Keyboard Shortcuts
ctrl + shift + ? :
Show all keyboard shortcuts
ctrl + g :
Navigate to a group
ctrl + shift + f :
Find
ctrl + / :
Quick actions
esc to dismiss
Likes
- Losmandy_users
- Messages
Search
|
Re: Polemaster on Losmandy's
>>>
I use the Polemaster on my G11, but I have the Explore Scientific version that uses PMC-Eight as the controller, so I'm no help when it comes to Gemini. Bob I assume you use the polemaster app, correct? i don't think which controller you use has any connection with use of polemaster for polar alignment Brian On Wed, Sep 9, 2020 at 10:51 AM Bob Ryan <ryanr256@...> wrote:
--
Brian? Brian Valente portfolio |
|
Re: Polemaster on Losmandy's
PS? i should?also mention that the majority of times, i rarely use the actual gemini controller. the Gemini Telescope.net software app and ASCOM driver (all in one) is so full featured and capable, i rarely use the hand controller at all. In fact, most times it's not even plugged in, and I do everything from the computer. If you are imaging, I personally think it's among the best and most robust software solutions out there right now On Wed, Sep 9, 2020 at 10:49 AM Donnie <zerodb@...> wrote:
--
Brian? Brian Valente portfolio |
|
Re: Polemaster on Losmandy's
Hi Donnie There are plenty of Losmandy youtube videos on using the Gemini, and we're adding them all the time (it's one of the main focuses of our video creation right now) I have the polemaster on my G11, and switch it between G11 and my G11T. it's very easy to use and fits in great on the DEC axis if there any other questions, lots of people here can help, and you can always email me directly techsupport at losmandy dot com On Wed, Sep 9, 2020 at 10:47 AM Donnie <zerodb@...> wrote: Does anyone have a QHY Polemaster on their Losmandy?? --
Brian? Brian Valente portfolio |
|
Re: Polemaster on Losmandy's
I use the Polemaster on my G11, but I have the Explore Scientific version that uses PMC-Eight as the controller, so I'm no help when it comes to Gemini. -Bob On Wed, Sep 9, 2020, 13:47 Donnie <zerodb@...> wrote: Does anyone have a QHY Polemaster on their Losmandy?? |
|
Polemaster on Losmandy's
Does anyone have a QHY Polemaster on their Losmandy??
I have not purchased a mount yet. To be honest, I just can not make up my mind about buying the G11G.? Something about it I have reservations about, but I really can't truly identify what it is that is keeping me at bay with this.? I read some of the user manuals, and it seems the mount is really made for more advanced users. Not much detail in the instructions or maybe there is more setup material that comes with it.? Usually, there is printed material on how to use the hand controller. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place on Losmandy's site, but I have not found any manual on how to use the hand controller - I will look again - it is probably staring me in the face, but just did not see it right off the bat. I am sure that I will be embarrassed if I do find it after writing this post.? I do know he has videos on how to use his hand controller and I did view some of those. But sometimes I just like sitting down with something I can hold in my hand and read. I do know they have this link for videos http://losmandy.com/gem2inst.html I have about 4 years of experience with a Celestron CGEM mount and I even performed a hyper-tune on it myself. So, I consider myself fairly mechanical minded. Just last week I also Modified my Canon Rebel 600D myself and removed all the filters and made it a full spectrum. The hand controller is not like anything I have ever seen before.? I am not sure if anyone is familiar with the Skywatcher EQ6-R, but now, I am at a toss-up between that or the G11G.? Donnie |
|
Re: Wireless Remote control of the Gemini 2
Hi Tim comments inline below On Wed, Sep 9, 2020 at 8:29 AM Astronut <hg2u@...> wrote: Brian, the microRouter is on the OTA deck, but the home router is obviously stationary and away from the whole setup. I put it there because i'm looking to minimize my cables off the OTA. Right now i just have ethernet (to gemini) and one power cable (that goes into my fairly recent pegasys astro powerbox, but prior to that was an inexpensive anderson powerpole distro box).? i'll have to give some thought to the idea of pulling the router off the OTA and putting it on the mount. Thinking about it, i have the same issue on my home router so I"m not sure that's the origination of the problem ? (I have my router velcro'd to the back of my Gemini-2 mini) and have not seen connectivity losses caused by slewing, In my experience, i don't think it's related to ASCOM or the UI responsiveness on the computer. What happens is the connection freezes, and nothing on the RDP desktop is responsive,?telescope related or otherwise. If i close the connection, i can still see RDP is "connected" and i cannot re-connect. that's where I have to completely quit out of RDP client and restart the app. at that point i can reconnect and everything works fine.? ? Modern, well written programs really should not affect the UI thread at all, while these calls are occurring. might look into that, thanks?
Brian? Brian Valente portfolio |
|
Re: Wireless Remote control of the Gemini 2
Brian,
Is your router and pc mounted on the OTA deck (moves with slews) or stationary ? (I have my router velcro'd to the back of my Gemini-2 mini) and have not seen connectivity losses caused by slewing, but rather I believe that some app's appear to perform lenghty ASCOM calls on the main UI thread. Some apps are better than others in this regard. I believe this coincides with the dropouts for me, likely that the UI thread appears to freeze and either RDP perceives this as trouble (a guess) or the UI thread is just unable to keep up and drops (another guess). A slightly similar (but 'significantly' different) condition test is used by the OS to determine when to display "... The application is not responding..." in the task manager.? You can observe this condition by manipulating the app in question's ASCOM connectivity/functionality and observing if the UI 'freezes' while the ASCOM function is occurring. Some apps seem to have no effect in the UI Thread, others effectively 'lock up' the UI briefly while the activity is occurring. You may be surprised at the results. I can provide more information and specific reproducible examples if desired.? Modern, well written programs really should not affect the UI thread at all, while these calls are occurring. Consider what happens when an automation program is managing multiple other programs, each with their own ASCOM connectivity performing some of these tasks at near the same times... Also, the RDP connection profile is just a text file with a paticular file name extension. It is well documented, there are numerous additional parameters that may be useful. To see them, just use the "save as" in the RDP applet, then "open with" the file using fav text editor and customize... Thanks, Astronut Tim |
|
Re: Wireless Remote control of the Gemini 2
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýHi! One option, perhaps, if I understand your question and aimed for
setup correcly, would be the Stellarmate. It is a Raspberry Pi
that sits on the mount and controls everything, and then you
access it via VNC, typically, from you desktop or laptop, on any
OS you like. Cheap, very stable, very very capable. Best, Magnus
Den 2020-09-09 kl. 04:16, skrev James
B:
I am in the process of going from a laptop near the mount configuration of controlling my imaging set up, to a mini computer on the scope, and controlling through my home network. I will be using Remote Desktop and a mini router, and want to configure the set up so that it can be portable. |
|
Re: Wireless Remote control of the Gemini 2
Hi James I forget exactly what I said in the video vs. what i'm thinking in my head :) but the video was pretty thorough I am pretty much doing exactly what you described.? Tim offered some good suggestions. Here are a few add-on comments to make my setup bulletproof: 1. I use assigned IP addresses only. especially since RDP requires you to enter the IP address, so I don't want it changing beneath me 2. I use both my mini router and my home router for backups of each other. Mini router has the NUC-style computer and Gemini connected via ethernet cabling. I can wifi in to the mini router and use RDP for that. or i can wifi to my home router and use RDP for connecting this second way. In this way i have a backup, and 99.9% of the time one of the two connections will work. 3. the NUC-style computer has a different IP address via the ethernet cable and mini router than it has via the home router. So I have two separate RDP connections availalbe to me, one for home router, one for mini router? 4. I've noticed when i slew or otherwise move the telescope, that tends to kill the wifi connection. I don't know why, but my hypothesis is routers were not designed to be moved around while connected. So if i'm doing a start-of-night slew, i might trigger the slew and then disconnect from RDP. Once it's done slewing, i reconnect in a few minutes 5. if RDP hangs, most often i have to kill the connection AND the RDP app. just seems like the way it is for now if you have more questions, happy to help On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 7:16 PM James B <jamiboothe@...> wrote: I am in the process of going from a laptop near the mount configuration of controlling my imaging set up, to a mini computer on the scope, and controlling through my home network. I will be using Remote Desktop and a mini router, and want to configure the set up so that it can be portable. --
Brian? Brian Valente portfolio |
|
Re: Wireless Remote control of the Gemini 2
Hi James,
I use RDP for remote telescope control just as you mentioned all the time. Never looked back. I have found it useful to save a RDP profile shortcut that includes credentials so you can just click and connect from the desktop.? Rarely, from time to time, the RDP connection can fail, causing the remote session desktop to no longer refresh.??Just close and reopen the RDP session and the remote visibility is restored in a few seconds. I use the Gemini-2's Ethernet port for mount connectivity. This makes it so you can directly connect to the mount. I actually have Stellarium running on the more powerful inside computer and use the 'mount' computer for imaging. I usually open the Gemini web site on the inside computer displaying the hand controller, so that in case the RDP connection fails, I can still have quick mount control. I also use a remote video camera pointed at the mount and a good portion of the sky (I actually use an old StellaCam, which has hardware integration, which results in daylight like views of the telescope, while still getting a good view of the stars and sky conditions without the infrared emissions of modern 'night vision security cameras'. It is a comfort being able to see the equipment while it is moving. I also added a camera to my finder scope and use a reasonably fast update rate, like 300mS in Sharpcap, to get a EAA view of "what the main scope's looking at" at any time, regardless of the state of the imaging camera. I did negotiate a pitfall the first time I went portable (without internet). I had to reconfigure my networking to compensate. If you are going to be taking your rig mobile, make sure you test your scenario ahead of time. Like many others, I use SGP, PHD2 & Sharpcap for imaging workflow. More depends on the specific software you use in your workflow, as well as specifics on how your networking is configured.? Hope something in here may be useful, Astronut Tim |
|
Wireless Remote control of the Gemini 2
I am in the process of going from a laptop near the mount configuration of controlling my imaging set up, to a mini computer on the scope, and controlling through my home network. I will be using Remote Desktop and a mini router, and want to configure the set up so that it can be portable.
The above description is the future state I am striving for. My current state is barely being able to connect my laptop to the mini computer with Remote Desktop. I had trouble initially with credentials being recognized by RDP, and had to configure a local user account to by pass that issue.? Brian, has a good video for the mini router set up, but there is much more involved in getting the whole rig set up and bullet proof. Anyway, Brian and anyone else who has succeeded with this type of set up, I would love to read how you set up and maintain your remote control imaging apparatus, and any other advice or pitfalls to avoid. Clear ones, James |
|
Re: simple servo motor control
On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 08:01 AM, Mark Christensen wrote:
Regards,Thanks, Mark. I did get a used Hurst motor and with a WEMOS D1 R32 board and a CNC shield and driver, I made a simple full featured OnStep controller. Full ASCOM control. Here is a link to the project pictures so far.? JoAnn |
|
Re: RA stiction question
Hi Mike,
Well that's good to hear, it is usually just old dried up dirty grease that messes up the works. But once you have SuperLubed you just have to worry about contamination as it will never gum up on you.?? Did you get some dirt or maybe corrosion in the little post hole that goes through the top plate to make it tight? I would not sand it without knowing the cause as if you get spring loaded worms in the future you don't want that hole to be oversized. McMaster Carr has ABEC-7 bearings for $8, this is relatively cheap for reliable supplier.? -- Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware? ? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA? |
|
Re: Excellent seeing in Sydney
Marc,?
I really like your Moon pics of a couple weekends ago, so much detail.? It was a good night down here near Canberra too.? I am very new and attached is my first ever prime focus pic - Mewlon 180/Canon EOS RP (I am just new to the hobby, having received my new G11 the week prior) . |
|
Re: New to Losmandy
Sonny Edmonds
Hi Glenn1
Welcome to the group. This is the Group, Where you'll get the straight poop, From devotees all around the Globe! I'm a GM811G HD owner. I've wow'd mine up a bit. One of the very attractive things was how I could make mine a semi-Pier configuration with the 12" extension. Later I realized I needed the RA EXT so I could stop unscrewing the counterweight shaft all the time. I found a huge bonus in that I could continue to image through the meridian without doing a Meridian Flip. That night I had no trouble staying awake until 03:00 Hrs. I was fascinated! My passion is Deep Space Objects, Nebula specific. I use an Orion ED80T CF as my telescope, Atik Infinity OSC as my camera, and an Orion guide scope and camera for guiding. I have to bring mine in and take it out. So I have mine in 4 manageable "Chunks". Tripod, RA section with 12" riser, Dec section with CW shaft and weight, and on top is the telescope and all the electronics. I hope you get to enjoy your new 811 soon. I'm under the same poopy skies. When mine came home in February, I kept it hidden for 2 weeks. But the inevitable happened. One tiny little dark cloud came by and stopped looking down on me in my backyard. That little brat told all the clouds and it rained or was cloudy for about 6 weeks! I was sure we wouldn't have an Brush Fire Season because surely all the brush had drowned. Maybe your new 811 will bring some rain to put the fires out? Scott told me, "Don't mess with it. Just use it." Because even though a Losmandy mount invites tinkering, if left alone it will stay in the precise "State of Tune" Scott put it in before it was boxed for shipment. -- SonnyE (I suggest viewed in full screen) |
|
Re: RA stiction question
Hi Chip,
I think everyone here was right, looks like it just needed a very, very thorough cleaning. I got both axis cleaned up and applied some super lube. After getting the axis re-assembled, they move smoothly. I then put my 10" schmidt cass (LX200, about 40 lbs with the moonlight focuser) and about 50 lbs of counterweights on and I was able to balance it pretty well. So that is one thing solved. Axis both moved very smoothly after all the cleaning.? Next thing to deal with is I could feel some roughness in the RA worm bearings, so I will order some high precision versions on those, and the worm block closest to the motor on the dec axis is very tight, was impossible to remove without some tapping, and will barely rotate in its place. I'll lightly sand the post on it and see if i can't get it to fit better - it will be hard to adjust the worms without the block rotating freely. Mike |
|
Gemini-1 Alignment Displays Polar Axis Offset (Altitude and Azimuth) in what Units?
While doing the cold start alignment of 3-4 stars the display shows the offset of the polar axis from the NCP in altitude and azimuth. The manual says these are in units of arc-seconds. Is that really correct? Or is it giving the offset in arc-minutes?
Russ |
|
Re: New to Losmandy
Welcome to the Losmandy Group and GM811G ownership club. I have a GM811G.? If you have any questions feel free to post a message.
Mount Equipment - Stock GM811G - DEC spring loaded worm - PoleMaster - Upgraded AMD saddle?? - Losmandy Polar Scope - AC to DC 15 volt @ 5 amp power supply - DC to DC 12 volt to 15.3 volt @ 5 amp converter (home made) -?Tripod knob set Software - N.I.N.A. 1.10 HF01 RC001 - TheSkyX Pro - PHD Guide 2 - PixInsight |
|
New to Losmandy
I¡¯m a new G811G owner as of last week. I upgraded from a Celestron AVX mount which I used for 2 years for visual and EAA and many years prior with a CG5.? I own an 8¡± Celestron SCT and a Vixen ED80sf. I image with a ZWO ASI294 Pro and operate mount and camera remotely with an Intel NUC at the mount and Remote Access over WiFi to my in-house computer. |
James B
Chip Louie
Russell Milton
to navigate to use esc to dismiss