Hi Russ,
Paul is right.
I have a prototype of an AZ8 with servo motors I used to
developing a Solar Tracker. This can track the sun all day with a
telescope or with solar panels. Keeping the panels perpendicular
to the sun all day nearly doubles their efficiency. The nice thing
about it is that the tracker follows the sun from dawn to dusk, at
dusk it moves to the position where the sun will raise next day
and puts Gemini into sleep mode until sunrise, then it restarts
tracking. The Solar Tracker is a standalone application for Gemini
and wasn't sold as a product.
The good thing about an Alt-Az mount is that
meridian flips and Safety Limits aren't that important compared to
a GEM, alignments are easier and so on. It makes it easy to set it
up and use it, it can be fun.?
While working on the Solar Tracker I've
improved and refined Gemini's Alt-Az operation mode. Alas, there
was never much interest in Alt-Az support, so the state is still
somewhere between experimental and Beta, despite it is already
quite usable. If there would be some people interested in Beta
testing and giving feedback I may go on with the development and
include the Solar (Lunar, ...?) tracker...
¸é±ð²Ô¨¦
Am 06.03.25 um 05:30 schrieb Paul
Kanevsky:
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Hi Russ,
?
Scott Losmandy will likely give you a better answer. I don't
own an AZ8,? but just looking at specs, AZ8 implements a
variable slip clutch on both axis, just like all other Losmandy
mounts. What that means is that you can push-to to the desired
sky position without disengaging or turning off the motors or
Gemini. What will happen is that Gemini will lose track of the
sky position when you do this, because the motor encoders are
not used when you push the mount manually, so Gemini is not
aware of this type of motion. A simple Sync operation is then
needed to let Gemini know where the mount is positioned if you
want to continue using Goto's. Or you can just use push-to for
the rest of the session -- your choice!
?
Regards,
?
? -Paul
?
On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 06:59 PM, Russ Lynn wrote:
I'm considering purchasing the apparently fairly new AZ8
with Gemini 2 and go-to with servo motors.
But I have some questions that hopefully some people here
can help me with.
?
First, I'm wondering if after alignment it's possible to
manually swing the scope to a different portion of the sky
while the power is still on? ?I'm asking about this because
I know with the Rowan AZ100 mount its motors must be turned
off in the Rowan app before manually slewing the scope.
?
If the power to the AZ8 motors has to be turned off to
manually move the scope, will the time and location settings
have to be reset, or will the mount remember its place in
the sky when power to the motors is restored?
?
Also, if using my current refractor (Televue NP 101)
weighing when configured at the most about 18 pounds (likely
less), will I need a counter weight?
?
Finally, if I opt for the dual sided version of the
mount, can the saddle on one side be removed and the
lightweight system with 5 pound head be user installed in
lieu of the saddle?
?
Thanks for any answers and insights in helping me to
decide whether to purchase this mount. ?-- Russ
? ??
