After I got my new mount in February, I kept it under the cover of darkness.
It was inside the house, and only taken outside in the dark of night.
That lasted about 2 weeks....
Then one night this one solitary little dark cloud happened by, and it hung there long enough for me to take notice of it.
After that, we got 6 WEEKS of rain, with a few nights of clouds that didn't rain. I would have sworn Brush growing season was off due to drowning the brush!
Well, obviously it takes more than Biblical rain to kill the brush, given the fires we've had.
But in the long run, our mounts can outlive the weather. We may not like it, but so can we.
But I certainly share your frustrations Jim.

After the Spring rains, it seemed like the only time clouds shown up was at night.
And only after I was half way through, or just finishing my modeling.
Life's not easy for us at the bottom of the pond trying to look through the murk.

Better nights are coming.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

Hi Brian - Sorry,? I posted this to the wrong group.? I deleted the message but it looks like the subject wasn't deleted.

/g/AZ-Observing/topic/full_moon_no_clouds_or_smoke/76549758?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate%2Fsticky,,,20,2,0,76549758

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Changing, and Checking, are two different things, Tony.
For example, I always use the Quick Start option when signing on so I can preview my settings.
To me, it gives me a chance to check my settings. But mostly to check myself.

Granted, the Quick Start does not specifically address the limits settings. Because you are correct, the safety limits do not arbitrarily change.
But once you become familiar with things, you gain confidence in the settings. (I do anyway. I like to take my time. After all, I'm retired so my time is worthless. LOL. And it helps me to remember things by checking them. (you could say I'm dumb. LOL!))

I put an RAEXT on my GM811G mount. It was to make it easier for this old geezer to transport it each night. But a big bonus was to image through a meridian flip.
I tested that and imaged a Nebula for 1,300 exposures (10s each) for 13,000 seconds in the stack. It was an experiment that paid off in spades.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

I thought the safety limits were standards that did not require changing?

That's a great setup! Make sure you get good filters - that's not the place to skimp. Both Chromas and Astrodons are great and I can personally vouch for Chroma's excellent customer service.

Also make sure your timezone is set correctly - that is something you need to set separate from the GPS (though glad to hear you are using GPS)


Brian

Hi Tony,
Have you tried to set the limits yet?


--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

I finally took my GM8 out of hibernation after a long hiatus. I replaced the battery on the Gemini 2, I also did a Factory reset. However I am getting "Safety Limit Reached" messages when I goto an object. All other information is set up through the GPS device. Help!

I have your Titan's baby brother a GM811G.
But I never loosen, nor tighten those. (Mine has the hand screws)
Mine have a Nylon or Delron washer under them, so they can slip for my very minor Altitude adjustments.
In other words, I set them, and forget them.
The Alt adjust mechanism holds the adjustment.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

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Hi Joe,
Thanks for the heads up. I'll check that everything is JNow, now that I know.
I did adjust the lens outward on the front of my Orion 50 mm guide scope last night, and lo and Behold the stars (of course) got fuzzy, but then dialed them back in with the Helical focuser.
But they appeared brighter, and the FOV (field of view) got broader.
Then, when building a model, I was able to bring the target stars to center much easier.

I do almost all of this without the aid of ASTAP or other Plate solvers. I wish I could use them, but my Infinity camera is not Plate Solver friendly, yet. Another problem to sort out.
So I bumble along, using the hand controller and get my model built.
Getting on my object was not happening for me currently, so more to sort out.
But dialing in the guide scope was a big win last night.

Always something. But my GM811G HD is working great.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

Good Day,

I've read some posts here and just want to confirm something.? The bolt marked with the cyan arrow in my picture "attached" is where you would tighten down after adjusting for latitude?? Any limit to how tight assuming we are threading into soft aluminum here?

Thanks,

Hi Sonny,

Is your pointing off in just one direction, such as RA only or Dec only?? If so, check that your Oldham couplers aren't slipping on the worm shafts. That happens to me every couple of years.

Another idea is that some of your software may be set to sending J2000 coordinates to the mount when it is expecting JNow, or vise versa.? I managed to mis-configure my Gemini driver that way once, although the error should only be minutes of arc, not degrees.

Good luck,
-Joe

On Mon, Aug 10, 2020 at 12:45 AM, JohnS wrote:

We had a similar setup.? I had a GM811G and a Takahashi FSQ106edx4 and also used a DSLR (actually MIL) camera.? I guide using a Lacerta MGEN II coz I don't want to lug a laptop in the field and worry about more power or an inverter.

?

More recently I added a Celestron EdgeHD 9.25, and was maxing out the mount's capacity so I bought a G11 DEC.? I had a RAEXT on the GM811 so I simply moved the extension plate from the G8 DEC head to the G11.? So technically, mine is now a G11G.? This is one of many things so amazing with the Losmandy mounts.? Easy to replace or upgrade components.

?

Have fun with yours.

Thanks John. Very beautiful setup! I do plan on adding the RA extension to my mount for ease of disassembly as well. By the way, appreciate your note on the Lacerta -- good to know you've had success with this combination. I'll check it out as I get more familiar with this hobby but agree it'll be much more convenient than carrying a laptop and larger battery!

On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 11:10 PM, Sonny Edmonds wrote:

I came here before I got my GM811G HD. The guys here helped me a LOT with my questions.
And with my follies as well.
Scott Losmandy told me, "Just use it, don't mess around with it."
Sage advice. It comes factory tuned, and ready to work. And that means, it have Scott Losmandy's personal fingerprints on it.
I know, I watched him building a dual mount for an order.
What CEO does that?

As long as you can control your urge to tinker with it, you will enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

This is an active forum indeed! I hope to learn and share along the way from this group, just like you did.

Good advice on controlling the urge to tinker :-) I am planning on performing the following 2 upgrades but hopefully that'll be the end of tinkering!

- RA extension kit to allow for easy disassembly during transport
- wavy washer upgrade -- I have a lot of friction on RA balancing which I hope will be solved by this upgrade

On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 12:26 PM, Chip Louie wrote:

One last thing, do me a favor and sign your name so those of us on Covid-19 lockdown with addled minds can maintain our grasp on humanity

Done! :-)

On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM, Arun Hegde wrote:

Welcome! You have an excellent scope and a mount that suits it very, very well. For many years, you are going to be limited more by your own abilities and interest than by your equipment, especially once you get a mono camera and filter wheel. You should have no issues doing guided LRGB and long exposure narrow band with that combination and getting some very high quality images!

Thanks Arun.

I'm realizing it! With the fires around here, I haven't had a chance to test out the scope & mount yet but I've been using the time to learn the system. I've already received by EFW & ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool and gave it a shot last night (indoor! :-D) as we wait for clear skies.

- Arvind

On Sat, Aug 8, 2020 at 10:31 PM, Michael Herman wrote:

Are you really named Base16, or just a digital logic design pro? Maybe a software engineering pro?

Thanks for your welcome and your other informative comments in your response, Michael!

As for base16 -- it's just a handle that I've used in all online forums and also at work, which is a tech company in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'll update my profile here to mention my real name: Arvind

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