Skywatcher AZ GTi Help

[astro_al]

I recently acquired a Skywatcher AZ GTi mount. I have found that the GoTo is accurate but after confirming that the object is centred the mount only tracks for 15-20 seconds before drifting. If I turn tracking off then the rate of drift is unchanged, turn it on again and I get another 15-20 seconds of tracking.
However, if I click the ‘point and track’ option I get good tracking and no sign of drifting. Looking at the help the ‘point and track’ is for when no alignment has been completed and shouldn’t be required after a successful alignment to get good tracking. I am already using two devices to use Sky Safari and would like to avoid having to use both apps each time I slew to a new object, i.e. slew from Sky Safari then find and click the ‘point and track’ option in the SynScan app. 

Does anyone else with this mount also see this behaviour? I don’t think it is a mechanical issue because it does track well in the ‘point and track’ mode. I also noticed reference to ‘Simple Sun Tracking’ in the help but don’t have that as an option when using the mount so I don’t know if I am missing a configuration step or option. 

Any help gratefully received. 

Thanks

Al

[Cornelius Varley]

You might find this thread useful

 

[astro_al]

Thanks for the link.

I don’t think the issue I have is related to needing two devices though. Even without Sky Safari in the mix I still need to click the ‘Point and Track’ option in the SyncScan app after confirming a goto to get the mount to track for more than 20 seconds. I am curious if other users of this mount have to do this, and if not if I can change the behaviour. @Stu do you have to use the ‘point and track’ option?

[Stu]

43 minutes ago, astro_al said:

Thanks for the link.

I don’t think the issue I have is related to needing two devices though. Even without Sky Safari in the mix I still need to click the ‘Point and Track’ option in the SyncScan app after confirming a goto to get the mount to track for more than 20 seconds. I am curious if other users of this mount have to do this, and if not if I can change the behaviour. @Stu do you have to use the ‘point and track’ option?

Hi Al,

That’s strange, no I don’t have to do that, the mount tracks fine. I assume you have successfully completed the alignment process, and that you have sidereal tracking enabled?

Stu

[astro_al]

Hi Stu,

Yes, alignment completed and sidereal enabled. Goto accuracy is pretty good, just the tracking seems to stop unless I switch to the point and track option. Thanks for confirming that this isn’t typical behaviour. 

Al

[astro_al]

Upgraded the firmware on a SynScan handset so I can use it with the AZ GTi. Works well with no sign of the tracking issue seen when using the app over WiFi. All very strange, but I am happy enough using it with the handset - easier to find the buttons. Will try the app again after the next update to see if it makes any difference. 

[MrsGnomus]

On 22/04/2018 at 22:38, astro_al said:

Upgraded the firmware on a SynScan handset so I can use it with the AZ GTi. Works well with no sign of the tracking issue seen when using the app over WiFi. All very strange, but I am happy enough using it with the handset - easier to find the buttons. Will try the app again after the next update to see if it makes any difference. 

Did you ever get to the bottom of this, Al?  We bought one of these units for a trip to the US and we encountered precisely the same problem as you.  We got a successful alignment, a reasonably good GOTO, but then it wouldn't track.  We were able to get it to track, but only if after the alignment and GOTO we clicked 'Point and Track'.  However, this was inconvenient since with most objects 'Point and Track' was in a submenu.  We contacted Skywatcher US who confirmed that the mount should just start tracking after GOTO.  But our unit - just like yours - does not do that.  Like you we have tried the latest firmware.

[astro_al]

Unfortunately not. It is still working great with the point and track option so is fine for what I use it the most for, lunar and planetary. However I was hoping to use it along with Sky Safari on a second device to nip around the sky to find double stars - which is completely impractical without it tracking properly after a GOTO.

If you get anywhere please let me know.

[MrsGnomus]

We have now contacted our vendor who has been in contact with Skywatcher on our behalf. Yesterday we were asked to run a test and the results of that have now been sent off to Skywatcher. Our unit didn’t seem to behave as it should have done during the test so we are now waiting for further feedback from Skywatcher/our vendor. Hopefully we will get it sorted shortly.

[Stargazer-67]

Hi,

i think my Az-gti mount does something similar. GoTo is fine, but tracking is lost after a few seconds. However, the drift is faster than normal sidereal drift, and in the other direction, as if the mount compensates for 5 times sidereal.  

i have this with the app, and with the Celestron starsense for Sky-Watcher device. So it looks like something internal to the mount. 

To add to the confusion, some nights tracking is perfect, some nights it is not.

 

MrsGnomus, can you elaborate on the tests you performed?

[MrsGnomus]

The first test that we were asked to run is as follows:-

Hi,
    The SkyWatcher engineer has asked the questions below:

Please ask the customer to help us identify the problem by doing the following test.

1. GOTO an object that is not close to meridian.

2. Choose "Utility\Information"

3. Write down the "R.A./Dec" readings. The reading should be pretty stable or only changes very slowly. - it wasn't stable

4. Observe the "Axis" readings, they should keep changing.

5. Tap the readings regularly to prevent the screen turned off.

If the "R.A./Dec" readings should not change fast, that means the tracking is working normally.

 

If the "R.A./Dec" reading changes quickly, please check "Setting\Auciliary Encoder". If it is turned on, turn it off and do the above test again.

 

Please use menu “Utility\Information” to check the App version and the motor board version. Please also let us know what phone and OS were used to control the mount.

 

When we did this the RA/Dec readings changed very quickly.  The auxiliary encoder was already turned off.

This morning we were asked to do the following:-

 

Please test again and check:

Did the two readings in Row “Axis” change? - Yes

Can you use direction buttons to slew the two axes? - Yes

What icon shows on the upper-right corner of the App? Please tap the icon and then see which row is checked? Check “Sidereal” if it is not check and then get back to watch “R.A./Dec” readings. - Sidereal was already checked

 

We have fed back all of the observations to our vendor who is waiting for a further response from SkyWatcher

Our mount will do an accuarte GoTo after the initial alignment but does not track at all unless we use "Point and Track".

 

[david_taurus83]

I don't think it is the mount. I recently bought a WiFi dongle and have used it a few times on my AZ-EQ6 and I have noticed exactly the same issue. I thought it may have been a communication issue when connecting to Sky Safari but not entirely sure. Pressing point and track does seem to sort it though.

 

My guess is it's an issue with the app.

[MrsGnomus]

Ours is being collected this afternoon and is going back to the importer for repair/replacement.

We had the same behaviour with both versions (pro and standard) of the App although we have never tried the android version of the App. Not sure what version of the App others were using.

[david_taurus83]

I use mine on an Android. Galaxy S7. Apart from the intermittent tracking I can't fault it really!

[happy-kat]

Could power state of batteries be an influencing factor?

[Stargazer-67]

 

I initially suspected power state, as i was using rechargeable batteries, however, I had the same issue with mains power (with starsense, not the app) 

i am not yet sure that the issue I am seeing is the same. ( not just no tracking, but seems like 5 times sidereal tracking )

Will do the same tests later. 

[MrsGnomus]

4 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Could power state of batteries be an influencing factor?

We wondered if that could be a factor and tried new batteries as well as a different external power pack. It made no difference. If we do “point and track” after a “go to” then the mount tracks pretty accurately it just doesn’t start tracking properly after a “go to” if we don’t then go into the sub menu and select point and track.

[Stargazer-67]

1. GOTO an object that is not close to meridian.not a lot of choice this evening: performed single star align on the moon. Bad tracking. Worse than keeping scope unpowered  

 2. Choose "Utility\Information"

3. Write down the "R.A./Dec" readings. The reading should be pretty stable or only changes very slowly. - Not stable, changes in both axis of about 1 second per second

 4. Observe the "Axis" readings, they should keep changing. changes about 10 seconds per second

 5. Tap the readings regularly to prevent the screen turned off.

 

the aux encoder is off,

Did the two readings in Row “Axis” change? - Yes

Can you use direction buttons to slew the two axes? - Yes

What icon shows on the upper-right corner of the App? Please tap the icon and then see which row is checked? Check “Sidereal” if it is not check and then get back to watch “R.A./Dec” readings. - Moon . Kept lunar tracking

checked versions:

app: pro 1.9.0

motor board 3.10.A5

 

all this with mains power adapter and the app. The starsense is disconnected

Redid the allignement, (one star, on the moon). Checked lunar tracking, still tracking is not good. 

Did another GoTo to the moon, strange thing is that tracking is off but the allignement is fine: goto arrived perfectly on the moon  

did a point and track on the moon, and the scope has kept the moon in a 14mm eyepiece for 2 hours now. 

Strange. 

[MrsGnomus]

8 minutes ago, Stargazer-67 said:

Strange

PM sent

[London_David]

I have exactly the same problem. I assumed it was a firmware issue talking to the app. But I don’t know, that was pure conjecture and I haven’t actually had a chance to test it out again since I updated the firmware.

It would track for 30 seconds then stop, then I’d turn tracking off and on again and it would work for another 30. I use it for eea so it was a pain but I still got some basic use out of it since I was stacking and I’d reject frames when I saw the tracking fail and re center the object. Still it did make a few sessions a lot less fun.

My mount tracked perfectly until about two months ago. I’ll try the Sky-Watcher instructions tomorrow and see what happens. It’s an awesome mount when it works. 

[Skyremat]

I have just seen that new firmware version 3.12 is available for Skywatcher AZ GTI mounts. I didn’t updated it yet but just for info.
Cheers

[MrsGnomus]

We have now had a response from SkyWatcher (via our vendor). Essentially they have discovered that there is a software error. Specifically an “issue within the software algorithm that controls tracking after a goto operation”.

They are working on a fix and will release new versions of the App once this is sorted. In the meantime the advice is to use “point and track” after a go to in order to ensure that the mount tracks reasonably accurately. The other information that was fed back is that accurate levelling during setup can help with tracking. I use an inclinometer App on my phone to ensure that the scope is level for the North Level Alignment.

We are expecting our mount back tomorrow, then we just need to wait for the updated Apps........

[astro_al]

On 27/06/2018 at 15:26, MrsGnomus said:

They are working on a fix and will release new versions of the App once this is sorted.

That’s good news, thank you. I did buy the WiFi dongle for the SynScan EQ5 kit I have on my Vixen GPDX and I have seen no sign of the issue when using the app. I plugged the dongle into the AZ GTi to see if that made a difference but it didn’t so I guess it is a problem with the app and the AZ GTi or AZ mounts in general. Hope it gets fixed soon, or maybe it has already as I am late in returning to this thread. 

[david_taurus83]

34 minutes ago, astro_al said:

That’s good news, thank you. I did buy the WiFi dongle for the SynScan EQ5 kit I have on my Vixen GPDX and I have seen no sign of the issue when using the app. I plugged the dongle into the AZ GTi to see if that made a difference but it didn’t so I guess it is a problem with the app and the AZ GTi or AZ mounts in general. Hope it gets fixed soon, or maybe it has already as I am late in returning to this thread. 

It does it with the AZ EQ6 GT in Alt az mode, but I've noticed it doesn't do it in EQ mode. It simply keeps tracking. Even when it loses connection with my phone.

[MrsGnomus]

We have an AZ EQ 5-GT - this is a new purchase within the last couple of weeks. We only use this in Alt-Az mode for visual as we have two other mounts on permanent piers that we use for imaging. We have the WiFi dongle for that and have exactly the same issue with the mount not tracking properly when using the App. 

I haven’t seen any evidence of a new App so we may get back onto SkyWatcher via our vendor in the next week or so.