Leveye

7 hours ago, chrisshillito said:

Yes, well that's definately a miss read of the RA axis encoder (ER)- the absolute absolute maximum value this can reach is 16777215.  DEC (ED) looks ok as do the RA and DEC motor status MSR and MSD. If EQMOD recieves bad data then it will use a simulated value instead until the next read - if it does this 5 times sucessively then it will stop the mount as it hasn't got what it deems to be full control. The fact your mount continues to run implies this is just an occasional, and short lived glitch.

If you had an EQDirect adpater to hand I would advise you to try that and compare - A direct connecton using an EQDirect is the most robust method of connecting EQMOD to the mount and while ever the sysncan is in the mix there is always some doubt over its own internal buffering and routing of the comms. Not sayig the synscan is a fault but it is at least one variable that can be removed.

Chris.

 

Thank you so very much for looking at it and giving me your take and advice on this. Much appreciated. I will try that eventually. Would you know why the tracking drifts off center so much after about an hour in solar and lunar in simulations? Sidereal seems fine. It stays centered on objects for hours.

Ok I've changed the locations setting to make things a bit tighter and more correct. This has slowed the err messages some but I still get them about every 15 minutes or so. Again the mount slews to proper position every time and tracking is smooth with no interruptions. The solar and lunar seems to drift after about 45 minutes or so. A real outdoor test as soon as the rains let up.

23 minutes ago, chrisshillito said:

Lets be a little careful here! - only a correctly wired up FTDI aapter can be plugged straight into the mount. As a synscan in PC-Direct mode is bein gused this implies the ftdi adapter in question is a usb-RS232 type and not an EQDirect.

You shouldn't really be getting communicatons errors - that does indicate that something isn't working as welll as it should be -it may be the occasional timeout , which EQMOD can tollerate - but if EQMOD experiences a number of consecutive failures it will play safe and try to stop the mount from moving.

Chriis.

 

I have it set up in the living room and have been testing it daily it has been slewing and tracking perfectly for a week now since initial set up. Pointing right were it should every time. Nothing unusual except when tracking in lunar after about 1/2 an hour it's off a bit. In solar it takes a few hours and it's off. I'll post a picture of the CommErr messages today.

A question for the experts. My new Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G mount seems to be slewing fine using EQMOD with both my laptop and desktop computers using an FTDI serial converter which shows signal flow both ways however I do see in the messages center window I'm getting constant CommErr messages. Should this concern me and will this cause any issues when I finally try auto guiding? Many thanks.  

Oh forgot to mention I'm connected through the V4 Synscan handset with the supplied cable and an FTDI usb serial adapter showing good signal flow in both directions in PC direct mode. So far zero issues and no interruptions. Just curious why i'm getting the messages at all.

Takumars are a real steal. 50mm-135mm-200mm-300mm That or spend a bit and get an early 80's Nikkor ED 180mm . Great astro lens! Here's one of comet Catalina using it on a standard tripod doing only 6 second shots at ISO 6k

Great color still.

I can't help with the possible reflection there to the right but I did have the same offset diffraction spikes at one time while testing a three vane. That turned out to be a faulty secondary replacement mirror whose coating did not cover the entire surface on either side. Going back to the original mirror corrected the issue right away so in my case i know that was what was causing it. I'd inspect the secondary very carefully. Some of these Chinese imports are flawed and many companies are using them in their reflectors..

You may have to move the primary mirror forward to achieve primary focus. There are a few threads about this. Take a look.

Always, always,always balance and align to the very very best you possibly can. 

Prime focus is the best method for the best results and great for DSO work not sure if you can reach it on your scope without modifying it by moving the primary mirror up. Keep in mind Reflectors need a coma corrector to have a unified flat field corner to corner. Try holding the camera with no lens up to the the empty focuser tube while viewing the night sky and while moving in and out see where the camera comes to focus.  For planetary work projection or parfocal  method is the best.

2 second delay at the very least to avoid  mirror slap issues trust me there.

If you use liveview mode the mirror is automatically locked up. I just turn the screen off to conserve power.