Celestron CGEM not meridian flipping

[stevepsheehan]

Hi all.

I'm setting up a mount that I bought 2nd hand, so don't know its history. At present though, it isn't, or at least, doesn't appear to be flipping. 

RA limits are currently disabled, and Meridian is disabled - seems counter-intuitive, but from reading the manual. that should allow "normal" automatic flips, yes?

If I'm tracking an object that passes the meridian, nothing happens, but if I then press the Enter button again, it does the flip fine, and continues tracking, it just won't do it automatically.

Any ideas?

TIA

Steve.

[lenscap]

32 minutes ago, stevepsheehan said:

If I'm tracking an object that passes the meridian, nothing happens,

Meridian

" Disable - This is the default setting, which instructs the mount to always swing around to the other side of the
pier as required to view objects on the opposite side of the Meridian. However once at the desired object, the
mount will continue to track past the Meridian according the RA slew limits that have been set."

RA Limits

" Disable Limits – This disables any pre-defined values that have been entered and allows the mount to track the
maximum amount pass the Meridian (ie. -20º on both sides)"

 

The above 2 paragraphs from the manual tell me that with these settings, it will track an object an up to 20 degrees past the meridian without flipping, which it seems to be doing.

Is it flipping automatically as expected during goto's ?

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by lenscap
added italics to quotes

[stevepsheehan]

Yes, I keep reading those paragraphs too, but I seem to have developed the inability to comprehend English 😉

I get that it's probably tracking 20 degrees past meridan, but what does it do then... just stop? That might well be what it's doing, but I want it to flip normally, ie when it passes the meridan.

Yes, if I Goto something on the other side of the meridian, it flips fine.

I wonder if setting the RA limits to zero would have the desired effect?

[newbie alert]

I couldn't get mine to flip but it tracked way past the meridian.. my AVX was fine..

[stevepsheehan]

I re-checked this last night, and can confirm that it is indeed tracking 20 degrees past the meridian, and then stopping.

So my question remains - what setting do I have to change to get it to make the flip, and continue tracking?

[lenscap]

Steve, I don't have a CGEM so I will be happy to be corrected by someone who does, but my reading is that you cannot setup the mount (with the handset) to do an unattended flip while it is tracking. You have to press enter to cause the flip.

I'm not an imager but I believe that you can configure some imaging apps to make the mount do an unattended flip if you wish.

If you are visual observing do you really want it to flip automatically during tracking?

I can see the observer, sitting on his chair, entranced by the view of Saturn's rings, when the mount suddenly flips without warning, with obvious consequences. 😀

 

 

[stevepsheehan]

Yep, you're right. I've just had this confirmed by Celestron Customer Support - no automatic meridian flip option.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to use a 3rd party control prog then; I was planning on doing that anyway, just not quite yet 😉

[ArtemCanada]

Hi Steve, 

I am facing the same issue as the owner of CGEM. So does the mount allow us to do the meridian flip with the hand control itself? 
(I am totally fine to “force” the mount to do meridian  flip without using any APT or PHD2)

Thanks, 
Artem

Edited January 28, 2021 by ArtemCanada

[stevepsheehan]

Yes Artem, it does.

Lets say you've done a goto, and are tracking a target east of the meridian; once it has crossed the meridian, a CGEM will continue to track for a further 15 degrees, then stop. However, a simple push on the Enter button on the handset, at any point during those 15 degrees, and it will do a flip, and then continue tracking the target to the west. I don't know what happens if you press Enter after it has stopped though - might be worth an experiment?

My solution has been to switch to computer control, using NINA.

Hope this helps,

Steve

[ArtemCanada]

Thank you, Steve!

still can’t believe that such a simple thing wasn’t included into their manual!

will test it tomorrow!

thanks, 

Artem