astrophoto_canada

Ok guys I sorted it.

I re-calibrated PHD2 looking east after UNCHECKING "Reverse RA Guide Mode when Looking East (RA). " in the Mount Parms tab. The "Reverse Guide Mode when Looking East (Dec)" remains CHECKED. 

Cheers

Gary.

On 30/10/2020 at 04:42, kirkster501 said:

Yep.  When the flip occurs is entirely controlled by the Sitech under-pole, over-pole settings and track past the pole, as you have found.  I also had this issue when I was new to the Sitech and, until you encounter this issue, maybe months after MESU ownership if you have been either west or east of the meridian and never needed to flip, you can think something is wrong with the mount.  Not at all, if these are set incorrectly the mount just stops when it gets to the Meridian - quite rightly otherwise damage could occur.

These settings are very poorly documented in the Sitech manual.  You can also set them for the flip when scope is pointing North since then, you need to do am opposite flip.  I set mine to 175 so as to flip when 5 degrees past the meridian.  You can see these as lines in the Skyview part of the Sitech install. 

With an astronomy program like CdC you can do dummy syncs and slews during daylight to test these settings by syncing on a star, or roughly where the star would be then, in my example, slewing to a new star 6 degrees past the Meridian which should cause a flip.  Once you have flipped and you then want to slew to a star to the East, an opposite flip should occur.

Yes I was testing this in the daylight using CdC and the inbuilt stuff in Sitech.exe. I automate my flips so it would have showed up as an issue quickly.  The way it was set up was dangerous as it would have collided with the wall and opener mechanism possibly. One inherent safety mechanism though is the mount slips easily as soon as a force >10nm is applied. 

Do you have the mount set up for Reverse Guide Mode (DEC and RA) in Mount Parms? When I flipped to the scope looking west, the RA in PHD2 guiding took off. I'd calibrated looking east and it worked well.  Ran out of darkness to solve the issue. 

Thanks!

Gary.

On 29/10/2020 at 17:31, mrpizza said:

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.  I removed the G11 and have wires hanging everywhere in anticipation of the arrival.  The pier sure looks naked.  I placed my order so It would get here after hurricane season so I can get right to learning how to use it.  It will hold a new Meade LX850 ACF 14".

Chris

 

 

Thats how mine looked .... because it is a short pier I ended up sliding my tripod over it and using my CEM while I waited for the four months for the build!  

28 minutes ago, mrpizza said:

Thanks for explaining your solution.  I am anxiously awaiting a new one here in the states and am trying to get as much info from new users so I am ready for any "problem" I encounter.

Chris

I found it’s quite a steep learning curve with all of the possibilities available through the sitech controller.  I made couple of mistakes which are obvious in hindsight. Nothing major just things that threw a wrench into the works. Hopefully I’ll get to use if the skies clear! Let me know if you want my .cfg file as it might save you some time.

Solved! Although I've yet to try it in practice. 

For those that have the ability to image past the meridian, it possible to set up a precise point where the mount will flip. For example, if say theres a portion of the horizon that is obscured, or may be limited by clearance, you can now define this in sitetch.cfg (Tab Mount Parms -  Overpole and Under Pole). In the config file that Lucas had provided, it was set up not to flip (bended knee arrangement). 

This will be handy in my case as I should (?) be able to independently set the meridian limits East, West  and altitude (or horizon file) to precisely control the flip position. 

This information is in the Help on the Mount Parms config tab, but is not in the older Operations Manual. 

Gary. 

Hey Everyone

Has anyone with a Mk2 Mesu had issues with it failing to flip? I'm waiting for Lucas Mesu to get back to me but in the meantime thought I'd reach out on here. I've asked a similar question on the Sitech forum too.

The issue I'm having is the mount is behaving like a flip-less mount with the RA continuing to rotate in the same direction when I've issued a goto for targets on the other side of the meridian. For example doing an offset init with the scope looking west, and then performing a goto to an object in the east, causes the CW bar to continue rising (i.e. moving counterclockwise) and scope dips to the face the target in the east.

I've checked every parameter and am using the sitech.cfg file sent to me by Lucas and haven't fiddled with the factory servoconfig either. The only thing I've changed is the lat/long for my location. I've checked the motor/encoder operation is correct per the Operations Manual. Tracking and gotos on the same side of the sky work fine. It's a really perplexing problem thats driving me nuts. 

Thanks in advance!

Gary.

6 hours ago, Xsubmariner said:

Hi, 

Your ESO naming is definitely appropriate and your innovative solutions to enable this mount are Impressive. My Mesu Mk 2 with it’s CW bar fit snugly into my 2.2M Pulsar Dome so I am not dependant on a home arrangement just yet, but will be very interested in any solution to support such an arrangement for my ROR observatory.

I operate my Mesu using only plate-solving and it guides great using PHD2 without the need for a Sky or PEC model. How are you planning to operate your mount?

 

Thanks for the comments!

The ROR is partially automated and I have magnetic switches that detect when the mount is not parked. This kills power to the opener so the ROR can't decapitate the scope. The current weakness is if the roof is closed, unparking could result in a collision. The home sensors would be used to inform the control system an unsafe state exists. Another way I've been mulling over is to use an Arduino to sense roof state and the mag switches on the mount. I have to learn how to program it though. 

I'll operate as you do with a plate solve. On my CEM60 the only time I use the handset is to polar align; I don't even have a finderscope attached anymore. Setting the home position, slewing to the target and platesolving does the trick.  The Mesu I think operates a bit differently requiring acquiring the target manually and syncing to initialize the mount. Regardless a near platesolve should still work (If my eyeballing is off then a blind solve in APT and sync would work). 

As I said I haven't tried any of this yet due to the weather so let me know if I'm wrong. 

Gary.

1 minute ago, Ships and Stars said:

Hello and welcome. I'm a visual astronomer, but the Mesu has an excellent reputation. That looks like an incredible set-up! Hoping you have clear skies soon.

Thanks! I've been doing astrophotography for about three years.  It's become an obsession! 

Hello Everyone, 

This is my first post on this forum (although I've lurked in the shadows for a while). So I thought I'd share some of the modifications that I've had done to the new Mesu MkII I received last week in case someone can benefit. Sadly I haven't tried it imaging yet only balanced, slewed it around and read the Sitech documentation to make sure everything is functioning.  The day it arrived we plunged into sub-zero temps and snow 😫. 

The mods include an extended wedge for some limited imaging past the meridian, and an angled counterweight bar for clearance in the tight space.  Some have commented in other posts on the long Mesu CW bar but its necessary to balance the weight of the head (unloaded) and to accommodate counterweights for the significant payload. Once tested I'll be loading this bad-boy with a number of different focal length scopes as changing equipment at 25C below is not fun. I lasted one winter doing this and the automated ESO (Exceedingly Small Observatory) was born.

Has anybody with this mount installed homing switches? The Sitech1 controller has an aux port for this purpose. For me this would be for integration into the ROR control system to prevent an expensive mistake.  Eventually the goal will be to monitor for inclement weather and shut down the system safely or automate parking and calibration frames at the end of a normal session. This is a work in progress as I only completed the ROR roof upgrades this summer. 

Thanks

Gary.

PS That flats panel needs moving. It was ok with the old mount but every inch counts now!