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Well, I went back down to my observatory last night to see if could get my Gemini 2 controller working, based on your input. Alas, still no joy!
Here's the situation as of last night:
Gemini will do a go-to to any selected object. It will also park at CWD position.? However, it will still NOT move using the buttons on the HC. I tried using both the Visual and All Speeds modes, to no avail.? When I hit the button I can hear and feel a "click" in the servo motor.? I also tried the increasing the moving speed under the "speed" section of the menu.? Nothing worked.? I'm stumped!
Ron Abbott?
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Hi Ron,
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First off, am I understanding the you can¡¯t slew the mount with the physical buttons on the back of the gemini hand controller? How about the buttons on the screen, do these work? When you press the physical buttons, do the ones on the screen react? (The ones on the screen show as being activated when you press the ones on the back).
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The best way to know for sure is by using an eyepiece and looking through it while trying to move the scope, even if the speed is set to guide you should be able to see the star move. Maybe the speeds are misconfigured in the HC? Or the physical buttons¡¯ ribbon cable is disconnected inside the HC?
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hope this helps
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Jonathan,?
Neither the physical buttons on the back or the buttons on the screen will work.? When I push the buttons on the screen,? they show a black square on the button being pressed.?
Ron Abbott?
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For clarification, do all other HC functions work??
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If I am understanding correctly, you can do a "go-to" from the HC and that will work?? Time and date show correctly on the HC?? RA/Dec/Alt/Az all show correctly?? Everything else HC related seem to work??
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If you choose your moving speed on the HC to "Slew" and hit a button, nothing happens (what is your "Slew" speed set to?)?
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I guess I'm asking if the lack of the ability to slew using the diamond buttons is the only feature not working from your HC.
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Have you tried unplugging and reconnecting the hand controller?? And maybe switching the cable around (current HC connection would now go to the Gemini box and vice versa).
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(These are some random thoughts)?
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On Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 08:49 AM, <stargazr39@...> wrote:
Jonathan,?
Neither the physical buttons on the back or the buttons on the screen will work.? When I push the buttons on the screen,? they show a black square on the button being pressed.?
Ron Abbott?
The black square on the button being pressed tells me the HC at least is sensing the press. That¡¯s good. Just to make sure, that same square also appears when you press the back buttons?
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Here¡¯s a couple suggestions:
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1.- test the cable for continuity on all pins just to rule out the cable being bad. If you can test a new cable that would be even better.
2.- make sure you are trying to move the scope while using the ¡°slew¡± speed. On the lower left corner of the screen is a button named ¡°SPEED¡± and above that the current speed is displayed. Press on the button until you see ¡°SLEW¡± displayed and then press the direction buttons. Pressing the button sequences between the different speeds in order, going ¡°slew¡±-¡°move¡±-¡°center¡±-¡°guide¡±. Be sure to keep the button pressed for a few seconds to let the motors ramp up in speed (takes about a second or two)
3.- if step 2 didn¡¯t work then try changing the speeds. Go to MENU->SPEED and make sure ¡°manual slewing speed¡± is something like 800. By default it should be the same speed as ¡°goto slewing speed¡± but you can change them independently. If you had to change the speed then go to the move menu and try again.
4.- lastly, try a factory reset. Go to MENU->SYSTEM->reset HGM defaults
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That¡¯s all for now
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good luck
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Jonathan and Crisco,
As far as I can see,? all functions seem to work.? Time and date, position of the mount, menus, etc; all look OK. But I can't get the mount to move using the HC buttons. BTW, I can also change the sewing and go-to speeds,? which I confirmed by ordering go-to and parking using the HC.
Ron Abbott?
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From your previous post, I see you are a fellow MI-250 user.? I'll share my "Mount Parameter Setup" web pages so you can compare to your setup to see if anything jumps out.
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From your previous post, it looks like you maybe just purchased this unit?? If so and nothing else works, you may have to send the HC back so Losmandy can test the HC.?
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Only setting the [Speed] button to "Guide" should give this impression.? Does the HC show "Slew" above the [Speed] button on the main HC panel?
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Did you try the Ethernet Gemini Server and the virtual HC page buttons from a PC with the Rate set to Slew?? With this you can determine if it's the HC or Gemini-2 providing the mis-feature.
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Cisco,
Thanks for those attachments.? I'll compare your settings to mine and let you know.?
You're right about me just purchasing the unit. Re: your suggestion, after having this same problem with the first unit,? they sent me a whole new unit, HC, Gemini, and all cords.? So far,? no solution!
Ron Abbott?
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WayBack,
I've tried all speeds, and all HC modes (visual,? all speeds, etc) nothing works.?
As far as Ethernet connection,? I'm connected via a Cat 6 cable from the Gemini to my PC, but am still trying to configure the connection so it'll work (I'm not very savvy re: computer connections!!).
Ron Abbott?
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I too connect my MI-250 directly to my PC via Cat5e cable (no routers, is a direct connection).? I'll share my Network settings in case they are helpful.?
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I'm going to go out on a limb and say if you had the same issue with a previous unit, the chances of getting two bad units is pretty slim.? You may want to remove the motors and see if the buttons work under a no-load situation.
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When the "Speed" button on the HC is set to "Slew" and you press a tactile button on the back of the HC, you are not bumping up against a Safety Limit are you?
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Just trying to think of every situation that would cause a no slew situation.
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Cisco,
What is puzzling to me is that it will do a go- to? and will park after a go-to.? To me this indicates that the motors and the controller are working. After a go- to,? I should be able to use the buttons to exactly center the object so I can sync,? but the buttons won't move the mount!
Ron Abbott?
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Cisco,
Re bumping a safety limit shouldn't happen if I'm close to north on both axes.
Ron Abbott?
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A direct connection is easy (of course when it works).? That said:
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Using the HC, check the IP in play on the Gemini-2 at Menu->System->Network.? The default should be 192.68.0.111 (255.255.255.0) but can be some other to your liking.
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Look up this video Brian made: ?Review the section on changing the Network adapter on the PC (12:30).? You need to go into the PC and set the Static IP of the PC Adapter.? Brian shows how to do this for a static IP.? For your IP you want to use the first three octets and some other one.? I pick 192.168.0.100 (255.255.255.0).? The important thing is they differ, and the first three octets are the same (the 192.168.0 part).? There is no Gateway when direct.? (The whole video is good to understand but we just need the PC and Gemini-2 ends set correctly for the direct connection.)
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Connect the ports with the patch cable.?
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Open a CMD window on the PC (black console command window)).? Type > Ping 192.168.0.100 {or the IP you picked}.? You should see a reply with a return time given, not a timeout.? ?If it does timeout this needs correcting.? It may mean a typo, not a static address, or you need a reverse Ethernet cable (old PC)
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If good, open the Browser and type this same IP into the browser for the address.
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On reply should be a page asking for the user:? Admin
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GL
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I think we might be bumping into a wall at this point, figuratively speaking of course :)
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you mention you¡¯ve tried with two different HCs and boxes. It is extremely improbable that both boxes suffer from the same issues so this points to some, hopefully easy to fix, user error. Since you¡¯ve tried everything that has been suggested I think the best option going forward would be for you to take pictures, or even better videos, of your HC settings and the steps you¡¯re taking to have the mount move. You know what they say, a picture is worth 1000 words, and a video a 1000 pictures :)
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hopefully with that we¡¯ll have a better idea of what¡¯s going on and offer better suggestions
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The HC is just a client sending serial commands to
the main board, for everything it offers, including manual moves
from the main screen or tactile buttons. Any virtual HC (G2 web
server or ASCOM) using the protocols can do the same.
¸é±ð²Ô¨¦
Am 06.10.24 um 22:45 schrieb Jonathan:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I think we might be bumping into a wall at this point,
figuratively speaking of course :)
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you mention you¡¯ve tried with two different HCs and boxes. It
is extremely improbable that both boxes suffer from the same
issues so this points to some, hopefully easy to fix, user
error. Since you¡¯ve tried everything that has been suggested I
think the best option going forward would be for you to take
pictures, or even better videos, of your HC settings and the
steps you¡¯re taking to have the mount move. You know what they
say, a picture is worth 1000 words, and a video a 1000 pictures
:)
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hopefully with that we¡¯ll have a better idea of what¡¯s going
on and offer better suggestions
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On Sun, Oct 6, 2024 at 03:03 PM, <stargazr39@...> wrote:
What is puzzling to me is that it will do a go- to? and will park after a go-to.? To me this indicates that the motors and the controller are working. After a go- to,? I should be able to use the buttons to exactly center the object so I can sync,? but the buttons won't move the mount!
Hi Ron,
OK, I think it's time we get a bit more information from you. What you're experiencing isn't common (in fact, first time I'm hearing of this issue). The fact that you had your new Gemini exhibit this problem, and then, a completely new? replacement unit, seems to point to some misunderstanding or misconfiguration rather than an actual system fault.
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1. Can you please turn on the mount, then Reset to Defaults (go to Menu->System->Reset HGM Defaults). Then, turn off, and turn on the mount again. Don't skip this step.
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2 Goto Menu->HC->Info screen, take a photo and post it. It should have the versions of all the firmware.
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3. Then, don't change any settings, go back to Mount->Balance screen. Press RA+ or RA- physical buttons on the back of the HC and hold them down. Does the mount move in RA? Do you see any change on the balance screen when you press the button vs. when you don't? Post images of the balance screen with no button press, and then while RA+ or RA- is pressed.
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We'll go from there.
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Regards,
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?-Paul
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Paul,?
Thank you for the new approach.? I will follow all of your steps carefully, and document the results of each step. Hopefully we can get to the answer for my problem. Will get back to my observatory this week and let you know the results.?
Ron Abbott?
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You mentioned being connected by an ethernet cable to a PC; remove it and test just the Gemini and HC.? Once that works properly, see what happens when you connect to your PC.
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I say this because when I had Ekos hooked up the first time I used my system, I was unable to slew and just heard a click.? This was caused by having Ekos' automatic meridian flip turned on while being pointed at the NCP in the home position.? As soon as I wanted to move the mount the auto-flip popped up a Stop icon on the HC and blocked it.? After I unchecked the auto-flip, the problem was gone.
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This may have nothing to do with your problem but then again, we don't believe it is the Gemini + HC that are causing the problems, so your PC connection is the first suspect.
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Paul Kanevsky