|
Re: Another question for Micheal
Dear Paul, I recently repaired a similar unit. It is unfortunately common to have a serial port chip or it's surrounding capacitors blow out.?? That unit had a MAX232 Maxim chip and 1uF ceramic caps.? I replace the chip and I use 40 volt rated caps to replace the chips caps.?? I also add TSV or zener protection devices to the back of the board to protect the serial port nodes in the future.?? If you want me to repair yours, send it to me late next week.? I'll send you my contact info privately.?? Very best, Michael On Fri, Feb 4, 2022, 4:18 PM Paul Romero <paul@...> wrote:
|
|
Another question for Micheal
Thanks for the Gemini 1 advice, Micheal. Can you help me troubleshoot a Gemini 1 board?
I think a power surge took out my unit. It no longer communicates with the PC. I have attached a photo of a suspicious looking burnt component. I have the Gemini 1 with the RJ connectors, so it's an older board.? Could this be the problem with the rs-232 communication to the PC? Could I cut my defunct HC cord and modify it to attach to a USB port on the PC and bypass this burnt thingies l, if so? Is this repairable? Clear Skies, Paul |
|
Re: Long time Gemini 1 user still on learning curve! Please help.
Paul, I follow the advice below, to avoid the persistent problem that Daylight Savings Time date can change.? The G-1 cannot know of those date changes.? So it is best to only enter UTC time.? See below. Also, the G-1 only allows you to enter the Latitude and longitude in degrees and minutes.? The entry format, unfortunately, uses a decimal point, but it is actually used in Europe as a comma would be in the US.? So you enter Latitude and Longitude as Degrees.Minutes For West Latitudes you use a minus sign before the degrees.?? _____ ? Gemini1 time and date UTC format 5.3.10.5 UTC Date/Time
The "UTC Date/Time" menu item is where you set Gemini's real time clock (RTC).
Upon executing "UTC Date/Time" the UTC date and time display freezes but the RTC
continues to keep time.
The display of date and time from left to right reads as follows: "yymm.dd hh:mm:ss"
(yy = year, mm = month, dd = day, hh = hour, mm = minutes, ss = seconds).? ? So would be for 2021, May 4 you'd take the 22 as the last 2 digits from 2022, the 05 is for May, 04 is the day ..for 6:15:25 AM 2205.04 06:15:25 For time after noon like 14:00 = 2pm enter like 2205.04 14:15:25 Link here works: Click here to get the UTC data/time in?Gemini style. full link: ______ After a battery change and reset of UTC time and location, you must Power off the Gemini then reboot in Cold Boot mode.? This installs the new time and location info into the SRAM memory for position calculations.?? If, after those entries, your mount is still pointing wrong, I suggest? 1. Double check the mount type selection is correct.?? 2. replace the EPROM with a fresh one.? Sometimes the EPROM memory loses data, then the position calculations are incorrect.? Hope this helps you... Michael On Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 12:36 PM Paul Romero <paul@...> wrote: Hi,? I've had a Gemini 1 controlled MI-250 for over 10 years. I remember the mount often would not know where it was in the celestial sky. I thought to replace the CR2303 battery and I have done that not more than three weeks ago. Now, with NINA, I do a successful plate solve, but the software reports consistently and repeatedly that mount is not within tolerance (3 arc mins per my input in the options panel). The good news is that the RA shows an error of -00:006:24. The bad news is DEC shows 14*:45':27" as the error. This is the exact same number as the "Error Distance". The settings I put in for the Gemini 1 controller for Reno, NV USA are Latitude: N39 24.92 and W 119 46.47 with a time zone of UTC -8 AM PST/YDT. Can I change the settings to achieve a situation where the mount knows where it is, or is this a fatal problem with my controller? The RA and DEC motors sound and appear to slew without problem. Thank You!? |
|
Re: ASCOM Platform 6.6 not connecting with Gemini.net
On Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 03:29 AM, Robert Patterson wrote:
Windows 10,Hi Robert, Just tried the exact configuration you have, and still works fine. I suggest you uninstall and then re-install the driver and the ASCOM platform. Perhaps something got corrupted in the process. I've now tested ASCOM 6.6 and Gemini.NET on Windows 8, 10, and 11, and all work. You may want to run ASCOM Diagnostics to see if everything was configured correctly.? When you say you can't start the driver, what exactly happens? Can you start it from the desktop icon? Or is it that the connect to Gemini fails? Regards, ? ? -Paul |
|
Re: ASCOM Platform 6.6 not connecting with Gemini.net
Looks OK, Robert, but which version of Windows? 7, 8, 10, or 11?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 01:35 AM, Robert Patterson wrote: Hi Paul, |
|
Re: ASCOM Platform 6.6 not connecting with Gemini.net
On Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 12:09 AM, Robert Patterson wrote:
I downloaded the latest ASCOM platform, version 6.6.? It does not let me start the Gemini.Net driver.? I have had to downgrade to Version 6.4.? I cannot find 6.5 which I had previously.Hi Robert, I tested Gemini.NET with ASCOM Platform 6.6 and everything worked. What version of the driver and what version of Windows are you running? Regards, ? ? -Paul? |
|
Re: ... can you spare an ... old Gemini-1 motor with rectangular power jack?
Forgot the photo...here is the Gemini-1 unit for which I seek one or two matching motors and cables.?? Thanks again, Michael On Wed, Jan 26, 2022, 1:53 PM Michael Herman via <mherman346=[email protected]> wrote:
|
|
... can you spare an ... old Gemini-1 motor with rectangular power jack?
Hi all, I do repairs for Gemini -1 owners. Sometimes, I get an older unit that has the rectangular motor connector (CAT-5 type cable).? See photo of the front of these older units.?? As I have none of the matching older motors to test my repair, I'm looking for one or two..motors...and if available a matching power cable to the motor also.?? I'll be happy to pay for domestic shipping if you have one or two of these older motors to donate toward Gemini repair efforts.?? You can contact me privately used ng the bottom.Reply to Sender link below... Many thanks, all! Michael |
|
Re: Communications error
Thank you all for your consideration and suggestions
I think I have found the answer to my reoccurring ?¡°communications error ! ¡° messages As Brian has suggested I did not reset anything and found that even with the USB directly connected to the computer ?I still got some (less). However when I disconnected the USB and only communicated via Ethernet/Gemini.net did not get a single one for many hours last night and I suspect my RMS air improved from 1¡± to 0.6¡± with round stars F8 200 second exposure so again the answer to my problem is that USB and Internet cannot be connected at the same time Ron |
Michael Herman
Paul Kanevsky
Robert Patterson
Ron