APT problem trying to dither via a second PC

[tooth_dr]

I have two PCs, and three instances of APT open.

On PC1 I have two scopes running with CCD cameras and on PC2 I have a Nikon DSLR and lens.

In the GUIDE settings on PC1 in APT - Camera 1 = SERVER and Camera 2 = CLIENT.  On PC2 - the Camera is set to CLIENT

I want to coordinate dithering on both systems so that all exposures are syncd.  Currently this works perfectly with PC1 on it's own.  But it doesnt work on PC2 - it just starts taking the exposures regardless of the state of PC1.  I have went through the instructions and on PC2, I have adjusted the GUIDE setting to use the IP address for PC1.  It says connected on the little log menu and displays the graph for 'PHD state' so PC2 does appear to be communicating successfully with PC1.  But when I start to take exposures on PC2 I get this message below.  (Please note I also pay for this software, but I only recently installed it on PC2 and I havent got around the adding the licence details)

 

Any advice welcomed

Adam.

Edited November 22, 2020 by tooth_dr

[david_taurus83]

Any reason why you can't try all 3 instances on the one PC? Id have thought adding a second PC would make it more complicated. It confused me when I tried it with just 2 instances.

[tooth_dr]

17 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Any reason why you can't try all 3 instances on the one PC? Id have thought adding a second PC would make it more complicated. It confused me when I tried it with just 2 instances.

Good point!  I thought that it might overwhelm the PC.  Currently running two cameras, the mount, the dome, a Hitec Astro hub, two focusers, guide camera and PHD2, all on an old HP machine Intel duo core 2.13ghz 4gb ram, and I though that might just tip it over the edge.  It only has 6 USB ports, and I'm already using 11 USB devices connected to it.  The second PC runs an all sky camera, and nothing else so thought it would make more sense to share the load.

However, I might just try what you are suggesting now and see if it copes.

[david_taurus83]

19 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

 It only has 6 USB ports, and I'm already using 11 USB devices connected to it.

LOL!

[tooth_dr]

16 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

LOL!

Well it’s coping ok with 12 devices. However it did fail to restart one exposure there and remained ‘syncd’ on APT instance #3, so I’ve dropped it to 290s to allow it time to download before the other cameras download at 300s. Will see how that goes. 

Edited November 22, 2020 by tooth_dr