star near the meridian, sync autoslew and start with a pointing file using stars not too far away (e.g. within 30 degrees from the meridian) to get a first pointing model that is good enough to add another one with stars spread all across the sky.

    Hope this helps. Btw: where are you located?

    Best regards,

    Robert

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