That's a disc coupler from Ruland.? I have one on my own mount on the Dec drive axis.? I've been trying to find a replacement for my own coupler, which has loosened up a lot (to the point of introducing a ton of backlash) and even after tightening the tiny, tiny disc screws may not remain tight.? I can find an almost-exact replacement on Ruland's website, but it doesn't have set screws but is rather a collar tightening model.? And it's priced at USD $108 for one.? I suspect that Losmandy may have had a custom-made model, or else the set screw version is no longer being made by Ruland.? ?I'm waiting (after more than 4 days) for Losmandy to return my call / voicemail to see what they can offer me.? The $50 Oldham coupler on their website does not appear to be long enough.? The Ruland disc coupler is about 24mm long and I have not found an Oldham coupler anywhere that is long enough to fit both the worm axis and the gearbox axis, and even the one on Losmandy's store website looks too short.? There are a couple of options I've identified but I still want to hear back from Losmandy in case they can offer the original Ruland coupler or at least guidance on the best replacement.

?

-- Patrick Freeman

?

Ok new ARM installed on G2 Tallboy. ?All went well. ?Dropped flux everywhere. ? Eventually powered installed new bootloader following posted instructions. ?Easy as to do.?

Updated MB firmware to 6.1 via microSD card files upload. ?Easy as. ? ?System updated no problems. ?

Boots very very fast. ? Haven’t done any real tests. ?It runs in Ra and DEC just fine. ?

?

Connected via LAN quick look …. no hot ICs. ? ARM no appreciable heat. ?But all I have done so far is boot, quick tests, quick run and files update. ?No voltage or other tests. ? I need much more testing but it’s looking ?OK ATM

?

Got say this bootloader is fast on system boot. ? Many thanks Paul and Rene’

?

cheers

--

Brendan

Paul, and Chip Louie, I went ot hardware bought a variety of size grub screws to fit the Worm Gear Cover. Turns out it is size 6-32 3/16". I now have extras. But that is not the funny thing. I found what was causing my Dec stall. It was not balance, or worm/gear mesh. It seems my lost grub screw was inside the cover causing problems with the coupler. with that removed everything worked. I do need to redo my PA though. I did have a little slippage in the RA, I had to really tighten the coupler. The coupler is weird, it is not the Motor coupler on the Losmandy website.? It attaches more like a clamp with 2 screws, instead of 2 grub screw/@90* like the one on the website. See pic. Have you seen these couplers before? I may replace them. Lesson learned though, Don't play with screws in the dark.

Thanks for your help,

Kevin

Oh, you probably just need to loosen the outer worm block a smidge.? For original straight drive 2-piece worm blocks you need some backlash when warm.? It shrinks a lot when cold.??

?

--

Paul, the mount was well balanced with the Losmandy DSC's before the upgrade. How would I judge if the worm/gear mesh needed adjusting.? I will check it tonight. Chip Louie, Full Gem 2 upgrade kit.?

On Sat, Apr 12, 2025 at 05:14 AM, <fishonkevin@...> wrote:

Hi,

Last weekend got my G-11 Retro-kit installed but rain kept me from doing Cold Start. Did Quick Start got the Time/Location all set. Last night I was back out, rolled the roof and got ready for Cold Start. Set CWD using level, flipped on Gemini and my 1st chore was to set my Custom Home Park position. Slewed to my custom position, Pier Side W, Set Home Here. No problems so far. My next chore was to set my limits. My mount is in my custom home, so I press Park At CWD. The mount slews fine in RA all the way to CWD, but the Dec starts and stops, giving me a Dec Stall message. I tried manually pressing the Dec buttons, the Dec moves to the W, but when I press the East it beeps and says Dec Stall. I did not try and set the Custom Home to Pier Side E to see if I get the same behavior. One thing, while installing the Retro-fit kit I lost one of the grub/set screws for the Dec Worm Cover. Could this be the problem? Anyone know what size it is so I can get one from the hardware store?

?

?

What retrofit kit, the Gemini 2 controller kit or a full Gemini 2 upgrade kit?? ?

?

--

On Sat, Apr 12, 2025 at 08:14 AM, <fishonkevin@...> wrote:

Hi,

Last weekend got my G-11 Retro-kit installed but rain kept me from doing Cold Start. Did Quick Start got the Time/Location all set. Last night I was back out, rolled the roof and got ready for Cold Start. Set CWD using level, flipped on Gemini and my 1st chore was to set my Custom Home Park position. Slewed to my custom position, Pier Side W, Set Home Here. No problems so far. My next chore was to set my limits. My mount is in my custom home, so I press Park At CWD. The mount slews fine in RA all the way to CWD, but the Dec starts and stops, giving me a Dec Stall message. I tried manually pressing the Dec buttons, the Dec moves to the W, but when I press the East it beeps and says Dec Stall. I did not try and set the Custom Home to Pier Side E to see if I get the same behavior. One thing, while installing the Retro-fit kit I lost one of the grub/set screws for the Dec Worm Cover. Could this be the problem? Anyone know what size it is so I can get one from the hardware store?

?

?

Hi,

?

Stall messages are due to the motors being unable to overcome the mechanical resistance on that axis. The most common issues that cause that: unbalanced weight -- may need better balancing, or too tight a worm/gear mesh -- may need adjusting.

?

Hi,

Last weekend got my G-11 Retro-kit installed but rain kept me from doing Cold Start. Did Quick Start got the Time/Location all set. Last night I was back out, rolled the roof and got ready for Cold Start. Set CWD using level, flipped on Gemini and my 1st chore was to set my Custom Home Park position. Slewed to my custom position, Pier Side W, Set Home Here. No problems so far. My next chore was to set my limits. My mount is in my custom home, so I press Park At CWD. The mount slews fine in RA all the way to CWD, but the Dec starts and stops, giving me a Dec Stall message. I tried manually pressing the Dec buttons, the Dec moves to the W, but when I press the East it beeps and says Dec Stall. I did not try and set the Custom Home to Pier Side E to see if I get the same behavior. One thing, while installing the Retro-fit kit I lost one of the grub/set screws for the Dec Worm Cover. Could this be the problem? Anyone know what size it is so I can get one from the hardware store?

?

Thanks Paul and Don.

?

I've received that Gemini 2 from "Chip"....CPU is hot!? 218mA worth of heat.?? Just trying to find if there is anything that caused the burnout before I replace it.?? But I'll be using this new Bootloader.? Will report back on how it goes.

?

Cheers

--

Brendan

On Fri, Apr 11, 2025 at 01:14 PM, Art Trail wrote:

Hello all, where can I find the G2 logs? I am troubleshooting a "disconnect" problem (per ASCOM logs). Not sure if it actually is an ethernet problem or the mount just simply "checking out". I feel like I need more info before posting for help. Thanks!

On Fri, Apr 11, 2025 at 03:58 PM, David Wormuth wrote:

Will this same hardware (the Amazon thingy)/software(Keil) update accomplish the upgrade from not 6 to 6 level firmware?

Hi Dave, no, the JTAG/ULINK2 unit is just for Bootloader update (can also be used to program and debug the ARM CPU, should you feel the need to ;))

?

What I think you're referring to is the upgrade to the latest PIC servo controller firmware. For that you'll need PICKit2 or PICKit3 programmer, instead.

On Fri, Apr 11, 2025 at 03:44 PM, David C. Partridge wrote:

I think that the Objects sub-folder should also contain files: BL_Gem2.bin, and MB_BL_2024.hex?

Hello all, where can I find the G2 logs? I am troubleshooting a "disconnect" problem (per ASCOM logs). Not sure if it actually is an ethernet problem or the mount just simply "checking out". I feel like I need more info before posting for help. Thanks!

Good news! Thanks for reporting the issue and then testing the update, Don!?

?

It makes sense, but it is an unanticipated benefit that faster booting means that GFU is no longer required to wait minutes for a reboot to complete :)

?

Regards,

?

? -Paul

?

On Fri, Apr 11, 2025 at 12:51 PM, Don Klase wrote:

Hi Paul,

?

Great news! ?This new file worked perfectly. ?Attached is a photo of the final confirmation.

?

Also, and this is the best part, no more timeout error messages when updating via the GFU! ?I just did the update like you normally would, didn't remove the SD card or reformat it first.

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Thanks again guys.

Paul, thanks for the suggestion.? I checked the mount last night and the problem didn't happen after almost a week being off; it seems like the firmware update (and/or the new battery) may have fixed the problem. I'll check the clock if it happens again.

?

Thanks,

-Joe