steppenwolf

Sadly, this was a long-shot but the first thing the manufacturers advise is to use the latest drivers so it was worth a go and it was a potential quick option. We are still stuck with the patchy comms issue and I really feel that until this is resolved there is little point in moving further up the control chain - sadly we don't currently have a reliable 'basic mount' but we'll get there! Let me know how the USB swap goes, Tom.

That would be ideal as I need to help you get the mount just working reliably as just a basic mount before we use it on the sky and I am not sure that it is doing that yet! I'm sure we will both have something to offer here and when we (hopefully) get to the integration with SG Pro stage, it'll be over to you as I only know how to use it for the dome control! Hear from you soon, Tom.

Hi Tom, I am available all day, just give me a call.

Always a good start!

Thanks, Olly and the same to you and Monique - we are an hour behind you, what is 2019 looking like?

Hi Olly, TeamViewer is pretty solid - any issues are normally down to the Internet link (not a problem at your place I suspect) or one of the PCs and the Eagle doesn't seem that stable?

I agree, if you have faulty CalStar Inits in place, the system will respond to them - CalStar Inits should only be saved after a successful alignment (visual or by plate solve) carried out while the mount is tracking correctly otherwise they are meaningless!

How far to the north is it moving Tom? If you did an Offset Init followed by a re-slew then, of course, it could easily move north to make the correction but it shouldn't just do this automatically.

Absolutely! Not heard any more - I think he's still down the pub ?

This is going to sound a little pedantic but it is important to understand the differences between 'CalStar Inits' and 'Offset Inits' especially when you progress to using a sky model as I do - the Offset Init is not 'persisting' in the true sense of the word because it is transient and its data is lost at switch off of the mount, whereas CalStar Inits are recorded and re-loaded from a data file at start-up. However, because you have parked your mount while the offset was in play, the offset is 'remembered' by the mechanical position of the parked mount. If you are not going to ever use a sky model then this is a moot point unless the mount's Park position is disturbed between sessions. I hope that makes sense! ?

I need to warn you of my bias here as I am a very happy owner of an Esprit 150. As you already know, Es Reid rates these very highly and so he should, they are truly excellent instruments! I can't see much advantage in going for the TAK 130 from an aperture point of view and if you are going to invest in this way, increased aperture should be part of the equation. The Tec 140 is excellent and the increase in aperture would be worthwhile but with the Esprit's proven pedigree, why not go for the 150 aperture? The mount becomes very significant here and if you go for a larger telescope like any of those you mention, the EQ6 would be the mount of choice unless you want to invest in something much more expensive. I envy you being in this wonderful position and luckily, you have plenty of time to make the right, informed choice - good luck!

Well that trumps my 'Skyfall' distraction! ? Who needs a pub though, the Shiraz is free-flowing here this week

I had a horrible feeling that you were going to say that!

I suppose that I really ought to qualify this a bit! You can run without CalStar Inits but they have the advantage of writing in stone a mini model of the sky and your particular mount's interaction with it so that your Offset Inits place a real time fix on that model. I like to use them as they have always worked well for me.

It could indeed be a comms. issue on the Eagle, Sara which is why I am keen to get 'hands on' to see for myself exactly what is happening without additional variables in the equation. The trouble with 'comms'. is that there are two ends to the link! ? It is going to be fun doing this when the system is 1000 km away as I what I'd really like to do is put my own observatory PC on it..... I have no direct experience of the Eagle, Sara how stable do/did you find the USB connections?

OK Tom, I now have a compatible version of TV up and running. No opinion really, I just report what works for me! ?

Hi Tom, I think a TeamViewer session is called for so that I can see this in real time as there are too many variables to evaluate this issue currently - I will look into updating my version of TV to make it compatible with your version.

@Tom OD Did you get any further with this or did I 'kill' the thread ?

No, there is nothing else you should have done providing that you carried out a sync and that the sync was a CalStar Init. Your first ever sync must be a CalStar init, not an Offset Init as the former is permanent whereas the latter is transient. .... and now back to 'Skyfall', I'm afraid!

The dialogue box underneath the 'Tracking' button should also be stating 'Tracking' so this is indicative of an incorrect initialisation. There is no reason why you shouldn't use POTH (I do because it suits my way of working) but this isn't a POTH fault anyway. As ever, simplify the test by purely supplying power to the mount with no other software running and then run Sitech by itself. If you unpark, does tracking now work or do you still get the same display (i.e. 'Reading Servo Parms')?

Thank you for that, Alan, I shall have a look on t'Internet for that tutorial!

My pleasure! I hope you find it useful, Scott - it's working every time for me now whereas before, I found deconvolution a bit of a variable process!

This would be my understanding of why I only use Moffat sample as well.

Thank you for the link, Wim, I will have to study that one very carefully!

There is no significance to the page number as this 'chapter' isn't in any way associated with either 'Dark Art or Magic Bullet?' or 'Making Every Photon Count' - this is a chapter from my own personal reference manual (I do like to document the stuff I learn as it makes it easier to absorb and I can easily refer to it in the future!) and isn't currently being considered for publication. ? I hope you enjoy 'Dark Art'.