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Starlight Xpress AO Connections
5
I have the original large Losmandy Gemini 2 controller and have been using the Ethernat port for pulse guiding with PHD2. I¡¯m adding Starlight Xpress AO unit to my system and need to know which Gemini port to use for the bump command from the AO and how to set it up. Thanks in advance, Rick
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Hello all, After performing a recent firmware update on a Gemini II mini-controller on a GM811 (received new from Losmandy in early 2022), I noticed that the Hand Controller is displaying February 29th in the lower right corner, regardless of the actual date. With my time zone offset (-7) this only occurs between the civil hours of 17:00:00 to 23:59:59 for any date in February and the year is 2025 or three year increments thereof (i.e. 2028, 2031, etc.). If the HC's 'Menu / Time' screen -and/or- the web page 'Time' are displayed while the incorrect date is shown, the date setting boxes show the correct date! With other time zones, the abnormality start time changes accordingly but the end time remains the same. In addition, the initial GOTO pointing accuracy after a 'CWD / Cold Start' is within the expected error even with the Feb. 29th date being shown. Hopefully this can be duplicated, and is not an isolated issue with my controllers. To confirm this - on the HC set the time zone offset to any valid negative value (AFAIK the problem does not appear with positive offsets), set the civil date to any day in February with a year as mentioned above, and set the civil time to (23:59:50 + time zone) and hit 'Set' at the bottom of the screen. After the display returns to the Home Screen, watch the date in the lower right corner jump from the set one to Feb.29th when the time rolls over to the next whole hour. If the year is set to anything other than mentioned, the date remains correct. It appears that the UTC 23:59:59 to 00:00:00 roll over triggers the Feb.29th date, and the civil 23:59:59 to 00:00:00 roll over corrects it. I have used GFU V1.0.0.32 to reload both the mainboard and HC firmware several times. The current firmware shown on the HC 'Menu / HC / Info' is : Mainboard - Level 6.10, Built Nov.5, 2024 HC - V1.63, Build Oct.14, 2024 RA / DEC Servo - V3.0 (Dumb question : why does one say 'Built' and the other say 'Build'?) I have performed the 'Reset HGM Defaults' and 'SRAM Reset' then reload from file, and have cleaned the contacts and reseated both micro SD cards, all without any improvement. By the way the micro SD cards are from Losmandy as part of their 'Level 6 Upgrade Kit' that I purchased last summer. The backup battery voltage is 3.01V, with the main battery reporting 14.98V. Other than what appears to be a 'cosmetic abnormality / annoyance', this mount and controllers perform flawlessly! I know it's late in February 2025, but I didn't want to get caught off guard in February 2028.... Clear skies, Ed
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[this has been solved] see my answer three messages below The issue resulted in several causes I guess data corruption, possibly due to a low lithium battery voltage due to cold conditions ==> batttery replaced bad contacts condition at HC SD card level, this being solved by reseating the SD card. Hello Some trouble here I have tried to upgrade to latest version available directly from GFU (6.11) I have used GFU to upload and flash I connect to the gemini web server the main unit reports a correct version (6.11) the HC section doesnt report any information but the HC itself keep booting on the older version which is 1.6 Any idea on how to tackle the problem ? Thank you in advance
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I started to veer to this topic on another thread and did not want to hijack that other thread. I sure would like to use the GFU Utility to its fullest capacity, but I keep running into a persistent problem with a file on my SD card which prevents the GFU from completing its tasks. When updating firmware, mine "times out" at the "Flash Firmware" and "Reboot" step every time I try to update the firmware. From past messages, I think the issue is with this M:Cur_Gem2.bin file that I can only clear out by formatting the SD card, loading the files, then renaming the NewGem.bin file to HGM_Gem2.bin. There is more to it than that but that is the short version. I have figured out a method to do these firmware updates that's a little clunky but does work. From the other thread, Paul K stated: That M:... does prevent any firmware updates using GFU since it prevents access to the folder using FTP. The only way to get rid of this file is to format the SD card and copy the files over again. In a nutshell for firmware updates, I first do the "Format" command from the GFU then upload all the files to the card using the GFU. I then remove the SD card from Gemini MU and install in a reader. There is no M: file that I can see on that card only the NewGem.bin (but the GFU still times out on "Flash Firmware" and "Reboot"). I then rename NewGem.bin to HGM_Gem2.bin and reinstall in the MU. Upon power up, the firmware updates and then the M: file reappears. Question-is that what is supposed to happen (M: file created)? If not, what is supposed to happen? And how to not create that M: file if that is the problem? Attached is what my SD card looks like after the update to L6.11/HC v1.64 (or any update). Can somebody post a screen shot of their SD card webpage if mine doesn't look right? If somebody can help, great! If not, not a big deal as I can still update the firmware (at this time). No issues with the actual operation of Gemini.
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Hey everyone, So I have firmware version 5.21 and version 1.20 in the hand controller. I am attempting to use GFU version 1.0.0.32 to get it to the latest version of Gemini 2. When I click the start button, I get the following error: I can connect to the gemini web server using the 192.168.8.220 address. Also, my ASIAir can connect to the Gemini wirelessly. I disconnected the ASIAir just in case it would cause an issue (don't know why it would since Gemini uses FTP). I confirmed that I can connect to the Gemini-2 via FTP as well. I am using the latest version of Windows 10. Any assistance is welcome. I wanted to use the GFU utility for safety :) Thanks!! Jason
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Hi folks, New Gemini firmware is available to address issues reported by users. L6.11 and HC v1.64 can be installed using GFU (make sure you have internet connection when running GFU so it can download the latest). Fixes in this release: HC: Fix for the leap year display on main screen MU: Reset RA/DEC reversal settings on Gemini reset (SRAM reset required) MU: Keep PEC enabled after changing tracking rate MU: Ensure Centering speed is used when pressing HC buttons past the safety limit If you are not using Windows or prefer not to use GFU, the updated files are also available for download: /g/Gemini-II/files/Latest%20Firmware%20Files/Gemini%20Firmware%20L6.11%20and%20HC%20v1.64 After the update, your Gemini should report the following versions: Regards, -Paul
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Current GEMPro Status?
11
Is this still being developed? What's the current status? ----------------------- Jim W Phoenix, AZ USA
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Quick question for those of you who probably do visual (or know more about how the mount works than I do). I'm surrounded by trees at my current location and have holes with no leaves to image thru. I use stellarium, and would like to have alt/az coordinates of the holes to know what might be visible and for how long. (At least, that's the best idea I have so far...and, no, moving is not an option :) It's awkward to use the HC to move the scope to the various "viewing limits", and was wondering if powering the mount on, loosening the clutches and pushing the scope to the limits (limbs of the trees) would i them be able to read the alt/az coordinates from the HC? Or would I need to keep the clutches engaged and move the scope with the HC (motors)? Basically, I'm trying to map out the openings. Thanks for ideas. Ken
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HC files
4
Greetings all, Where can one find *ALL* of the Hand Controller files to copy into a freshly formatted micro-SD card. The 'combined...' zip files that I have downloaded from this and 'Losmandy.com/files...' sites do not contain the graphics or logo screen files. The HC complains that the logo file is missing during boot up, and all of the buttons are missing their fill colors. I am assuming that you just copy the 'Catalog' folder from the Main to the HC card to use for the GOTO object selections. This formatting and coping of files is being done via Windows Explorer, not the GFU or FTP route. Cheers, Ed
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Hand controller
3
Hi folks... hoping this group is still available..? Anyway, my problem is with my hand held controller. First of all I mainly use my laptop to control the mount. However, I wanted to shoot the eclipse Friday so I just hooked the hand controller. The problem was after slewing to the moon, while centering it(the moon)the controller stopped responding to any inputs. Also, it kept doing it after rebooting everything and starting over. The remote controller is like new as I've only used it a couple times. Any ideas on what may be wrong? Thanks for your help, Les
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Gemini is turning 25!
5
Hi All, Please enjoy a brief history of the past quarter-century narrated by our own Ren¨¦: https://gemini-2.com/Gemini25Years.html Happy Birthday, Gemini! -Paul
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Gemini 2 Hits Western Limit Early
9
My G-11 with Gemini 2 has been having problems where it stops tracking and displays that the western limit has been reached. The problem is that it¡¯s not really at the limit. I¡¯ve even increased the limit with no change. The time to western limit shown on the mount's internal web server showed 1 hour and 59 minutes. I've tried changing the western limit and the time to limit increases properly but the mount still stops at the same physical point. The HC Firmware is V1.20 and the Mainboard Firmware is 5.21. My HGM Titan doesn¡¯t have this problem. Its HC Firmware is V1.10 and the Mainboard Firmware is 5.10. Note that this is older firmware and that mount doesn't have this problem. I¡¯m running an intensity interferometer using both of these mounts (two telescopes are need to create an interferometer) and they are both tracking Sirius for many hours. I¡¯m starting at an hour angle around -3 and the problem appears when the hour angle is around +2 (5 hours of continuous tracking). The angle of the mount is about 135 degrees and the western limit was set to 150 degrees. I plan on updating to level 6 but cannot until this project is complete. Can you provide guidance on how to resolve this?
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L6 vs PemPro
5
Hello all, I would like to get my guiding <1¡± and have recently upgraded my fw to L6. Is it still necessary to use PemPro to pec train my G11? Or is there a way to now do this with L6? Thanks! Art
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PEC keeps turning off
14
I just upgraded Gemini firmware and ASCOM 7 software and the mount keeps turning off PEC while doing imaging session. Sometimes I see PEC checkbox is unchecked from Gemini hand controller screen. I also noticed from PHD log viewer after imaging night. I don't really know if this is really related to the firmware and software update since I don't have old data. I use NINA software to control everything. Is there any log in the Gemini to tell me why it turned off PEC?
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Communications Error
7
Hi, I posted this kind of issue for my CG-11 Gemini-2 in the past. Now I've got the similar problem for my another G-11 Gemini-2. Tonight I'm running PEMPro after the latest firmware update. The Gemini-2 is now L6.10 and HC is V1.62, same as CG-11's Gemini-2. I've got several communications errors. The unit is connected to one of Ethernet ports of a 5G Wi-Fi router with Ethernet cable. I put ASCOM and Trouble Shooting Report in Yamada-3 folder under User_Logs_error_files_and_suggestions folder. Is this still related to the Ethernet cable? Thanks in advance, masami
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Hi, I'm just starting to work with a Losmandy Titan mount. I found this group as well as a few other resources online as well. I'd like to identify exactly what I'm working with, and get everything up to date in terms of firmware, etc., before wandering down the rabbit hole of running the mount from a computer using some other software. What I *think* I know is that it's a Losmandy Titan mount running the Gemini II system. I'm pretty sure it was originally added to the telescope sometime around 2005, replaceing a fork mount. I think I have the updated hand controller (mostly because there was an older hand controller sitting nearby when I first was introduced to the telescope. It powers up and I can manually move the telescope using the hand controller. I'm hoping that someone might provide me with a bit of direction as to the proper sequence of steps of getting everything where it needs to be. I'm happy to do the homework, but I could use some guidance from folks who have experience with the mount. Also happy to provide pictures and the like if that is allowed. Thanks and have a great day. Ron
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Hit RA Safety limit and couldn't move away from it.
14
I was resetting the worm mesh on my G11 (I¡®d been getting RA stalls) and during testing I hit the RA safety limit. My problem is that I couldn¡¯t use the arrow keys on the HC to move the mount after that. Surely I should be able to move out of the limit? What am I missing? David
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Daylight Savings Time goes into effect on Sunday in the US
4
Where applicable, Daylight Savings Time goes into effect tomorrow, March 9, this Sunday. If you set timezone in Gemini, please remember to adjust it to reflect the new offset from UTC: https://gemini-2.com/hc/E023A.html Regards, -Paul
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Moderated
Gemini-II problem
13
I have a brand new G-11 with the Gemini-II received a couple of weeks ago. Due to weather i've only been out three times. I noticed my first night the HC reluctant to accept my pressing of "buttons" on the screen and at one point the system froze and I had to reboot where upon it worked fine. The previous session went fine, no problems. Last night I drove to a nearby dark site and started a quick start. After selecting G-11 and querying GPS (which it did and received location) pushing the "next" button was to no avail. I tried a reboot and that's when things went off the rails. The startup screen with logo would appear and then a very brief message "push screen to re-calibrate" which i tried a few times which initiated seconds counting down to start but then back to the loop of "initializing HC" then "connecting to Gemini"....... and then screen would go dark and back to startup screen. This death loop continued no matter how many times I disconnected all cables and rebooted. Any easy fix for this? Thanks!
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AZ8 with Gemini 2 and go-to with servo motors
5
I'm considering purchasing the apparently fairly new AZ8 with Gemini 2 and go-to with servo motors. https://store-losmandy-com.3dcartstores.com/AZ8-Config_p_255.html 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
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Sat 8:39am
Sat 8:39am