Hey there. I have a new G11 w/Gemini II and it seems like modeling is not even close to working and I don't know why, which usually means I'm missing something. Here's what I'm doing:?
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1) Place and level tripod aligning to true North (-12.2 degrees magnetic declination)
2) Add Losmandy mount, counterweights, and telescope
3) Balance the scope in RA and DEC
4) Cable everything up, including the GPS (Losmandy, via B&H)
5) Make sure counter-weights are down via bubble level on mount
6) Polar align with iPolar
? ?Note: Am slowly locking down Alt/Az and adjusting iteratively to make alignment as good as possible. iPolar is pretty cool.?
? ?Note: iPolar is mounted with the official Losmandy iPolar adapter.
? ?Note: I may try SharpCap since it seems popular here and I'd have one less piece of gear to set up, but I don't think polar alignment is my problem
6) Turn on the Gemini
7) Cold Start
8) Confirm data/time
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Side note: The time zone is always wrong and requires a power cycle to accept a change, which seems odd, but location is saved properly. If I'm understanding the docs right, the timezone shouldn't matter since all internal calculations are in UTC and the time zone is just for human readable display format. Again, I'm using the GPS which as I understand it should override any saved settings anyway. The HC does confirm the GPS has been queried.
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Note: I can see Polaris (bortle 4/5) and at this point the scope points right at it, though it is not necessarily visible in the scope.
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9) Go to bright star. I choose Polaris.
? ? ?** The scope slews about 20 degrees to the east pointing quite obviously NOT at Polaris. It does this every single time. I do not try to correct it because it just seems too far off.?
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10) I try another star: Vega.?
? ? ** The scope slews in the general vicinity of Vega, but is probably also in the neighborhood of 20 degrees off. Again, every single time.?
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Additional data:?
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I don't think the RA/DEC cables are backwards because the mount slews generally in the right direction
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I don't think the LAT is positive when it should be negative because I'm using GPS
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I don't think the battery is bad because it's saving the date, etc.?
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I don't think the polar alignment is off, but my view of the sky is limited so many of the alternative computerized plate solving alignment methods out there don't work well for me because they try to slew to positions that are behind trees. I don't have the LosMandy polar scope because I have neck problems and don't think I'd be able to use it more than once, if that.?
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Power is via the Losmandy 12VDC "cigarette lighter adapter" which is plugged into my Bluetti A70 power station. I have tried it with the 15VDC power brick as well.?
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Am I wrong thinking that the initial slews to the bright stars should be closer than they are??
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Any and all help is appreciated. At this point I'd give anything for a single GOTO to work.?
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Thanks,
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GAD
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