Please help with NINA and Meridian Flip setting?

[oymd]

I encountered a problem a couple of nights ago, and was not entirely sure how to solve it?

I was imaging M31, as 300s subs.

Late into the night, as M31 was approaching the Zenith, I had a quick look on my PC which is remotely connected to my laptop in the garden beside the scope and mount.

I noticed that the subs were showing serious star trailing, and PHD2 was all over the place, reporting errors: CANNOT MAKE DEC CORRECTIONS etc...

As I went out to the garden, I heard the mount making a looping sound, like it was trying to do something, but failing.

The mount was in a HORIZONTAL orientation, with the scope pointing straight up on the WEST SIDE of the mount.

NINA was reporting that the meridian flip was in 10 minutes and was counting down.

I waited for 1 5 minute sub hoping that the mount would fix itself, but everything stayed the same.

I cancelled the sequence, RESTARTED and plate solved on one of the previous subs.

The mount slewed to M31, but this time the scope was on the EAST side of the mount, and everything went well for the following 3 hours.

NINA reported that the flip is due in 11:59 hours, and counting down.

Why did I experience this behavior? I must have a wrong setting in my MERIDIAN FLIP in NINA & EQMOD.

If I had been sleeping, would the mount had SELF CORRECTED after 10 minutes and did the flip on its own, and ALL THIS IS NORMAL AND TO BE EXPECTED BEFORE A MERIDIAN FLIP?

Can I ask NINA and EQMOD to do the MF a little EARLIER to avoid this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have attached pics of how the mount was oriented and a VIDEO of the sound it was making.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o5cslme6ij5sbxf/IMG_8131.mov?dl=0

 

Thanks

 

 

IMG_8131 (1).mov

Edited August 14, 2021 by oymd

[Clarkey]

I had some issues with meridian flips (not with NINA but another one - maybe BYEOS or APT) and it was down to the settings between the mount control and EQMOD. I extended the range of the mount in EQMOD to a few degrees past the meridian on both sides which allowed the software to continue imaging just past the point of flipping. The mount then finishes the sub and flips without issue. Without this PHD and the imaging software was trying to move the mount but EQMOD was stopping it giving the star trails and errors. I would try to extend the range of the mount slightly in EQMOD and I think this will solve the problem. (You might be able to do this in NINA - in effect reducing the range of the mount, but the system will then need to wait until it reaches the meridian before filpping. Doing this wastes imaging time).

[The Lazy Astronomer]

^that. EQMOD has a safety setting which limits the mount movement at the meridian (to stop scope and camera crashing into the mount).

If you'd just left it, NINA would have carried out the flip and continued as normal once the timer ran down. Personally, I trust NINA enough to just turn the meridian limit setting off completely in EQMOD - I don't particularly like the potential for software to be trying to do conflicting things.

[oymd]

18 hours ago, Clarkey said:

I had some issues with meridian flips (not with NINA but another one - maybe BYEOS or APT) and it was down to the settings between the mount control and EQMOD. I extended the range of the mount in EQMOD to a few degrees past the meridian on both sides which allowed the software to continue imaging just past the point of flipping. The mount then finishes the sub and flips without issue. Without this PHD and the imaging software was trying to move the mount but EQMOD was stopping it giving the star trails and errors. I would try to extend the range of the mount slightly in EQMOD and I think this will solve the problem. (You might be able to do this in NINA - in effect reducing the range of the mount, but the system will then need to wait until it reaches the meridian before filpping. Doing this wastes imaging time).

 

9 hours ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

^that. EQMOD has a safety setting which limits the mount movement at the meridian (to stop scope and camera crashing into the mount).

If you'd just left it, NINA would have carried out the flip and continued as normal once the timer ran down. Personally, I trust NINA enough to just turn the meridian limit setting off completely in EQMOD - I don't particularly like the potential for software to be trying to do conflicting things.

thank you for your replies.

Can you please walk me through what steps do i need to do exactly?

I'm still unfamiliar with EQMOD and NINA, and still learning.

I watched a youtube video about this, by Cuiv the lazy geek, and am still confused.

How do I extend the mount's range in EQMOD? Or should I just UNTICK the box in EQMOD that says: ALLOW MERIDIAN FLIP?

[scotty38]

Watching this with interest as I use Nina and have the same mount. I'm new to imaging and thus far have avoided anything that would even get near needing a flip given I've still not really got my head round what would happen having never seen it in real life as it were....

[Clarkey]

 

23 minutes ago, oymd said:

Can you please walk me through what steps do i need to do exactly?

If you connect you telescope mount through EQMOD and then open the tools you can set the meridian limits using the mount limits option.

 

Once open you can manually set the mount limits. From memory (it was a while ago), you can simply move the mount to the right position and add the limit. Then move the mount all the way to the other end of the meridian position to set the second limit.

 

Alternately you can uncheck the mount limits box but if the flip fails the scope could collide with the mount so I would not recommend this.

Hope this helps. 

[The Lazy Astronomer]

43 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Watching this with interest as I use Nina and have the same mount. I'm new to imaging and thus far have avoided anything that would even get near needing a flip given I've still not really got my head round what would happen having never seen it in real life as it were....

They're really very simple, and if you're using software such as NINA to control imaging runs, it will carry out the whole process without any input from you at all.

[scotty38]

1 minute ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

They're really very simple, and if you're using software such as NINA to control imaging runs, it will carry out the whole process without any input from you at all.

Thanks and yes that's as I understand it and have watched videos galore, just that I've never done it myself so it's sort of the dread of "first time unattended" etc etc and getting up to the scope banging against the tripod legs 🙂 I guess I need to engineer a situation and watch it do it itself....

[Grifflin]

Might find some tips in this video from Joe's Astrophoto.  Explains how to set it up during the day.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Grifflin

[oymd]

3 hours ago, Clarkey said:

 

If you connect you telescope mount through EQMOD and then open the tools you can set the meridian limits using the mount limits option.

 

Once open you can manually set the mount limits. From memory (it was a while ago), you can simply move the mount to the right position and add the limit. Then move the mount all the way to the other end of the meridian position to set the second limit.

 

Alternately you can uncheck the mount limits box but if the flip fails the scope could collide with the mount so I would not recommend this.

Hope this helps. 

Thank you for that. Very helpful.

So, I manually slew the scope to east and west, and when I am satisfied, I register a NEW LIMIT on either side of the mount?

But which button do I use to click?

The GREEN PLUS button? Press that to se the new limits?

[Clarkey]

14 minutes ago, oymd said:

The GREEN PLUS button? Press that to se the new limits?

Yes. Manually slew to the position you want to set the limit and press the + button. There is a bit of info here:

EQASCOM Limits (sourceforge.net)

There is also some more useful info here for EQASCOM in general:

EQMOD Tutorials (sourceforge.net)