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Couple of new issues for you to solve please


Wirral man

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Hi all after a great start last night the clouds rolled in but then cleared so got up and running now the issues,

The target was the veil nebula and scope was pointed at a nice angle for this but next I heard phd2 pinging away and it had a message warning to increase dec max so I did this then it prompted me to increase ra max after doing this still problems so closed it off opened eqmod and it was flashing meridan filp.. but the scope looked ok to me anyway restarting everything and the scope panned round the other way to continue shooting but the image is 180° rotated, which I felt ok with as I use goto++ on apt and it centred the frame perfectly....is this normal if so how do I know for in future as was by luck I was next to the PC when this happened....

2nd Big question is again apt I can run everything and all connects with apt apart from phd2 on apt it shows NC,

Now I make sure all apps are opened via administrator and have server enabled in apt but it will not connect at all,

but when I think back months ago when I was learning everything phd2 would show connected but now nothing really baffling???

so yet again hope you can put me right thanks in advance.

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In eqmod you'll need to open the settings menu and untick the limits box. This will allow you to image past the meridian. 

As for guiding, I think there's a setting that says allow external connections, or something to that extent. I can't remember 100% so I may be wrong on this one. 

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1 hour ago, geordie85 said:

In eqmod you'll need to open the settings menu and untick the limits box. This will allow you to image past the meridian. 

As for guiding, I think there's a setting that says allow external connections, or something to that extent. I can't remember 100% so I may be wrong on this one. 

Just a thought would the scope clash with the mount if this setting in eqmod was unticked,?? 

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I usually use Stellarium in preparation for imaging session. I handle my meridian flips manually.

In Stellarium there is option to turn on various markers, so turn on Meridian line. Now use clock to advance time to planned imaging session and observe when target is about to cross meridian line. Note time when it happens. You want your sequence to end at or close to that time. When you finish your first sequence, park scope (or move to home), wait for couple of minutes - actually you can do filter change here, check for needed refocus, maybe take a set of flats. I usually wait about 5-10 minutes, depending on my FOV, while the target and fov clears meridian (it does not have to clear meridian completely - it needs to cross just enough so that mount and eqmod figures it needs to be oriented the other way). After this, you slew/goto to your target, try to center FOV as previously (with 180 rotation), of plate solve to exact location and fire away.

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More and more I've been relying on EKOS/Kstars for imaging. Even if you tear down and re-set up each night, it will automate the entire nights imaging process without intervention. It handles the meridian flip, requires a guide star, and plate solves to be sure your object is in the same position as it was before the meridian flip. I believe your equipment is pretty well supported by it, and it's free to try. Might be worth exploring. All this automation helps eliminate the "human" error factor. Haha.

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On 13/09/2018 at 09:53, Wirral man said:

Just a thought would the scope clash with the mount if this setting in eqmod was unticked,??  

Yes it will hit eventually. The problem was not that you had limits enabled, it was that you had left them the default (meridian).  EQMOD RA limits are configurable. You could for instance slew off to your target so the dec axis gets positioned appropriately - then manually slew round in RA until the scope is about to hit and set the RA limit just that point. Then go back to your target, start imaging safe in the knowledge that EQMOD will track through the meridian but will stop tracking before any collision takes place.

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37 minutes ago, chrisshillito said:

Yes it will hit eventually. The problem was not that you had limits enabled, it was that you had left them the default (meridian).  EQMOD RA limits are configurable. You could for instance slew off to your target so the dec axis gets positioned appropriately - then manually slew round in RA until the scope is about to hit and set the RA limit just that point. Then go back to your target, start imaging safe in the knowledge that EQMOD will track through the meridian but will stop tracking before any collision takes place.

I did not know you could do this. Thanks. 

Is it possible to set the mount to park the scope to the home position once it hits the set limit? 

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