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MikePaling

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Everything posted by MikePaling

  1. I had regular issues with my DDM60Pro about a year ago .... after much testing, cleaning, etc. I narrowed my problems down to two things ... (1) I suspected that my HitechAstro hub was playing up .... I replaced it with a new Pegasus Power Box. (2) I also suspected that the USB hub on the top of the mount was being temperamental .... so I completely bypassed the USB hub on the mount and ran a new longer USB cable from my computer to the new Pegasus Power Box. I have not had any issues since :-))))) Mike
  2. Hi ... I am hoping that it is OK to post this question in the DDM85 section … but Autoslew is common to both mounts. I have been using Autoslew for some years now on my DDM60 Pro ... but I have never understood anything about the "Expert Mode" area. Despite trying I have never found any information to explain why the “Expert Mode” section is there and how to use it :-((( So far I have used Autoslew without touching this area …. but it is possible that I might be missing something. Can some kind person, who has experience of using this area of Autoslew, give me some clues about how it is used and what benefits I might gain by adjusting the multitude of parameters and buttons that I am faced with??? Mike
  3. Hi ... I have been using Autoslew for some years now on my DDM60 Pro ... but I have never understood anything about the "Expert Mode" area. I have never found anything about this area in any manual that I have found to explain what and why it is there:-((( I have managed without touching it so far. Can some kind person, who has experience of using this area of Autoslew, give me some clues about how it is used and what benefits I might gain by adjusting the multitude of parameters and buttons that I am faced with??? Mike
  4. I am more than pleased that my various problems look as if they are solved :-)))) Sequence that been restored back to v2.1.1. and all settings have been re-done ... and after three testing runs all seems to work OK now .... much to my relief! I don't think I will ever get around to trying to update Sequence in any way again ..... I still have no idea why Sequence should screw itself up after an update. Thanks to all who have tried to help me with my problems Regards Mike
  5. I have now tried everything that has been suggested ( and more ) and I am still unable to get the Autofocus system or the "V curve" system in Sequence ( v 0.2.1.2 ). It has briefly crossed my mind to take up knitting instead of Astro photography! Maybe my copy of Sequence ( v 0.2.1.2 ) is slightly corrupted on some way and I need to do a complete "clean" installation. However I am unable to find my original installation file. I have just sent a message to ASA HQ asking if they can help me by supplying a replacement installation file. In the past I was able to access the ASA support area very easily to access any support items ... but they now seem to have changed their system. I can log into the site but my DDM60 Pro is not linked to their system correctly at the minute and I cannot access any support items. I really do hope that they can help me here. Mike
  6. I have done this Mark ... the "Readout Mode of CCD during Focusing" now no longer shows up in the Personal settings .... so fingers crossed for the next bout of testing if I can get Autofocus to work. However the weather forecast here look very poor for the next week or so 😞 Incidentally the 4 icon boxes on the CCD screen are still missing as seen on the last screen shot that I posted ... I am assuming that this does not matter one jot at the moment. Mike
  7. Can my problem be solved just by manually correcting the "Personal Settings file and change the Readout mode from "-1 " to "0" ..... or is that just too simple and cause more problems??? Mike
  8. Thanks for your input Mark and Robert .... I can see what you are getting at ..... But I am now starting to pull my hair out!!!! I have just spent some time seeing if I can do something about the "CCD readout modes" in Sequence .... and look at what I am seeing. There is a hole where the readout modes should be displayed!!! Where do I go from here? Mike
  9. The sky was reasonably clear last night and I deleted my "Personal settings/config " file in Sequence and reset all settings. Plate solving still works ... but I am still getting an error message when I try to use Autofocus 😞 I didn't get the chance to experiment with the start & final box window as the clouds can rushing in. I am attaching the new Personal Settings/Config file for Sequence and also the Error log from last night. Are there any clues as to what I might be doing wrong? Mike 2023_1_4_19h23m.txt Sequence.ini
  10. Thank for your suggestion Robert ... and also comments from Anak and Mark. As far as I know there is no mismatch in my Ascom settings in Maxim and Sequence are identical. I have come to the conclusion that my "personal settings/config file" in Sequence is corrupted in some way. The weather forecast for tonight looks as if it might have some clear periods ... my plan is to delete the current config file and reset all settings in Sequence in the hope that this will sort out my problems. Either way I will report back. Regards Mike
  11. Thanks for your suggestion Anak .... I will check this out next time I get a clear sky .... the forecast here in the UK is not too good at the moment. Mike
  12. Hello again Robert .. I have just tried to use Autofocus in Sequence again and I keep getting the same error message despite trying new settings in the Autoslew setup screen. I am attaching two screen shots showing what I am getting. The Plate solve routine works fine so this shows that the GSC 1.1 folder on my C drive is OK. Do you ( or anybody else who has any suggestions ) have any suggestions of how I can put things right? For the present I am able to use the "V curve" routing in MaximDL for setting my focus pretty accurately .... so I am able to do imaging runs in Sequence without doing using the Autofocus routine. Mike
  13. Hi Robert .. Thanks for taking time to reply to my query. Since I posted my message I eventually discovered that the CGS11 folder was completely empty! ... I have no idea how this happened! So I decided to take the plunge after locating my original GSC11 installer .... and reinstalled it all onto my C Drive without any problems. I am pleased to say that I am now able to do plate solving and Autopointing .. but alas ..... I am having trouble getting Autofocus to work 😞 I think that maybe some of my settings in the Autofocus screen might need adjusting .... I don't see why my previous problem with the GSC1.1 files should be causing this problem. If I continue to get an error massage when I next try to use Autofocus .... can I send you a copy of the error message for you to check out???? I would be very helpful to have a second opinion. Can I ask a second question? .... when my current version of Sequence ( v 0.2.1.2 ) eventually works 100% correctly I will be more than happy to continue with it. However I see that Phillpp Keller has recently put up a new short video of a new version of Sequence ( v0.2.1.3 ) .... do you know if this version will work on my DDM60 Pro which does not have absolute encoders? Regards Mike
  14. Hi ... When I try to use Autofocus or Plate Solve in Sequence I keep getting an error message suggesting that my GSC 11 file is possibly corrupted and I am unable to move forward. Or is my file "out of date" ???? Has anybody else had this problem? Is it just a matter of uninstalling and reinstalling the folder to my C drive???? Mike
  15. It looks likely that my problem was caused by MaximDL being corrupted in some way. I did a "deep" uninstall on Maxim and re-install ... and all works well now. I did the same short imaging run twice to check things out ... firstly with no MLPT followed by MLTP set to 1xiterations. Has anybody else had problems with MaximDL becoming corrupted when being used with Sequence at all??? Mike
  16. Last night I was hoping to do a short imaging run of a Comet .... 10 x 100sec using the CLS filter. Nothing fancy! First time the weather had been good enough for weeks! Everything looked to be going well until everything froze up halfway through doing the MLPT plate solving process .... I have never had this problem before. I can see that the first Sequence log file fails after the 6th plate solve for some reason The sky was clear so I don't know why it couldn't find any stars to solve on. After a complete shut down and full re-start of the computer the second attempt got a step further but then just stopped. On both runs the whole set up froze at the end. I am attaching the two log files from Sequence from last night .... but I cannot see any obvious problems highlighted here 😞 Is it possible that my MLPT settings in Sequence is not ideal for this type of short imaging runs and causing my problems? Currently my settings in Sequence for MLPT is (1) [ Exposure distance in minutes = 8 ] .... and (2) .... [ MLTP Iterations = 2 ] Any ideas? Mike 2021_2_22_19h16m.txt 2021_2_22_18h55m.txt
  17. Hi Lauren ... I can send you a copy of my DDM60 manual ( it is a PDF file ) if you send me your email address. It has some information on there that might help you. This manual does not seem to be available on the ASA web site any longer. My email address is " mikepalingxyz@gmail.com " Regards Mike
  18. MikePaling

    Fan speed

    Hi Mark ... That makes sense .... I had forgotten that that the larger reflecting scopes have a fan ! Mike
  19. MikePaling

    Fan speed

    Hi Gerald ... I have a DDM60Pro ..... I didn't know that I might have a fan controlled from Autoslew! Can you explain where it is on your set-up? ... is it something on your scope or camera ???? Am I missing something? I have a fan on my Moravian camera but this is controlled by MaximDL. Cheers Mike
  20. I really hope that any future version of Autoslew and Sequence will still work on my DDM60Pro !!! I see that ASA seems to be moving into bigger and bigger mounts .... I hope that they don't forget the "little" versions as they cost quite a bit of dosh at the time! I really like my DDM60 Pro and want a lot more life out of it .... and I can't afford to buy a bigger version ... and also .... I certainly don't want to start all over again and replace my mount with a completely new make! If ASA does forget my DDM60 then the re-sale value of my mount will drop to zero :-((( Do ASA ever read these comments?
  21. Now that I have just started getting into narrow band imaging I am having quite a battle getting the settings on the "Autofocus window" in Sequence .... especially when trying to use the Oiii and Sii filters. I don't seem to have any problems with all other filters. I am using an APM 123/738 scope with an Optec FeatherTouch FTF3545 3.5-inch focuser attached. Is there anybody out there who can either send me a screen shot of a working Autofocus setting screen ( or simply list the most suitable settings ) to be used with the Oiii and the Sii filters. I keep wasting precious clear skies here in the UK with this issue :-((( Any help with this would be VERY helpful. Cheers Mike
  22. Hi Kolec .. I do not use a guide camera. .... but thanks for taking time to send me a suggestion :-)
  23. I seems that I probably got it wrong about Diffraction Limited not developing MaximDl any more .... after re-reading some info on the Moravian web download site they have posted the following ... " Diffraction Limited no longer develops the MaxIm DL plug-in API and recommends to use ASCOM camera drivers instead of the native ones." This does not mean that Maxim itself in not being developed! I am using MaxImDL v6.2. I stall can't get the V curve routine to work after trying again last night. Good job that the Autofocus routine works well in Sequence Mike
  24. Very glad that you sorted your problem ... no luck with my latest Maxim problem though :-( I started up Maxim again tonight ... I get the same problem with MaximDL freezing when asked to do it's Autofocus routine. However .... good news ... Sequence did the complete job including the autofocus routine and dithering :-(((( I think that I will just do the very basic stuff on Maxim from now on and save all serious stuff for Sequence :-)))
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