Jeffrsharpe

Fourth line up should say “ visible in APT”

Julian and Malcolm….the final test didn’t work as I had hoped when tested again….must have been tired at end of last days effort. I however now do have a working solution which after another half a day of trying to find a solution does work as I want it to…. Worth being aware of for others. ASCOM have a tool to replace the POTH hub….it’s called ASCOM Device Hub. This tool is visible in all the drop downs for mount options when selecting a mount in EQMOD or APT. To get it set up and for one time only go to settings in in EQMOD and select “Ascom device hub”. (You may need to check the port settings) then go to APT , mount settings, and select “Ascom device hub”. In my case camera and Focuser are also set up to open at start of APT and this mount setting means that the mount connects automatically and the EQMOD window also opens up at the start up of APT. So once these two option have been selected my set up sequence is as follows:- 1. Open APT, then camera, Focuser and mount all connect automatically and EQMOD N,S,E,W control window opens up. 2. Mount can now be moved using this window. 3. Open CdC and go to “telescope tab” and the go to “connect scope” drop down tab. “Connect scope”makes the scope position appear on the CdC mapping. 4. Any movement made by 2 above can now be seen on the CdC mapping and the CdC coordinates are replicated in the APT mount tab. I havnt tried but fully expect the APT platesolve and goto ++ function to work now the scope coordinates are visible in CdC. For information the APT mount control buttons don’t seem to work, or at least I can’t get them to work, but the familiar EQMOD window buttons do all the work perfectly well. So I’ve got what I want at last. Sorry for any earlier confusion.

After a morning of removing and reinstalling ASCOM, APT, and CdC it all seems to be talking to each other now, as well as to PHD2, so thanks for your support. I think it was CdC that had the glitch. It started raining yesterday so I only got to try it out once. Of course I have had to reset all my preferences on all the software which took me most of yesterday afternoon. Done nothing with it today but fingers crossed it will all work properly when I get to use it next, of course I could test it daytime anyway….perhaps tomorrow. Thanks again. Just to let you know how I’m using it all….I open CdC and link it with EQMOD window to drive the mount and scope to approximately where I want it, I then use APT to platesolve and GoTo ++ to centre the target and then set up an image sequence. As APT can drive the mount I am hoping that now that I can see the scope position move on CdC that I can drive the scope from APT to a next approximate location or to do an APT goto and watch the movement on CdC. Thanks again. Jeff

Thanks Julian, at least now I know I should be able to get what I am expecting to get. I must try harder🤞🤞🤞🔭. I’ll let you know when I get it sorted. Thanks again. Jeff

Thanks Malcolm and Julian. The same happens in Observatory as through VNC to study. I can also open any number of programs in the observatory via my VNC in my study. My problem is only these two not talking to each other. Ah, another thing I just thought of my PHD similarly won’t connect directly to APT so I have to juggle connections with that too. It all works with Sharpcap but they havnt got their platesolve goto++ function which is obviously useful in APT. I will try to reinstall APT later or tomorrow and see if they both connect properly then. Can I ask you both when the APT goto or APT mount controller is used does the scope view reticule in your setup move on the CdC mapping at the same time. Cos this is the facility that I want mine to do. Then,… should I be running both as administrator or not and if they are currently running in administrator mode do I need to reinstall them out of admin mode? They are both in administrator mode at present as advised on another article I read a few days ago. Thanks again. Jeff

Julian, thanks for response…in your case no doubt when CdC is connected to the mount with Ascom/EQmod app/window used to move the mount the rectangular viewing reticule also moves in CdC window. If you then open APT does it connect the mount? In my case a second ASCOM/EQmod app/ window pops up saying “ not found” or similar. I then have to disconnect the CDC Ascom/EQMOD and once disconnected the APT mount can be connected and the mount tabs work, plate solve etc but nothing is moving on the CdC window. So it demonstrates that I can connect both independently viaASCOM and EQMOD but CdC and APT are not working together. Your response doesn’t make it clear that In your case the APT mount movement is visible in the CdC window? Please tell me if you checked that aspect. If in your case it does move then have you any ideas why mine won’t? Thanks for interest. Jeff

I am controlling everything remotely from my study and my first attempt at using APT mount controls sent the mount the wrong way round and the cables snagged and ripped the mount control cable and power lead off the mount. It obviously stopped but I had no visibility in CdC and I wasn’t watching what was going on via my observatory security camera.

Hi, I have permanent setup with EQ6 , laptop and APT and CdC all connected via ASCOM and USBs. I can easily see the scope movement and movement of the observation rectangle on CdC when driven by the laptop ASCOM panel. I am using APT for imaging and platesolving and am trying to use the APT mount connection to drive the scope and most importantly at the same time see the observation rectangle move across the CdC screen. Currently I have to disconnect the APT mount connection, reconnect the CdC mount connection to see where the scope is pointing. Then relocate using CdC and disconnect and reconnect to APT to platesolve etc. Obviously it would be better to see the image rectangle is CdC move live when using the APT controls and not having to open and close mount connections each time. Can anyone tell me if this connectivity is possible with APT initiated movement shown live and visible on the CdC mapping.

Any suggestion would be helpful. The programme won’t open without a pop up saying “”initialisation error message: “open printer exception” access denied”” occurs on my Windows 7 32 bit machine. How can I overcome this? I have reinstalled the software several times, removed my antivirus. Some files always remain when uninstalling and programme says these can be removed manually. (could these be the problem but I am unable to remove them as they are seemingly linked to something else but nothing else is running) How can I remove them? Sometimes when I reinstall the programme opens and the full mapping shows as expected and everything works but after closing down and reopening the error appears. If ignored the programme opens but there is only a black star field and no menu bar icons. I have tried saving a full map cdc and then tried to open that over the black screen but I only get a second tab with a black screen. any help would be appreciated.

I tried that yesterday but rain set in and haven’t had clear sky yet...tried against nearby chimney in between rain this morning and it seems it may have worked.. it’s a bit too close though so need to get to a star when it gets clear....fingers crossed. Thanks for suggestion. Roll off roof observatory with EQ6 mount, Skywatcher ED80 scope as wide field with 600d, ZWO electronic filter wheel and Lakeside Focuser with piggybacked narrow field Skymax 127 and SXV H9c and second Lakeside focuser. Guiding with ZWO 120mm on ZWO 60 mm guidescope.. Williams optics Star 70, QHY5 and Neximage5 as extras Next step is to replace 600d with Altair Hypercam 294C PRO TEC Cooled 11.6mp Colour CMOS Camera 4GB DDR3 RAM.......when they can supply it.

It’s good to know someone else has the issue. I’ve discovered the pause occurs as I drive the scope through the meridian so I guess that’s an expected thinking moment for them. The issue of them not returning to the correct point is surely wrong and should if nothing else be correctable as it’s a consistent difference.

Thanks for two responses...Platesolving is my next learning exercise but the mount behaviour is still questionable although I must admit that I discovered last night that my longitude settings in CDC were Eastings when they should be west so I am hoping that will stop the return miss alignment issue. I need a clear night or hopefully a dry day to test this out on a nearby chimney. My power supply is quite a good dedicated 10 or 12 amp supply so should not be the problem.

Thanks for the comments. I used the moon as an example that night but not on different nights so it would have been the same if I had used a star. The problem is instantaneous and obviously the same over several days. I was hoping someone would explain how to reset the mounts programming.

Hi, By example my EQ6 is aligned on moon, then I park it to a desired position so that roof can slide back on, if I do a goto to return to the moon the moon is regularly misaligned by about 2 degrees lower than it should be. However if I move it from the moon via the laptop to the same parked position and then do a second goto to the moon it centres perfectly. Any suggestions on how to get it to park and return without loosing this amount of alignment. It will always park correctly at the desired location after use but won’t come out of park and stay aligned as it should. A second similar unusual behaviour that someone may be able to help on. For all movements from or to the park position the mount rotates to within about thirty degrees of the final point , then completely stops, has a few seconds thinking and then moves on to its final park location. It ends in the right position each time but what makes it stop to think. Moving from park the same interruption exists at about the same position. The mount is not binding at this point...it seems to be totally system or electronics related. Can the mount electronics be reset somehow to clear these two anomalies. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as parking properly would be nice to have. thanks...clear skies. Jeff

Thanks, I’ll try that later and let you know what happens. I was hoping that there would be some kind of software reset procedure which would eradicate it. I don’t know if it has always done it as I’ve only just installed a light panel and only now have any need to go to that position in the hut. I can understand your point which is useful but this isnt just a small movement it’s 30 to 40 degrees. Thanks though. Take care.

I have EQ6 with skywatcher ED80 and Williams optics star 70 piggy backed, two cameras and an off axis guider etc. I am relatively new to this mount but for some reason there seems to be an unusual motion when I try to slew. Best to explain it this way. I have a light panel fitted to the wall of my observatory. I can, and have set the park coordinates to go to that light panel position and the mount will go there after some unusual motion. As an example of the behaviour....I use EQMOD and can simply slew the mount about -5 degrees away from the light panel in azimuth and then tell it to park to the light panel. I would then expect the mount to simply return by 5 degrees to the light panel. What it does is move away even further say to about -25 to -40 degrees or more, then stops momentarily, thinks about what it has done and is supposed to be doing and then changes direction and returns correctly to the light panel. Is this normal behaviour? Presumably not...so how can I stop this peculiar motion. It slews quite normally when using Carte du Ceil in the sky (normally I am observing east of the meridian as trees are to the west of it so I cannot cross it when observing) so why should it behave peculiarly when below the horizon and past the meridian? .Any ideas would be welcome.