HEQ5 woes yet again (I think)

[oshb5]

Right I finished making the EQdirect USB lead. I set everything up on the laptop and switched on everything worked well i think it did I went through the various movements with the mount and it all seamed fine i even did a few goto from click and point on the stellerium and that worked. Anyway was very happy and wa then playing with the slew and park of the mount I had it on a small table in front of me and I was only turning the DEC I thought what if i turn it through 380 degrrees will it just do 20deggrees to park or the full 380. well it is at that time it stumped me.. It did not it moved a extra 30 degrres and sad it was parked I thought this was strange and tried it many times and found that if i went clock wise i can do nearly 1 1/4 turns before it changes in fact clockwise it does the full 360 that is +90 down to 0 then to -90 down to 0 then back up to +90 (360deg) then as it goes down from the +90 again it gets to +25.20'54" then it switches over to -25.21'04" for some reason dont ask me why. But if i try to do a park before it changes over it goes back to proper park position but if i do a park after it has switched to the - the it goes to the park position about 50deg off normal park position? Doing it anticlockwise it does exactly the same but just before 3/4 of a turn it does the +90 to 0 then to -90 and as it is counting down to 0 when it gets to the -25.20'54" it again switches over to the +25.21'04" I have tried this with both the EQmod and the hand set with no difference Also either switching off and then trying it or doing it one after the other But no matter how many times I have tried it the results where always the same and at the same degrees on the readout?.. Anyone any ideas how or why the mount may be doing this Is it to do with any set up or anything like that?..

I suppose in theory it would not cause a problem in viewing or imaging because in real time with a scope fitted you would never do the 245 degrees would you? It was just that is was a glitch that iv found in my mount it may be faulty or there may be another explanation I dont know what but I can hope LOL any information on this or if anyone else wants to try it or has tried it please enlighten me..

Thanks Andy

p.S. I have got all the version numbers of software database and motor controller if that will help?

[Cornelius Varley]

I don't see a Synta equatorial goto mount in your sig. The EQdirect interface and EQMOD software are designed to be used with these mounts only.

Peter

[malc-c]

I don't see a Synta equatorial goto mount in your sig. The EQdirect interface and EQMOD software are designed to be used with these mounts only.

Peter

Peter, Reading his signature his appears to have one of these

iOptron GoToNova Upgrade Kit for Celestron CG5 Skywatcher EQ5 Astro 5 Meade LX75 Vixen GPD :: German Equatorial mounts :: Mounts & Tripods :: Altair Astro

GoTo Nova Mount Compatibility: Customers have successfuly installed the GoToNova® system on the following EQ5-like mounts (144 teeth). Skywatcher EQ5, Vixen Great Polaris (GP), Orion SkyView Pro, Celestron CG-5, Meade LDX55/LDX75 and Astro-5. The kit may also be used on the older Vixen Super Polaris (SP) with some minor modifications to the housing to make it fit better.

The only reason I can think of for the strange slewing when using EQMOD is that the servo motors use different steps, or gear ratio. From advice from Chris (EDMOD developer) he could try setting up a custom setting in the ASCOM driver to match the ratio the gears use.

[Cornelius Varley]

Which is what I meant. EQmod only works with Skywatcher Synscan and Orion Pro go to mounts and is incompatible with other systems.

Peter

[chrisshillito]

Andy,

The firmware in the mount that maintains an "encoder count" of how many stepper steps the mount has moved. If you take the mount out of its normal operating range (i.e 180 degrees either way ) then this count eventually becomes too large a number for the size of byes it is stored in and so will "wrap around" to 0 resulting in total confusion for both EQMOD and the synscan. Synta perhaps should have handled this better in the mount controller firmware but then provided you stick to operating the mount "normally" (i.e. as it would be in the field) then you'll be fine.

Chris.

[oshb5]

Hi All Iv not updated my Sig I got the HEQ5-Pro last weekend and been working on getting the parts for the EQascom cable and so on over the week.. Hence why the post was entitled HEQ5 woes and not CG5 woes. Plus I have asked about various other aspects of the HEQ5 over the last 5 days I think I may be pestering a little. I will update my Sig as soon as I get the mount up and running as its no use doing so if it does not work right or I dont feel comfortable in using it.. and have to carry on using my CG5 and Ioptron Goto Nova. Which has worked fine its just so noisy even with strip down complete rework and tune up

But back to the problem in hand If I had something to do last night other than play with the mount (Such as Say look at the stars) then I may not have stumbled on this correct But you can see why i was concerned when it happened can you not because ever time i rotated it more than the certain degrees and then applied park it never parked back where it should so in essence it looked as though the mount was not working right. Anyone who did not know what Chris has just told me would have also been concerned would they not.. Many thanks for putting my mind a rest. I can just see it now all those that did also not know what Chris has just told me getting their mounts out and setting them up in the living room and frantically rotating the Dec backwards and forwards to see if what I did happens to their mounts Can I ask Chris is it because you have done the EQ project that you know this Or is it documented somewhere in all their literature? as forewarned is forearmed so to speak and I would not have possibly had a panic attack like I did messing about in the early hours of this morning . So thanks again for your help on the mount and also the help you provided everyone not just my on the EQMOD project.

All the best Regards Andy

[chrisshillito]

Hi Andy,

I doubt there's anything in the official documentation (its a long time since I read any). Synta/Skywatcher have never volunteered any info to assist us with EQMOD and most stuff we've worked out for ourselves. Fortunately I have experience in writing software/firmware for embedded control systems and so I know how these types of things tend to work, and how they can go wrong.

Chris.

[oshb5]

Thanks again Chris for every thing.

Regs Andy

P.S. pity you not here you coould programme my small cnc mill LOL