开云体育

  1. Losmandy_users
  2. Messages
Expanded Topics Messages Polls
Date
Re: G11 Gemini 1 control over ethernet

 

Hi Smidsy,

Gemini-1 didn't have support for Ethernet. RS232/Serial is the main interface mechanism. The Feature port, with some additional hardware, could be used as an extra serial port, but not for Ethernet. If you want to control it over Ethernet, you'll need some Serial over Ethernet (or Wi-Fi) adapters that can convert between the two, but only serial should be connected to Gemini-1.

Regards,

? ? -Paul
G11 Gemini 1 control over ethernet

 

Hi all, can I use the feature ethernet socket to control the mount from a laptop or do I have to use the smaller RS232 socket ?

Thanks
New user - newbie question

 

Hi all, just been lucky enough to buy a G11 Gemini 1 level 4 mount, obviously have the main hand set, it also came with a simple 4 directional button hand controller but without a cable, please can someone advise what this cable is called? I would like to get this working to save wearing out the buttons on the main hand set.
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

Sonny Edmonds
 

On Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 09:28 AM, jeff marston wrote:
It would be nice to have a permanent observatory, where I could just turn everything on and image or view. I would much rather travel and do modeling every night than fight
the light of my neighborhood.
Well, you can add thickness to your plywood pads to help stiffen them.

Even with an observatory, there is the labor of love with Modeling (Alignment).
I'm a backyarder, and use a Light Pollution filter, because my entire thing is imaging.
I keep my Tripod set up much of the time, and cover it. That allows me to keep the tripod Polar orientated, but I still do a PA of sorts.
(everything above the tripod gets brought inside. Bosses orders.)
I think it is prudent because, after all, the Earth has moved, and the ground vibrations have some minor effect
I'm also in my habit of doing the Quick Start just to check my numbers. They're always right, but it's one of my habits.

Today a fence extension is being added to my back wall.?
It will replace the towering ivy plant that used to be growing there.
The ivy became a rat haven. My loverly Condoland neighbors. NOT!


?
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

Sonny Edmonds
 

On Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 06:59 AM, Michael Herman wrote:
I also am tired of the ads from TeamViewer, and worse it dropping off at around midnight requiring a new login from both computers.? I know I am a person stuck in habits...and TeamViewer became one. Time to upgrade....thanks again.
?
Michael
You are most Welcome Michael!
The antics of Team Viewer got to be a royal PITA for me. Mine would drop out a lot!
So I went hunting and found Tight Vnc. It just works.
I think it works as well as a Losmandy mount.

It does change it's address (http:) now and then. So I check the running programs window to see what address it tagged onto.
Usually only the last two digits change.
That is the only thing I can complain about. But I learned to check so I don't have to walk back and forth and look as dumb as I sometimes think I am. ;^)
?
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

 

You guys are right about the plywood pads. They aren’t ideal, but they do keep the legs from sinking into the ground with my big scope and three 22 pound counterweights.?
I am learning to find my way around the menu on the hand controller. It all seems intuitive, and setup isn’t complicated, so it is pretty fast.?

It would be nice to have a permanent observatory, where I could just turn everything on and image or view. I would much rather travel and do modeling every night than fight
the light of my neighborhood.

Jeff
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

 

Brian,
The focal length of my C14 is 3910mm. A .7 reducer brings it down to a mere 2700mm, which is about the same as a C11 without a reducer.?
I have had some success autoguiding while using a C14 mounted on my Celestron mount, but any deviation from ideal conditions can make
it a real challenge. For years I did astrophotography without autoguiding, so getting round stars with exposures longer than 45 seconds is
still a novelty to me.?

Jeff
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

 

HI Jeff

that's a great report - Small problems like that

Regarding autoguiding, the 14" is a really challenging scope. what is the focal length again?

I know a handful of 14" owners and they have only guided successfully with an OAG, so i am hoping for good results for you, but might keep that in mind :)





On Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 12:30 AM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote:
When it got dark I tried some modeling. I don’t know the names of hundreds of stars but I know Dubhe is not hanging around the northeast at ten pm. I went back and double checked all the data I had put into the mount.
Everything looked correct except that the scope wasn’t pointing anywhere near where stars should be. finally I realized that even though my longitude numbers were correct I had probably put myself in
the wrong hemisphere. My location in Utah is negative 111 degrees, not positive.?

As soon as I changed that one thing and finished modeling, I tried the goto. M13, dead center. M57, dead center. Jupiter, dead center, So was Saturn and the Moon. The new mount handled my C14 very?
well. Even with higher power eyepieces, there wasn’t much wiggle when I slewed the scope. What little reverberation there was, was gone almost immediately.?

So my new mount isn’t just pretty. It also works quite well.

The next step is autoguiding. I think I will try that with a smaller scope. ?



--
Brian?



Brian Valente
portfolio

Re: worm turn with MUCH difficulty

 

These were my thoughts as well. Interestingly, last evening I remounted the original stepping motors and found they operate just fine. High torque maybe? The connector on the RA motor is electrically sound, just a mounting clip broken. Regardless, tonight I'll tackle the bearings. Thanks for your input. Tom
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

 

开云体育

TeamViewer is nice for remote support ... but when both devices are on the same local network, VNC is much better.


On Aug 27, 2020, at 9:59 AM, Michael Herman <mherman346@...> wrote:

?
Thanks for the pointer to TightVNC, Sonny.? I'll have to try that out!

I also am tired of the ads from TeamViewer, and worse it dropping off at around midnight requiring a new login from both computers.? I know I am a person stuck in habits...and TeamViewer became one. Time to upgrade....thanks again.

Michael


On Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 5:55 AM Sonny Edmonds <sonnyedmonds@...> wrote:
In addition to Michael's advice about ground vibrations, and flex of wooden pads, I've always used pavers when going remote. In fact, I have 3 in the basement of our RV where I normally carry my equipment.

I do remote operation of my mount (GM811G HD), but use Free and Open Sourced?.?
I started out with TeamViewer, but quickly tired of the program dropping back to its nag screen (Buy Now! Only $820.00), and requiring restarting. Very annoying!

Bare in mind we are on a giant mudball flying through space. So I always do a fresh Modeling every night.

Glad you have everything working smooth now.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

 

Thanks for the pointer to TightVNC, Sonny.? I'll have to try that out!

I also am tired of the ads from TeamViewer, and worse it dropping off at around midnight requiring a new login from both computers.? I know I am a person stuck in habits...and TeamViewer became one. Time to upgrade....thanks again.

Michael


On Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 5:55 AM Sonny Edmonds <sonnyedmonds@...> wrote:
In addition to Michael's advice about ground vibrations, and flex of wooden pads, I've always used pavers when going remote. In fact, I have 3 in the basement of our RV where I normally carry my equipment.

I do remote operation of my mount (GM811G HD), but use Free and Open Sourced?.?
I started out with TeamViewer, but quickly tired of the program dropping back to its nag screen (Buy Now! Only $820.00), and requiring restarting. Very annoying!

Bare in mind we are on a giant mudball flying through space. So I always do a fresh Modeling every night.

Glad you have everything working smooth now.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

Re: worm turn with MUCH difficulty

Sonny Edmonds
 

I would concur with Paul's advice.
After a few years... I would expect things to have taken a set and have become stuck or sticky.
If you are not mechanically inclined, it might be best to seek help or return to Losmandy for service to freshen up your mount.
You don't want to damage your new servos or Gemini II.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

Sonny Edmonds
 

In addition to Michael's advice about ground vibrations, and flex of wooden pads, I've always used pavers when going remote. In fact, I have 3 in the basement of our RV where I normally carry my equipment.

I do remote operation of my mount (GM811G HD), but use Free and Open Sourced?.?
I started out with TeamViewer, but quickly tired of the program dropping back to its nag screen (Buy Now! Only $820.00), and requiring restarting. Very annoying!

Bare in mind we are on a giant mudball flying through space. So I always do a fresh Modeling every night.

Glad you have everything working smooth now.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)
Re: First successful tryout of my G11T mount

 

Hi Jeff,

Wow...your experience with that longitude - sign triggers a few other things to watch for:

Yes....the East/West longitude entry is confusing.? The unit boots up and describes E or W longitude.? So you'd think that when you enter that value on the handset, you would see a toggle of E or W.? But you do not... you enter a number only.? ? ?The Gemini-1 manual does not clearly state that you just use a - sign for West hemisphere Longitude.? I think if you change the value in Gemini.net on the Telescope entry panel, it might be clearer.? If you do use Gemini net to make any changes, be aware that you must always? "Send to Gemini"?the PC made entries because that is not automatic.? The Gemini has its own memory and the PC has its own memory and they must be manually synched (though a few checkboxes exist for automatic setting of UTC on connect and ...maybe automatic turn on of PEC on connect.? ).? In general you must Download from Gemini to see it's settings like the Model data, and you just Upload to Gemini also when you make changes.?

?I'll add: the tiny Upload/Download arrow button on the Model area of the Advanced panel does not work. Instead use the big buttons on the bottom right of the Advanced panel to change or reset the Model data.? You can zero the values of the Model, but the Upload tiny button does not work to send that data up to the Gemini.??

Also note that the "." in the location entries is not a decimal point....it is a European punctuation.? That is, consider it a comma "," so you are really entering:?
? ? ? degrees, seconds?
Not:
? ? ? ?degrees.fraction

Also check the UTC time against a good website, and ensure that is correct.? ? Do not bother with any local time setting.??

Finally, after you make any key location or time entry changes, turn off the Gemini and reboot as Cold Boot to get the new values to take hold in the software.? Your location changes will require a new model anyway.

Your RA Titan section has a larger ring gear than the G11 so it's RA pointing accuracy and tracking should be quite dead on after polar alignment.? The G11 DEC section and RA on G11s is similarly excellent.? I'd think your RA PE should be very low too, but perhaps you can someday measure it and report it.??

You should have no fear of autoguiding.? I autoguide my C14EdgeHD on a G11 with no trouble....the Titan should offer even less trouble.??

Final note: walking around.? ?My buddy in the next town away had put a plywood floor in his domed observatory, on which he put his C14 on a Celestron tripod.? He was able to detect optical movement when he'd shift his weight on the plywood.? He eventually drilled holes in the plywood fur the tripod legs and put heavy flagstones under the tripod feet.? When you mentioned plywood pieces under the feet I thought they'd be as good as flagstones.? But anyway...ground can get soft and does transmit vibration so just be in the lookout.? You might just use something like TeamViewer and remotely operate your laptop to start deep sky acquisitions...well away from those tripod legs.??

Enjoy yourself!

Michael


On Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 12:30 AM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote:
When it got dark I tried some modeling. I don’t know the names of hundreds of stars but I know Dubhe is not hanging around the northeast at ten pm. I went back and double checked all the data I had put into the mount.
Everything looked correct except that the scope wasn’t pointing anywhere near where stars should be. finally I realized that even though my longitude numbers were correct I had probably put myself in
the wrong hemisphere. My location in Utah is negative 111 degrees, not positive.?

As soon as I changed that one thing and finished modeling, I tried the goto. M13, dead center. M57, dead center. Jupiter, dead center, So was Saturn and the Moon. The new mount handled my C14 very?
well. Even with higher power eyepieces, there wasn’t much wiggle when I slewed the scope. What little reverberation there was, was gone almost immediately.?

So my new mount isn’t just pretty. It also works quite well.

The next step is autoguiding. I think I will try that with a smaller scope. ?

Re: cable din 4 pin

 

开云体育

Unless of course there’s an external power supply for the camera that supplies all the voltages and only needs a 12V supply.

?

D.

?

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David C. Partridge
Sent: 27 August 2020 06:25
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] cable din 4 pin

?

No it won’t fit, and it would NOT work even with an adapter.? The camera requires +12V, ground, -12V and +5V – see appendix A2 of the user manual for the camera

?

The power output of the G1 only supplies ground and +12V

?

David

?

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Luis Barneo
Sent: 26 August 2020 23:52
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] cable din 4 pin

?

No. My question is not about autoguider connections, is about the electrical power supply. The box has two power connections. One "in", for electrical power supply of 12 V to the box. Next to it there is the "out" connection to supply power to devices. ST-8XE connect through a cable din 5 pins. The true question is if a male cable din 4 pin can fit in a female din? of 5 pins.

Luis

First successful tryout of my G11T mount

 

When it got dark I tried some modeling. I don’t know the names of hundreds of stars but I know Dubhe is not hanging around the northeast at ten pm. I went back and double checked all the data I had put into the mount.
Everything looked correct except that the scope wasn’t pointing anywhere near where stars should be. finally I realized that even though my longitude numbers were correct I had probably put myself in
the wrong hemisphere. My location in Utah is negative 111 degrees, not positive.?

As soon as I changed that one thing and finished modeling, I tried the goto. M13, dead center. M57, dead center. Jupiter, dead center, So was Saturn and the Moon. The new mount handled my C14 very?
well. Even with higher power eyepieces, there wasn’t much wiggle when I slewed the scope. What little reverberation there was, was gone almost immediately.?

So my new mount isn’t just pretty. It also works quite well.

The next step is autoguiding. I think I will try that with a smaller scope. ?
Re: cable din 4 pin

 

开云体育

No it won’t fit, and it would NOT work even with an adapter.? The camera requires +12V, ground, -12V and +5V – see appendix A2 of the user manual for the camera

?

The power output of the G1 only supplies ground and +12V

?

David

?

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Luis Barneo
Sent: 26 August 2020 23:52
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] cable din 4 pin

?

No. My question is not about autoguider connections, is about the electrical power supply. The box has two power connections. One "in", for electrical power supply of 12 V to the box. Next to it there is the "out" connection to supply power to devices. ST-8XE connect through a cable din 5 pins. The true question is if a male cable din 4 pin can fit in a female din? of 5 pins.

Luis

Re: worm turn with MUCH difficulty

 

Hi Tom,

If the worms don’t turn freely, you may need to clean and regrease the mount. Not just the worm and the worm wheel, but possibly also the needle bearings inside the axis.?

Are the worms rotating with difficulty even with the clutches loosened?

Regards,

? ? -Paul
Moderated Re: First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!

 

开云体育

Thanks, Michael. I have already experienced the collapsing leg thing. So far, the one thing I prefer about my CGX-L mount is the tripod legs can be locked with minimal effort. Last week when I mounted my C14 on my Losmandy mount for the first time, I kept wondering why the mount kept getting out of level. The legs were slipping and pushing into the grass. I have a 3/4 inch plywood square at the base of each leg in the photo. I am also cranking down those knobs tighter and almost sitting on the tripod to see if they are tight enough.

I have had my C14 edge for about a year and I have been using it more than?all my other scopes combined. It is big and awkward to move around but worth the effort, I think. I have been able?
to get some decent images of various things. When auto guiding was working well, and seeing was good, my C14 pulled out details and color that surprised me. It, kind of, hooked me on imaging
with the beast. The down side, is how much harder it is to make everything work well. Imaging with my little 80mm refractor seems effortless by comparison.

I am located in Salt Lake?City, Utah. My neighborhood is heavily light polluted, but an hour drive east or west gets me to, pretty decent, dark sites.?

I have been working on the back focus spacing. I need to find some way to vary the distance from my scope. I have been using Sony mirrorless full frame cameras, and they tend to expose any back focus errors, more than I would like.?

I always have fun, especially if I am away from my neighborhood in the desert to the west or mountains to the east. Getting out of town to do a great hobby can be a wonderful thing, especially
lately.?

If Losmandy was still making the Titan, I think I would have spent the extra cash just for extra stability while using my C14.?

Have a great evening, Michael, and thanks?for all the great information and help!

Jeff



From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Michael Herman <mherman346@...>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 8:08 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!
?
Wow.? Great setup.? I'm not used to seeing a Titan RA axis.??

A few things to?consider:

Be sure your knobs holding the tripod sections in place are quite tight.? My C14's weight was slowly collapsing one leg, though I was sure it was tight... and if I had not caught it...yikes.??

You are in a grassy area.? Be sure your tipod feet are on solid?ground, like large flagstones.??

If using an EdgeHD be aware the back focus is ideally 5.75 inches past the rear lens.? There is not much room for a filter wheel or ADC optic.? If you try to extend your camera focal plane out past that, you can end up with a coma problem.? The normal SCTs don't have this particular focal plane issue.? But (Newtonians with) a Baader MPC also have the similar back focus constraint (that one is 55mm).? ?The penalties of "coma free" can come at a price.??

(Where are you located? You hinted at Utah, but....)

Have fun!

Michael

On Wed, Aug 26, 2020, 6:09 PM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote:


I am all set up and ready to go. For the last week, fires in California and Utah have made seeing anything an exercise in futility.?
Today, the skies have been blue, instead of brown, and the clouds are supposed to be few and far between. If seeing is decent
I hope to get some videos of Jupiter and Saturn. I made two attempts last week and weekend, but even stars directly overhead
were dim. Jupiter looked more like a giant Mars, with huge dust storms. I am hoping tonight will be great viewing and videoing.

Moderated Re: First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!

 

开云体育

Thanks, Brian. I think I have the worm gears set at a nice compromise, not too loose, not too noisy. My goal was to get a mount that was sturdier than my Celestron mount so I could do some autoguiding and imaging with my SCT's. I think I have the sturdier part taken care of. The C14/G11T combination is steadier than my CGX-L for visual. So far, so good!

Jeff

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 7:09 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] First clear night to try out my new G11T, I hope!
?
Good luck Jeff!

that is a monster scope, hope it goes well

On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 6:09 PM jeff marston <jeffmarston@...> wrote:


I am all set up and ready to go. For the last week, fires in California and Utah have made seeing anything an exercise in futility.?
Today, the skies have been blue, instead of brown, and the clouds are supposed to be few and far between. If seeing is decent
I hope to get some videos of Jupiter and Saturn. I made two attempts last week and weekend, but even stars directly overhead
were dim. Jupiter looked more like a giant Mars, with huge dust storms. I am hoping tonight will be great viewing and videoing.



--
Brian?



Brian Valente
portfolio

16121 - 16140 of 83722