MikePaling

Hi you guys ... This is all a very timely and useful topic for me. I am almost in the same position as Dave ..... just waiting for a clear sky to start my very first PA on my DDM60. After reading the new Autoslew manual, many many times, the process of making a PA and subsequent Pointing Files was starting to make some sort of sense for me .... and now all of the above comments are reinforcing my confidence of getting things right ! Fingers crossed ! Regards Mike

Hi Thomas .... Many thanks for this info about using the "Mode button" .... it works! When I set up my new gamepad I was hoping to use the D-Button control rather than the left joystick control but I couldn't figure out how to get it to operate so I had to stick with the joystick control. One click with the mode button has sorted that out for me ..... great! I am a slow learner!!! I am attaching a revised image showing the gamepad controls being used by me. I do not know what the" special function buttons" as seen on the Autoslew gamepad settings screen .... I am assuming that the gamepad can be programmed to operate some device on the scope or in the observatory. Regards Mike

I am the middle of setting up my DDM60 Pro mount and slowly getting to understand how every part of Autoslew works. I have recently been trying to understand what the "Hand icon" (please see attached image) atually does ..... I have not been able to find any reference to this in any manual (old or new) about this. I think that this icon has only just appeared on the latest version of the Autoslew User Interface. So I decided to ask ASA support for some information. I have just received the following reply which is very helpful .... I thought that i would pass it onto the forum so that others can see it. Support at ASA replied as follows ..... "Autoslew can detect if your mount/telescope hits an obstacle by measuring the position error. The position error is the difference between desired position and the actual position. If this difference becomes too big, Autoslew switches off the motors an throws a position tracking error. (you can define this sensitivity – the maximum difference between desired and actual position at Drive à Servo Setup) When you press the “hand”, so that the button changes to green, Autoslew ignores this position error. This feature is meant for visual observers who want to change eyepieces during operation. The weight imbalance that occurs when you remove an eyepiece might lead to a position tracking error as the motors might not be strong enough to compensate this imbalance. The green hand prevents Autoslew from switching off the motors, what would lead to a crash if the telescope is not in balance." Regards Mike

Hi again .... I thought that I would attach an image showing which control buttons are being used on my gamepad .... it might be useful to other complete novices, like me!, when they are trying to set up their DDM60 for the first time. Mike

Many thank to everybody who has contributed to this topic .... all is now well :-) After reading about using a Logitech gamepad, despite already getting my "inexpensive" gamepad to work, I borrowed a Logitech F310 gamepad from a friend and it worked first time. So I decided to ditch the old gamepad (with it's attendant software) and purchase a F310 for myself. It worked perfectly first time without any problems. I think that the Autoslew manual could be improved by giving more information about this area .... especially indicating exactly which controls and buttons on the gamepad that could be used to operate the mount. Autoslew does not connect to some of the controls on the gamepad (this has been confirmed by tech support at ASA) and I originally spent a lot of wasted time trying to find out, by trial & error, which joystick control pad actually worked to slew the mount! Mike

Hi Robert .... Many thanks for your comments and suggestions .... much appreciated :-) It looks as if I have got my gamepad to work .... using a combination of your suggestions and also using an application that I found on the 'net last night. The application is called "Joytokey" which allows buttons on the gamepad to be allocated to anything you like on the screen (in this case Autoslew) .... this app gave me an easy option to link the single 4-way arrow button on the gamepad to the movement direction icons on Autoslew. I just have to remember to open up this app before I start using Autoslew. I also followed your suggestion to toggle the "mode" button on the gamepad. I am also successfully using the "fast" & "turbo" speed buttons on the gamepad. Everything is now operational .... so many thanks again for your help. Now for carrying out my first proper Polar alignment .... and then my first pointing file !!!! Talk about a steep learning curve .... but I am well impressed with my DDM60 Pro ... so far!!! Regards Mike

Hi again Waldemar .... I have just re-rad your reply ... are you saying that I need to use a "Speed button" in conjunction with the 4-way control button??? I have only been trying the 4-way button on it's own. Regards Mike

Hi Waldemar .... I have installed the latest drivers for the gamepad ... and Autoslew recognises it :-) When try to use the 4-way command button nothing happens and I can't seem to find any way to get Autoslew to connect to this button:-( However ... I can configure several other single action buttons for "Motor On" and 2Motor Off" from within Autoslew ... and these work perfectly. It is mainly the single 4-way control/button that I can't get to work to slew the mount!!! Just total silence :-((( There doesn't seem to be a way to configure this particular button, judging by the list of options within Autoslew, that will solve the problem. Should Autoslew recognise the 4-way button automatically? So I am still stuck. Have I got a faulty gamepad .... or am I missing something obvious here? Regards Mike

I purchased a "Speedlink Strike NX" USB wired gamepad only a couple of weeks ago. Looking at it, it does seem very similar to the Logitech Gamepads (eg: Logitech Wireless F710, etc.) that other members have mentioned previously on this forum. I am trying to get my new gamepad working on my DDM60 Pro so that it will enable me to slew my scope more easily. I have spent several hours today trying to figure out how to configure the various buttons on the gamepad, within Autoslew, to do this ... and I am getting absolutely nowhere!!! I have read all of the instructions that came with the gamepad and have studied the Autoslew manual many times! However ... I have actually made some progress along the way!..... I easily managed to program two of the gamepad buttons to switch the mounts motors ON and OFF. But .... I simply cannot understand how to program the gamepad buttons to slew my scope in any direction. So can some kind person give me some clues on how to configure the gamepad to move the mount NORTH/SOUTH/EAST/WEST ..... and all points between???? I was expecting to configure the "4-way controller button" on the gamepad to do these operations ... but no success. Looking at the settings in joystick settings within Autoslew there are no options for me to set these on the gamepad!!!! Am I being thick ... or what!!! Regards Mike

Hi Waldemar ... I had been assuming the GPS receiver (whatever variety) was supposed to plug directly into one of the USB ports on my laptop .... reading your comments, just now, are you saying that it goes into one of the USB slots directly onto the DDM60 mount??? Or can it go in either? Regards Mike

Hi everybody ... Many thanks for all of the comments that have been sent in, so far, after I posted my original question. After looking at what has been said I have made a few decisions ... (1) I will be setting my laptop to UTC times (rather that British Summer Time ... BST) even though it seems that Autoslew and Carte du Ceil can make automatic adjustments for this off-set. (2)I have decided to order a BU-353-S4 GPS receiver rather than the ASA GPS as it will do the job just as well. I have now made contact with somebody, outside of this forum, who uses the BU-353-S4 without any problems. (3)Looking at the new version of Autoslew .... there is a button/icon which allows it to link to the GPS receiver ... at the minute I am assuming that this is a "one-off" procedure and does not continue automatically subsequently ..... unless I retrigger it again manually. I am also assuming that I can disconnect the GPS receiver, after this initial connection, until I decide to re-sync to UTC at a future date. How often would I need to re-sync??? Any comments about my last comment above (Item 3) would be much appreciated. Regards Mike

In the next week or so I am hoping to start the initial set up my new DDM60 Pro. I have never used a computerised system before this and I am treading into uncharted waters here! After studying the manuals extensively I "think" that I know what to do for the most part .... but I have already hit a hurdle involving understanding the synchronisation of UTC across the whole system! I am planning to control my DDM60 Pro with a dedicated stand alone laptop along with Carte Du Ceil planetarium software and of course Autoslew. So ... a couple of very basic questions: (1) Am I correct in thinking that the whole system (ie: laptop, mount & all software) the time is synchronised from the clock on the laptop? (2) Is it best to set my laptop clock to UTC .... or can it stay on British Standard Time? If I leave my laptop on BST will Autoslew and Carte du Ceil convert my PC clock setting to UTC as required? (3) I know that accurate UTC time can be obtained from a USB GPS receiver or can be re-set manually on my laptop. However, on the internet I have just come across a free configuration utility called "Atomic Clock Sync" which appears to enable me to set my laptop very accurately to UTC time. Does anybody know if this works? Is it worth downloading? Any help on any of this would be very much appreciated. Regards Mike

Many thanks to all who have been kind enough to respond to my plea for suggestions & ideas. After a lot of thinking I have come to the conclusion that the best option, for my situation, is for me to use an EnGenius Long Range 5 GHz Wireless N300 Outdoor Bridge. This system needs clear "line of sight" between the "sending box" and the "receiving box" .... I have managed to get cut back all sorts of unwanted foliage .... so no problems now ... apart from setting it all up. I am hoping to make a start on all of this in the coming months ... weather allowing!!! Regards Mike

Thanks Bernard .... I am getting there !!!

Hi Bernard ... I am planning to have mains electric power into my observatory. I have a burning question .... forgive me if you think me stupid ! ... but .... With the Intel NUC (or similar miniPC) ... how do you control, communicate and generally see what it is doing if it doesn't have a screen? Regards Mike

Hi Pelle ... I see that you have replied to my other question as well ... thanks. I am fairly computer savvy ... but .... I am totally new to setting up links between remote computers. I am assuming that people use Wi-Fi networks to do some of this. Do you connect your computer in your house to your Intel NUC (next to your telescope) by a wi-fi link using Teamweaver??? I have a pretty powerful Wi-Fi router here in my house ... my desktop is not Wi-Fi but is connected to this Wi-Fi router by a cable so that I can access the internet. Is it an easy task to get my desktop PC to talk to a Intel NUC in my future observatory 40M away? Is a Wi-Fi link the way to go??? Regards Mike

Hi folks .... In the very near future I am planning to start building my home observatory in my garden to accommodate my new DDM60 ... when it arrives. Initially I intend to use my laptop, inside the observatory, to control and use my mount & scope until I get used to everything. However, eventually I would like to be able to operate the system remotely .... from my computer room inside my house. The distance from my computer room to the observatory will be appox 40 meters. I would much prefer to have a system which does NOT use any wiring between my house and observatory. I want to prepare my coming observatory, well in advance, to fully to accommodate these future developments if I can. After reading a lot of messages on this forum I can see that lots of people are controlling their telescopes from much longer distances than me .... often hundreds of miles it seems !!! The information that ASA provides on it's web site implies that they have helped all sorts of organisations set up equipment in some very remote parts of the world which can be controlled from a distance ..... but does not give me any clues on how this is being done. I have hit a brick wall after spending ages searching the internet for clues. Can any kind person give me some suggestions & guidance (software & hardware, etc.etc.etc.) on how I might go about controlling my DDM60 and scope from my house ... without using any direct connections? Many thanks in advance.

Hi tbaehnck ..... (sorry, but I don't know your real name) Many thanks for your contribution to this discussion. I am not too sure if I will ever get into remote control of my future set-up from the warmth of my own home ... but you never know .... perhaps one day when I get used to how things work! I am assuming that the use of a miniPC (like yours) is being used as some sort of link between your scope&mount and your laptop which is being controlled from somewhere else? Is there any advantage of using a laptop and a miniPC, side by side, inside the actual observatory that I am not aware of at this moment? Maybe as an extra memory storage when taking digital images perhaps??? Regards Mike

Hi Waldemar ... Thanks for this .... after reading your message I have been reading up about the Icron Ranger products on the 'net. Bearing in mind that, at the minute, I know almost zero about computer control of telescopes and operating CCD cameras ..... am I correct in thinking that the Icron Ranger is something that will link my PC (inside my house) remotely to the DDM60 mount ..... and any CCD equipment that I end up getting? If this is correct ... what are the advantages of doing it this way compared with downloading data from the CCD camera to a USB memory stick and then uploading to my home PC later for image processing? Regards Mike

Hi Robert ... Thanks again for taking time to send me a reply :-) I am planning to have a permanent set-up but haven't made my mind up yet about what sort of "shelter" I will be having. I do have a high spec desktop PC that will easily cope with any sort of image processing that I want to throw at it .... but I want to keep this in the warmth of my house ! It is the hardware at the mount/scope end that I am trying to decide about. Regards Mike

Hi Luke ... thanks for your thoughts. I have been assuming that any device used to control the DDM60 would be totally separate from any imaging processing. When I eventually get into digital imaging (this will be a steep learning curve for me as I know nothing about any of this at the minute!) I have been assuming that any CCD camera that I get would be able to store data onto a USB memory stick so that I could then upload onto my home PC which lives inside my house. Am I missing something here??? Regards Mike

Many thanks for your thoughts and suggestions ..... please keep them coming :-) I want to be as "future proof" as possible with this. Robert ..... regarding your thoughts about using the "PC for image processing" .... I am a complete novice to this side of things :-( When I get my new DDM60 I initially intend to use it for visual use until I get to know how it all works. After this I very much would like to get into digital imaging ... but I suspect it will be a steep learning curve for me! I have been assuming when I get as far digital imaging I would be getting a CCD camera that downloaded to a USB stick which would allow me to take the data to my PC desktop inside my house totally separate from any controlling device being used on the mount & scope ....... am I missing something here??? Regards Mike

Hi folks ... I want to prepare the ground ready for the arrival of my gleaming new DDM60 mount ... hopefully this will arrive in a couple of months :-) Can anybody tell me what the specifications might be for a computer/laptop/tablet needed to run the software??? I have looked all over the ASA web site and can't find any information at all about this :-( Regards Mike

Hi folks ... I want to prepare the ground ready for the arrival of my gleaming new DDM60 mount ... hopefully this will arrive in a couple of months :-) Can anybody tell me what the specifications might be for a computer/laptop/tablet needed to run the software??? I have looked all over the ASA web site and can't find any information at all about this :-( Regards Mike

Hi Waldemar ... Thanks for this information. As yet I have not placed my order for the DDM60 .... apparently the details about the balance tool is on the latest version of AutoSlew but the only manual available on the ASA web site is an earlier version so there is no mention of it:-((( Regards Mike