Wow, I have not seen that controller before, I but it looks like a spin-off of the ci700 controller, and the G11 looks pretty similar to the ci700.? ?:)
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Re: Looking for cable source - Try Cat8 cables
I recently fixed my 2nd Gemini1. The flat motor cables were intermittent. I made some cat5e cables 2.5' long and it seemed to work but I let it run on my bench for an hour and noticed the PWM signal (pin#5) on the RA drive IC give some really long pulses (simply put oscope in envelope mode) and the motor jerk for a brief moment. I had laying around a 15' long cat 6 cable and zero issue with 9 hours of bench running. After researching, I found cat8 cables are shielded pairs and cost the same (~$6 for a pair of 3' cables on Aliexpress), so I am using them w/o issue.  
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Re: GeminiTelescope Solar System catalog seems to be empty
On Thu, Oct 3, 2024 at 11:35 AM, David C. Partridge wrote:
I’m using a G1 right now… Does that catalog get pulled from a G1?
Doesn't work with G1. Support for Solar System objects through the serial protocol was added in G2.
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Re: GeminiTelescope Solar System catalog seems to be empty
I’m using a G1 right now… Does that catalog get pulled from a G1? ? D. ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Paul Kanevsky
Sent: 03 October 2024 13:45
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Gemini_users_io] GeminiTelescope Solar System catalog seems to be empty? On Thu, Oct 3, 2024 at 07:17 AM, David C. Partridge wrote: If I open the Object Catalog manager and select the Solar System catalog, no objects are shown.? This is true in 1.1.25 and 1.1.28 Should be easy to fix I expect.
David, the same problem with Gemini not being connected. The driver loads all the catalogs only once, the first time you go into the manage catalogs page. If you're not connected to Gemini, it will not load the Solar System catalog, as Gemini-2 L6 is required to use it. If you connect to Gemini L6 later in that same session, the catalogs are already loaded and will not be reloaded, so Solar System will still be missing. The solution is to start Gemini.NET, connect to Gemini L6, and only then go to Manage Catalogs screen. Solar System objects should work then.
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Re: GeminiTelescope Solar System catalog seems to be empty
On Thu, Oct 3, 2024 at 07:17 AM, David C. Partridge wrote:
If I open the Object Catalog manager and select the Solar System catalog, no objects are shown.? This is true in 1.1.25 and 1.1.28
?
Should be easy to fix I expect.
David, the same problem with Gemini not being connected. The driver loads all the catalogs only once, the first time you go into the manage catalogs page. If you're not connected to Gemini, it will not load the Solar System catalog, as Gemini-2 L6 is required to use it. If you connect to Gemini L6 later in that same session, the catalogs are already loaded and will not be reloaded, so Solar System will still be missing.
?
The solution is to start Gemini.NET, connect to Gemini L6, and only then go to Manage Catalogs screen. Solar System objects should work then.
?
Regards,
?
? ? -Paul
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GeminiTelescope Solar System catalog seems to be empty
If I open the Object Catalog manager and select the Solar System catalog, no objects are shown.? This is true in 1.1.25 and 1.1.28
?
Should be easy to fix I expect.
?
David
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Re: GeminiTelescope can't change location fields
This has always been the case (don't ask me why!) -- but to change site information, you must first enable 'Set Gemini Site on Connect' option. You can turn it off when you're done changing:
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Regards,
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? -Paul
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GeminiTelescope can't change location fields
I just installed 1.1.28 and went into Setup to change the location (I have move to a new house).
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The fields for latitude and longitude would let me position the cursor in them but I couldn't change the values?
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What am I missing (no the telescope's not connected).
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** UPDATE Never mind - when I connected the 'scope I was able to adjust them
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David
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Re: Help needed re: connecting Gemini 2 to PC
Ron, you may need a cross-over?cable to use an ethernet connection directly from your PC.
-Will
On Fri, Sep 27, 2024 at 10:16?PM stargazer66207 via <strgzr622= [email protected]> wrote: Hello group,
?
Recently my trusty old Gemini I shot craps after 19 yrs of faithful service. I had to upgrade to the new Gemini 2 and Hand Controller.
As you know, the old Gemini I connected to a PC via a Serial/R12 connector cable which plugged in to one of the RJ 12 sockets on the control box. This does not work on the new Gemini 2.
I decided I want to connect via an ethernet cable (Cat 5) directly from the Gemini 2 to the ethernet port on my PC.? I have now installed this.
My question is: Now that I have the connection, what are my next steps to make it operational so that I can use programs like The Sky 6 and N.I.N.A. to run my mount?? I am a Newbie to Gemini 2, so any assistance you experienced Gemini 2 users can give me will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Ron Abbott
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Re: Problem with my Gemini 1
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Re: Problem with my Gemini 1
Thank you guys, I will try the reset and battery removal and see how it goes. If nothing than off to Mr. Herman
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Re: Problem with my Gemini 1
John
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since you swapped motors over it’s a fault with Gemini Encoder IC DEC PLD. ?It needs to go to a for replacement.?
Sorry, it’s easily repairable but this IC does have embedded firmware and needs programming?
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cheers
?
brendan
--
Brendan
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Re: Problem with my Gemini 1
Hi John, if you've tried resetting Gemini to all defaults, taking out and leaving out and then replacing the 3v battery, the next step would be to contact one of the repairers that is closest to you:
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Regards,
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? -Paul
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On Sun, Sep 29, 2024 at 05:04 PM, John wrote:
Hello group,
?
When I boot up, it shows DEC motor stalled, but the DEC axis very slowly rotates but fast enough to easily see without pressing any buttons.
Pressing any buttons at this point does nothing.
I swapped cables same thing. If I plug RA into DEC port, the RA axis rotates slowly.
Anything I can try?
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Thanks,
John
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Hello group,
?
When I boot up, it shows DEC motor stalled, but the DEC axis very slowly rotates but fast enough to easily see without pressing any buttons.
Pressing any buttons at this point does nothing.
I swapped cables same thing. If I plug RA into DEC port, the RA axis rotates slowly.
Anything I can try?
?
Thanks,
John
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Re: Need advice on strange guiding problem
Thanks, Bill. This one I can read :)?
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PE is kind of high, around 20 arcseconds peak-to-peak. Most Losmandy mounts I’ve seen have PE of around 10 arcsecs p2p, often less.?
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What concerns me are the large, fast jumps of many arcseconds at a time. These are hard to guide out, as the error grows quickly and autoguider often can’t keep up. You could try increasing guide speed to 0.8x to see if that might help (recalibrate the guider, of course, once you do it). It may also be worth swapping the worms between DEC and RA to see how much better the PE might be with the other worm. I had a G11 where my PE was around 10 arcsecs p2p, but once I swapped worms, it went down to 4 arcsecs. Amazing improvement and a fairly quick and free fix :)
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Regards,
?
? -Paul
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On Sun, Sep 29, 2024 at 12:39 PM, Bill Tschumy wrote:
I resent the image to your email, bypassing Google. ?Hopefully that will be readable.
?
As to the slipping.
?
1. Yes, I have checked the coupler
2. Clutches are tightish. ?I can make them move with come moderate pressure on them, but I can see how guiding changes could do it. ?I have previously tried this with clutches really tight and really loose. ?No real change.
3. As I mentioned in my original message, I have trid swapping the motors and well as the gearboxes (and as well the worms). ?No real difference.
?
It is a mystery.
?
On Sep 29, 2024, at 10:19?AM, Paul Kanevsky <yh@...> wrote:
It's nearly impossible to read the PE chart due to small scale. What I was interested in seeing was any sudden jumps, and especially those that don't repeat with the worm cycle (which requires more than one worm cycle to be recorded). PE looks OK from a very high level, but I really can't see the details in the image to be sure.
?
As to what else can be slipping:
?
1. Oldham coupler, as you already checked
2. Clutches
3. Encoder ring inside the servo (you can try swapping DEC and RA servos to see if the problem goes over to DEC)
?
Additionally, poor connection to the encoder(s), noisy or intermittent cable connection, or encoder damage / dirt on the encoder optical ring can all cause issues that look like something is slipping. I had one servo that was misbehaving. Turns out a small spider crawled through the external connector and put up some spiderwebs inside the motor that caused all kinds of strange problems :) Dirt or damage in the gearboxes can also cause erratic behavior.
?
For most of these, try swapping the components between RA and DEC to see what makes the problem switch to the other axis.
?
Regards,
?
? -Paul
?
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Re: Need advice on strange guiding problem
I resent the image to your email, bypassing Google. ?Hopefully that will be readable.
As to the slipping.
1. Yes, I have checked the coupler 2. Clutches are tightish. ?I can make them move with come moderate pressure on them, but I can see how guiding changes could do it. ?I have previously tried this with clutches really tight and really loose. ?No real change. 3. As I mentioned in my original message, I have trid swapping the motors and well as the gearboxes (and as well the worms). ?No real difference.
It is a mystery.
On Sep 29, 2024, at 10:19?AM, Paul Kanevsky <yh@...> wrote:
It's nearly impossible to read the PE chart due to small scale. What I was interested in seeing was any sudden jumps, and especially those that don't repeat with the worm cycle (which requires more than one worm cycle to be recorded). PE looks OK from a very high level, but I really can't see the details in the image to be sure.
?
As to what else can be slipping:
?
1. Oldham coupler, as you already checked
2. Clutches
3. Encoder ring inside the servo (you can try swapping DEC and RA servos to see if the problem goes over to DEC)
?
Additionally, poor connection to the encoder(s), noisy or intermittent cable connection, or encoder damage / dirt on the encoder optical ring can all cause issues that look like something is slipping. I had one servo that was misbehaving. Turns out a small spider crawled through the external connector and put up some spiderwebs inside the motor that caused all kinds of strange problems :) Dirt or damage in the gearboxes can also cause erratic behavior.
?
For most of these, try swapping the components between RA and DEC to see what makes the problem switch to the other axis.
?
Regards,
?
? -Paul
?
On Sun, Sep 29, 2024 at 12:02 PM, Bill Tschumy wrote:
Paul (and others),
?
I’ve attached a screenshot showing the unguided results over about 18 minutes. ?You can sort of see the periodic error which I think is 478 seconds (about 8 minutes) for the GM8. ?I’m not sure what this tells us, but hopefully it will be useful.
?
I also noticed a curiosity last night. ?Ekos has a “Plate solve and center target” function. ?It will automatically repeat this until the error is less than some amount (30 arcsec in my case). ?Lately it seems to be having more trouble zeroing in on the target. ?Here is a screenshot of what it did. ?Rows 8 through 18 are its trying to zero in. ?Note that the declination zeros in nicely. ?However, the RA seems to oscillate by overshooting the center each time (assuming I’m reading this correctly). ?It oscillates between a positive error and a negative error.
?
?
It seem kind of surprising it would be overshooting in this case.
?
Back to the guided results I posted initially, it sort of feels like something is slipping. ?It tries to make a correction, but doesn’t get there (or possibly goes too far). ?The most likely thing I know of that could slip is the connection of the motor shaft and the worm shaft to the Oldham coupler. ?However, I’ve verified several times that the set screws are tight. ?I don’t see how that connection could be slipping. ? Is there any place else in the system where slippage could occur?
?
Bill
On Sep 28, 2024, at 3:41?PM, Bill Tschumy <bill@...> wrote:
Paul,
?
I should be able to get an unguided log tonight.
?
Yes, Gemini 1. ?The autoguider is connected to the main camera, which in turn is connected to a Raspberry Pi 4. ?The RPi4 also has a USB cable coming out that goes into the RS232 port on the Gemini 1 (via a USB to serial converter). ?Pretty sure I’ve tried the autoguider plugged directly into the RPi4, but I can try that again to see if if there are any differences.
?
--?
Bill Tschumy
Otherwise -- Longmont, CO
www.otherwise.com
?
--? Bill Tschumy Otherwise -- Longmont, CO www.otherwise.com
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Re: Need advice on strange guiding problem
It's nearly impossible to read the PE chart due to small scale. What I was interested in seeing was any sudden jumps, and especially those that don't repeat with the worm cycle (which requires more than one worm cycle to be recorded). PE looks OK from a very high level, but I really can't see the details in the image to be sure.
?
As to what else can be slipping:
?
1. Oldham coupler, as you already checked
2. Clutches
3. Encoder ring inside the servo (you can try swapping DEC and RA servos to see if the problem goes over to DEC)
?
Additionally, poor connection to the encoder(s), noisy or intermittent cable connection, or encoder damage / dirt on the encoder optical ring can all cause issues that look like something is slipping. I had one servo that was misbehaving. Turns out a small spider crawled through the external connector and put up some spiderwebs inside the motor that caused all kinds of strange problems :) Dirt or damage in the gearboxes can also cause erratic behavior.
?
For most of these, try swapping the components between RA and DEC to see what makes the problem switch to the other axis.
?
Regards,
?
? -Paul
?
On Sun, Sep 29, 2024 at 12:02 PM, Bill Tschumy wrote:
Paul (and others),
?
I’ve attached a screenshot showing the unguided results over about 18 minutes. ?You can sort of see the periodic error which I think is 478 seconds (about 8 minutes) for the GM8. ?I’m not sure what this tells us, but hopefully it will be useful.
?
I also noticed a curiosity last night. ?Ekos has a “Plate solve and center target” function. ?It will automatically repeat this until the error is less than some amount (30 arcsec in my case). ?Lately it seems to be having more trouble zeroing in on the target. ?Here is a screenshot of what it did. ?Rows 8 through 18 are its trying to zero in. ?Note that the declination zeros in nicely. ?However, the RA seems to oscillate by overshooting the center each time (assuming I’m reading this correctly). ?It oscillates between a positive error and a negative error.
?
?
It seem kind of surprising it would be overshooting in this case.
?
Back to the guided results I posted initially, it sort of feels like something is slipping. ?It tries to make a correction, but doesn’t get there (or possibly goes too far). ?The most likely thing I know of that could slip is the connection of the motor shaft and the worm shaft to the Oldham coupler. ?However, I’ve verified several times that the set screws are tight. ?I don’t see how that connection could be slipping. ? Is there any place else in the system where slippage could occur?
?
Bill
On Sep 28, 2024, at 3:41?PM, Bill Tschumy <bill@...> wrote:
Paul,
?
I should be able to get an unguided log tonight.
?
Yes, Gemini 1. ?The autoguider is connected to the main camera, which in turn is connected to a Raspberry Pi 4. ?The RPi4 also has a USB cable coming out that goes into the RS232 port on the Gemini 1 (via a USB to serial converter). ?Pretty sure I’ve tried the autoguider plugged directly into the RPi4, but I can try that again to see if if there are any differences.
?
--?
Bill Tschumy
Otherwise -- Longmont, CO
www.otherwise.com
?
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Re: Need advice on strange guiding problem
Paul (and others),
I’ve attached a screenshot showing the unguided results over about 18 minutes. ?You can sort of see the periodic error which I think is 478 seconds (about 8 minutes) for the GM8. ?I’m not sure what this tells us, but hopefully it will be useful.
I also noticed a curiosity last night. ?Ekos has a “Plate solve and center target” function. ?It will automatically repeat this until the error is less than some amount (30 arcsec in my case). ?Lately it seems to be having more trouble zeroing in on the target. ?Here is a screenshot of what it did. ?Rows 8 through 18 are its trying to zero in. ?Note that the declination zeros in nicely. ?However, the RA seems to oscillate by overshooting the center each time (assuming I’m reading this correctly). ?It oscillates between a positive error and a negative error.
It seem kind of surprising it would be overshooting in this case.
Back to the guided results I posted initially, it sort of feels like something is slipping. ?It tries to make a correction, but doesn’t get there (or possibly goes too far). ?The most likely thing I know of that could slip is the connection of the motor shaft and the worm shaft to the Oldham coupler. ?However, I’ve verified several times that the set screws are tight. ?I don’t see how that connection could be slipping. ? Is there any place else in the system where slippage could occur?
Bill
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Sep 28, 2024, at 3:41?PM, Bill Tschumy <bill@...> wrote:
Paul,
I should be able to get an unguided log tonight.
Yes, Gemini 1. ?The autoguider is connected to the main camera, which in turn is connected to a Raspberry Pi 4. ?The RPi4 also has a USB cable coming out that goes into the RS232 port on the Gemini 1 (via a USB to serial converter). ?Pretty sure I’ve tried the autoguider plugged directly into the RPi4, but I can try that again to see if if there are any differences.
--? Bill Tschumy Otherwise -- Longmont, CO www.otherwise.com
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Re: Help needed re: connecting Gemini 2 to PC
Paul,
Thanks for the advise and the links. I'm going to follow those instructions & hopefully everything will work okay.
?
Ron
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Re: Help needed re: connecting Gemini 2 to PC
I don't know about TheSky6 and Nina, but my Raspberry Pi running Ekos connects to the Gemini II through the USB-b port.? Ekos uses serial connections for their drivers, in this case over USB, so the Gemini II clearly supports that.
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wforacer.rm
Paul Kanevsky
David C. Partridge
John
Bill Tschumy
stargazer66207