Gemini-2 stops tracking & losses comms to PC and HC during NINA sessions
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I¡¯m experiencing a new and troubling issue with my Losmandy mount and seeking suggestions/guidance. After roughly 100 successful sessions since receiving the mount (GM811G w/level 6) in 2023 I¡¯ve had multiple instances this month where in the middle of taking exposures using NINA the mount stops tracking (evidence: hours of image files showing nothing but star trails), the virtual Gemini hand-controller cannot communicate with the mount, and the physical hand control responds to key presses until I have it send commands to the Gemini controller at which point it stops responding. The only way to get the system to function is to cycle the power at which point it will work for the rest of the night, exhibiting the standard very good guiding (0.5 to 0.8 RMS) typically for my system.
I have no issues with meridian flips, using PHD2 to calibrate the mount/guide camera + run guiding assistance, initial slew/centering, plate solving, etc. mount limits are set properly. No issues with the windows 11 PC communicating via USB to the cameras (ZWO & QHY), EFW, AEF, Pegasus rotator & power box.
In the first instance the issue happened in the middle of the night, well after the (successful) meridian flip and well away from the safety limits.
After this initial occurrence I changed the gemini-2 coin battery since it was the original battery from August 2023. The old battery was showing 3.06 vdc, new battery initially measures as 3.3vdc (now 3.107 Vdc when read via the web interface).
I had three successful overnight runs after changing the battery so I thought I¡¯d solved the issue ¡ until last night when the same problem occurred. Fortunately, it happened ten minutes into NINA¡¯s sequence so I was able to intervene. Cycling the power, cold starting at the CWD position, followed by un-pausing NINA¡¯s sequencer and the system took good images for the remainder of the night. NINA parked the mount but, oddly, upon checking the system in the morning the NINA sequence was still waiting for confirmation that the mount had parked (even though it had). I found again that the virtual hand control could not communicate with the mount and the physical hand controller seems to freeze when asked it to send a command to the gemini-2 controller.
The ASCOM Gemini log files have the following lines starting at the time when the Gemini controller no longer respond:
Various RetransmitUDP commands followed by:
02:09:17.697 Exception???????????????? TID:11 [Error]: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.[0D][0A]?? at ASCOM.GeminiTelescope.GeminiHardwareBase.UDPSendNACK() in C:\Users\ypa\Documents\Ascom.Gemini.Telescope\GeminiTelescope\Connection.cs:line 222[0D][0A]?? at ASCOM.GeminiTelescope.GeminiHardwareBase.RetransmitUDP() in C:\Users\ypa\Documents\Ascom.Gemini.Telescope\GeminiTelescope\Connection.cs:line 108[0D][0A]?? at ASCOM.GeminiTelescope.GeminiHardwareBase.getEthernetCommandResult(Int32 timeout) in C:\Users\ypa\Documents\Ascom.Gemini.Telescope\GeminiTelescope\Connection.cs:line 361[0D][0A]?? at ASCOM.GeminiTelescope.GeminiHardwareBase.GetCommandResultEthernet(CommandItem command, Boolean bResyncOnError, Boolean& bReturn) in C:\Users\ypa\Documents\Ascom.Gemini.Telescope\GeminiTelescope\Connection.cs:line 508
(this error is repeated endlessly until the mount is powered down)
These same lines appear in each of the ASCOM Gemini log files at the moment when the issue occurs
>> I¡¯ve uploaded the ASCOM Gemini log file from last night that shows these comm errors starting at 21:45:43 <<
I haven¡¯t tried changing the ethernet cable, although if this is a cable issue I would think that the mount should continue to track and the hand controller should be able to communicate with the mount. It seems as the though the controller has entered into a brain-dead state until being power-cycled.
Mainboard firmware v 6.12
Connection type: ethernet
New battery installed (3.107 Vdc)
Losmandy power brick: 15.134 Vdc
running windows 11, ASCOM 7 with update 2
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guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated - thank you for your help!
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Mike Hundley
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