Windows 1903 - Anyone Having Any Issues With Software

[Stickfarm8]

My laptop upgraded to 1903 yesterday morning. I was expecting some issues when I went outside - although I had at least tried Astrotorilla before setting up, having it solve one of the BYEOS images from Thursday night. It seemed to solve just fine.

It was a drop-dead gorgeous night - crystal clear, low moisture in the air. I was excited.

Well, once setup, had no issues with Polemaster getting polar aligned, I wasn't disappointed <s>.

Had to reactivate the license registration for BYEOS for starters. Then for some reason had to do a reboot, at which time some other minor updates were applied before I could BYEOS up and connected to the camera.  CDC started up ok, slewed to Polaris first, plate solved fine. But Polaris was not in the target circle on BYEOS image view. It was slightly to the left of the circle - not even in it. Repeated solving did not correct.  Very different behavior from Thursday night. No mention of errors in the log.

Slewed to Vega - this time no issues.  Slewed to Denab - and got a error after solving the first pass, that it could sync because of the distance it was off (~28 arcminutes). Repeated plate solving - same result.  Went back to Polaris - same result as before, slightly to the left of the target circle after solving.  Slewed to Eagle Nebula and after solving it was spot on. Unfortunately the Moon was right near the Eagle, causing funky rings in the image so that option had to be abandoned. Slewed to Ring Nebula, and plate solved. But there was no Ring visible. Went back to Polaris - same position as before when plate solved. Went back to Ring Nebula  but before solving looked at BYEOS live view and the Ring was off to the left - a little further that Polar was off after AT had plate solved. I manually adjusted the mount to get the Ring centered and imaged for over an hour. Guiding was good - very good. 

I wanted to finish up the night with some more images of Triangulum - same issue with AT. Solved and this error that it could not resync because of the distance. Went back to PARK position. Shut everything down, restarted and this time Polaris was spot on in the center when AT solved. Went to Triangulum, it solved and was in the BYEOS target circle. 

When I finished, told the mount to PARK. Then went to disconnect the mount from CDC - and noticed that EQMOD was already shut down and I got an error from CDC.  Very weird. 

One other note - I do clear the alignment points in EQMOD every time I start up - now that I had plate solving working.

Keep in mind - I'm still very new at all this and the issues could be purely due to "pilot error". 

Anyone have any ideas of where to start troubleshooting ?  Chalk it up to "just one of those nights"?

Any help is most appreciated. I may not have much of a window to image tonight - long needed rain coming for Sun/Mon. 

Rich

[Dr_Ju_ju]

If you've only just updated to 1903, then be prepared for a number of further updates, some which are quite large and WILL require re-boots.

It will also be a pain as some of the updates will only be shown after preceding updates have been installed & the system re-booted... 

[stash_old]

2 hours ago, Stickfarm8 said:

Repeated solving did not correct.

What are you doing with EQMOD - i.e. What Point alignment method are you using and are you clearing out the saved alignment points each time you start?

For example creating bad alignment points or using "old data" when using a mobile set up can "screw up" the modelling. I even have to clear old EQMOD alignment data during session sometimes. You will probably see the Telescope pointer in CDC not move or "jump" mear to the target and AT will just give the same solved RA/DEC coordinates.

Are you using CDC to Sync as well as AT ? Check CDC set up date / time - I have on occasions found its time out by a good few minutes even though it says its using System time - so I now use the "refresh option" and set the refresh to every 10 secs.

Perhaps reading this may help http://forum.mainsequencesoftware.com/t/help-from-eqmod-users/2485/47 p.s If you dont know Chris Shillto is the EQMOD author (or one of them) 

Regarding PC O/S updates - Tip is start your PC well before you are going to use it to allow for any updates or disconnect your network or device from the Internet before starting. Also change the times Windows can do updates - doesn't stop updates totally unfortunately.  There are loads of other methods to restrict Microsoft from doing its thing - google it 🙂

Edited October 5, 2019 by stash_old

[Stickfarm8]

Julian - thanks for the heads up on updates. Supposedly it was complete in the afternoon - it wasn't. 

Stash - I check and if necessary clean out the alignment points everytime I set up - now that I have AT working. With regards to CDC - and syncing. Since when the plate solved successfully, noted that there was a update in the EQMOD data base - do I still have to  click the sync btn in CDC?

When I tried that once Thursday night, I had thought I noted two entry points in the EQMOD list and didn't think that was a good idea. I searched thru the documentation on CDC and AT - didn't see anything about telling CDC it was sync'd to that point. 

Thanks for the help !

Rich

[stash_old]

some more confusing details but might help - 

 

55 minutes ago, Stickfarm8 said:

do I still have to  click the sync btn in CDC?

Not as i understand how eqmod works (which could be wrong LOL) . AT should ,if using Append mode (not dialogue) in EQMOD and using 3 point,you should see a point added - in Dialogue/nearest point I think it adds values (offsets) to DXSB/DXSA.  I try and create smallish triangles of solved points around an object if I am having problems which in my view should make find a point within the area easier to goto - but it doesn't always work. Everyone ,except the authors, are still learning I guess - must have read the Help PDF "n" times and still not 100% clear in my mind. You can of course add lots of Sync points from either CDC or AT (or even manually !!!!)  and see the result in the extended EQMOD window if you click the "Spanner" then click the "Points list" then click left or right mouse buttons.

If it works for you use your own working workflow!

But as you have found when it all works its great 🙂

[Stickfarm8]

Yep - I have been checking to make sure the EQMOD database it was clear when I first start EQMOD to do the alignment with Polemaster.  And AT was clearly appending the database when it solved .  It just wasn't "centered" like it had been last weekend or this past Thursday night using AT. Its looking like I might have clear skies early before the front comes closer with the much needed rain . 

Thanks as always Stash !

[stash_old]

18 hours ago, Stickfarm8 said:

closer with the much needed rain

will lend you some - plenty to spare 😞

[Stickfarm8]

I did get out last night for about 90 minutes. AT behaved perfectly.  I did reinstall AT yesterday afternoon - not sure that had anything to do with it Stash.

Was able to get 12 subs of Pinwheel before it set behind the trees across the street. Eagle Nebula was still problematic due to the moon glow.  The high level cloud cover started forming about that time, so the session was over. 

And finally - the rain has returned to KY - about 1/4 inch so far. A good inch plus set for tonight. 

One thing about all this - my setup procedure has become a "habit" now from all this "practice" - I don't need the checklist anymore - LOL !

Rich