Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Masami,
When convenient, open your Gemini-1 front cover, as if you were changing the battery.
You will find 6 hexagonal "standoff" posts that support the front cover.
Use a tool to unscrew those 6 posts, and put them in a container.
Then the circuit board can be lifted up and out.
Carefully inspect the inside of the metal case for evidence of moisture or other contamination.
Carefully examine the front and back of the circuit board for discoloration.? If you see any, use isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab ("Qtip") to scrub off the contamination.??
If you can get a head magnifier, like this one, it will help your look down into the black phone jacks at the copper wires, and also look into the inside view of the phone jacks wires.??
Sometimes these copper wires get corroded and make intermittent contact.? Again, clean out all corrosion you find and be careful not to bend the copper wires.? If any touch it will lead to false signals to the CPU.??
Also examine the side large handset connector. Remove the handset cable on both ends and inspect the socket and cable ends for corrosion.??
Now take apart the handset unit by removing the 2 screws in its back.? The top display diamond pad will remain attached by its ribbon cable so be careful not to break that.? Again look for corrosion on the top and bottom of the handset circuit board.? Clean any discoloration with a Qtip? and isopropyl alcohol.
I think you will see something and will clean it out and your problems will be fixed.??
All the best, Michael
After examining the main Gemini board, put the main unit back together.
On Mon, Oct 12, 2020, 7:07 AM YAMADA masami < yamada@...> wrote: Michael, David and Brendan,
Tonight I'm checking my G-11 Gemini-1 while capturing Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.
So far the system is working flawlessly as before.? It is very dry tonight compared yesterday, no dew.
I believe the strange behavior last night was caused by high humidity.? Somewhere in the system temporarily became short?
I appreciate your support.
masami
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Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Michael, David and Brendan,
Tonight I'm checking my G-11 Gemini-1 while capturing Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.
So far the system is working flawlessly as before.? It is very dry tonight compared yesterday, no dew.
I believe the strange behavior last night was caused by high humidity.? Somewhere in the system temporarily became short?
I appreciate your support.
masami
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Re: Use of Warm-Start with G11/Gemini-1
Hi Russ
as mentioned before, the short answer is yes, but the "one star alignment" is really a one star and SYNC
The only thing I'd say to be on the lookout for in your setup is shifts in polar alignment due to mounting/unmounting. Loosening your clutches before doing this should minimize it
I often load/unload telescopes on and off my G11 and if i forget to loosen the clutches, it can torque the mount connection with the MA and rotate it slightly. I swear like a sailor when that happens and remind myself to loosen those clutches lol
On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 5:45 AM Paul Kanevsky < yh@...> wrote: This does work, Russ. I have a permanent pier set-up and usually loosen the clutches between sessions to load the OTA and then to balance. Just return the OTA to as close as you can to the CWD position, do a Warm Start and add a single star to synchronize the mount with the slightly different axis position. The previously-built model should work fine after this.?
Regards,
? ? ?-Paul
On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 08:23 PM, <russmilt@...> wrote:
To facilitate mounting and unmounting my Celestron-11, I have been using a tip-in saddle as shown in this photo:
?
This way I don't have to lift a 35+ pound OTA up to chin height to engage its dovetail in the clamp. So my shut-down sequence is park mount and power off.??I ensure that the RA setting circle is turned to read 0 hours and Declination circle reads 90 degrees.? Then ?I slide the OTA forward in the dovetail clamp to a mark, so that when I swing it down as shown it rests on the black box. Then counterweights are removed, the saddle clamp is loosened and the OTA taken inside for storage.
Setup is just the reverse of the above procedure.? Now for the next observing session after mounting the OTA as described above, I'm wanting to turn the telescope so that the RA and Dec circles read 0 hours & 90 degrees. This will put the telescope and mount almost exactly where they were at the previous shutdown - counterweight down, parked. The OTA is slid down in the dovetail clamp to marked position that balances the OTA in declination. The Gemini-1 is then powered on.
Question:
- Can I use warm-start to preserve the previous alignment model, with just a single alignment star?
Thanks!
Russ
-- Brian?
Brian Valente portfolio
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Re: Use of Warm-Start with G11/Gemini-1
This does work, Russ. I have a permanent pier set-up and usually loosen the clutches between sessions to load the OTA and then to balance. Just return the OTA to as close as you can to the CWD position, do a Warm Start and add a single star to synchronize the mount with the slightly different axis position. The previously-built model should work fine after this.?
Regards,
? ? ?-Paul
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 08:23 PM, <russmilt@...> wrote:
To facilitate mounting and unmounting my Celestron-11, I have been using a tip-in saddle as shown in this photo:
?
This way I don't have to lift a 35+ pound OTA up to chin height to engage its dovetail in the clamp. So my shut-down sequence is park mount and power off.??I ensure that the RA setting circle is turned to read 0 hours and Declination circle reads 90 degrees. ?Then ?I slide the OTA forward in the dovetail clamp to a mark, so that when I swing it down as shown it rests on the black box. Then counterweights are removed, the saddle clamp is loosened and the OTA taken inside for storage.
Setup is just the reverse of the above procedure. ?Now for the next observing session after mounting the OTA as described above, I'm wanting to turn the telescope so that the RA and Dec circles read 0 hours & 90 degrees. This will put the telescope and mount almost exactly where they were at the previous shutdown - counterweight down, parked. The OTA is slid down in the dovetail clamp to marked position that balances the OTA in declination. The Gemini-1 is then powered on.
Question:
- Can I use warm-start to preserve the previous alignment model, with just a single alignment star?
Thanks!
Russ
|
Re: Use of Warm-Start with G11/Gemini-1
Russ. I think you can do ?this. ? Just use park mount at home position. ?You set this as home. ? ?Then when you restart. ?
You can ¡°warm start¡± or ¡°warm restart¡±. I think ¡°warm start¡± is straight into action no re-synch. ?¡°Warm restart¡± you go o a bright star and ¡°sync¡± instead of performing an alignment.?
Once the sync is done it resumes it¡¯s pointing model.?
But all that said. Undoing the dovetail and re-tightening etc will move the scope axes somewhat. This will effect its start up. ?It cannot be exactly at the position parked.?
But hey why not try give it a go! ?
cheers.?
--
Brendan
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Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Hi,
I went to the local post office in order to know the EMS cost and dispatch time.? Sadly the EMS service from Japan to most of the countries including the U.S. and Australia is now suspended due to COVID-19, though I recently imported an item from Taiwan.? Maybe the suspension is applied to the outgoing service.
Regarding the trouble, today I've checked my G-11 Gemini-1 during daytime.? The following shows what I did.
0. setup Gemini-1 w/ motors and HC connected
1. power on w/ GPS receiver attached to the serial port
1-1 "Losmandy Gemini System Level 4, Version 1.05" displayed
1-2 "querying GPS" <- GPS no signal reception, red indicator not blinking
1-3 "SRAM/RTC Updates"
?1-4 "Warm Start / Warm Restart / Cold Start"
?1-5 choose "Cold Start"
?Gemini-1 looked working well .? However no UTC Date/Time and Coordinates set.? I manually set them.
Then,
2. power on? w/o GPS receiver
2.1 "Losmandy Gemini System Level 4, Version 1.05"
2.2 "Querying GPS"
2.3 "GPS Timed Out"
2.4 "Warm Start / Warm Restar / Cold Start"
2.5 choose "Cold Start"
2.6 UTC Date/Time, Mount Type and Coordinates Long already set correctly.? Gemini worked normally.
Again,
3. power on w/ GPS receiver again
3.1 "Losmandy Gemini System Level 4, Version 1.05"
3.2 "Querying GPS" <- GPS no signal reception
3.3 "Warm Start / Warm Restart / Cold Start"
3.4 UTC/Date Time, Mount Type set correctly, but no Coordinates data, manually set Long and Lat,
3.5 power off, then power on
3.6 UTC/Date Time and Coordinates data kept correctly,
As a result, my Gemini-1 seems back to normal right now.? I could not reproduce the problem last night so far.
I remember it was very very humid last night.? So maybe the humidity caused the strange behavior.? Also I usually keep the Gemini-1 box attached to the pier, which is covered with Telegizmos 365.? I think I'd better remove the controller and keep inside during off-time.
I will check my Gemini-1 whether the same issue happens or not tonight, if the weather permits.
masami
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Re: Use of Warm-Start with G11/Gemini-1
Hi Russ!
My short answer would be no. But that is because I've always built a new Alignment (Model) each time I set up.
I do AP, so I've found that although close, things never land close enough to get away with yesterdays views.
I tend to look at it like a machinist, once something is DE chucked, it can't be RE chucked at the exact same way as it was before.
Lucky for us, it isn't too hard to make the corrections.
Try it and see for yourself. But once your telescope is removed it won't land back in the exact same spot the next night.
--
SonnyE
(I suggest viewed in full screen)
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Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Very interesting John. (If you still have the faulty hand controller, I'd like to get a chance to repair it.? I have repaired at least one other hand unit.? Let me know if you still have it! )
Folks should know that corrosion of the copper traces on and in the circuit boards can occur.? The boards are not "conformal coated" with any kind of moisture repelling varnish.??
Corrosion is accelerated by 2 things:? ?a) Moisture (salt water is very corrosive) ?b) Voltage (DC voltage is a stronger corrosion driver than AC)
So:
Keep condensation and certainly rain or dew from dripping into your Gemini systems.? ?Keep the units well covered from any precipitation.??
Remove the DC power from your Gemini when you are done using it.? Even with the Gemini power switch off, the voltage is present on the board up to the switch traces. Better to just pull out the power input or be sure it is not putting out DC voltage (shut off the AC if using an AC/DC brick.)
With those precautions, the Gemini-1 units should last many many years.? Gemini-2 units may be better sealed up, but not having one I can't say for sure.??
All the best, Michael
On Sun, Oct 11, 2020, 7:27 PM John Schaub < bsa1313@...> wrote:
I had the same issue with my Gemini -1. The problem went away
when I replaced the hand controller
John
On 10/11/2020 6:26 PM, Michael Herman
wrote:
This sounds surprisingly like my last repair in
which the extra serial port had corrosion...or a wire touching.
The corrosion was shorting some wires leading to the CPU
thinking it was getting a signal.??
Inspect those serial port and RS232 sockets for
trouble.??
Best,
Michael
Yamada
If it¡¯s ¡°cycling¡± it Initially it sounds like the HC ¡°menu¡±
button is stuck or shorted. ? But this does not explain why
it reset nor garbage characters.? Even with a bad battery
your system will run fine until you shut it down. Next boot
it will then show ¡°SRAM reset¡±.
Garbage characters .....comes straight from CPU and
EEPROM.?
I suggest the issue is CPU related thus your Gemini unit
needs repair.? You can see if Losmandy is exchanging G1¡¯s in
an upgrade programme but I doubt it.? It¡¯s a long way to
send a G1 to me (Australia) for repair? ? Yes I can repair
them but the post could be costly.?
Cheers
--
Brendan
|
Re: Height of G11G on folding tripod
It will be a reduced number this year, Bill.? I'll measure when I set up there (legs fully extended).? My largest scope is an AP130edfGT.?? I'll be in touch. Wes
On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 11:55 AM Bill Tschumy < bill@...> wrote: Wes,
Oh man, I¡¯d love to go to the Eldorado SP.? When I lived in Austin that was one of my favorites.
If anyone has a G11 with the legs extended and can make the measurement, I¡¯d appreciate it.? However, if it is 51¡± collapsed, I suspect I will be fine.
Bill On Oct 11, 2020, at 10:38 AM, wes Bolin < k5apl41@...> wrote:
Sorry Bill.? Just packed it up for Eldorado Star Party.? The legs were minimum height.? And I have the G11T model. Wes On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 9:44 AM Bill Tschumy < bill@...> wrote: On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 07:41 AM, wes Bolin wrote:
My "flimsy" tape measure shows 50.5 inches with the legs at minimum length.? Measured from the floor to the separation of the two clamp pieces.? Hope that is close enough. Wes,
Yes, that is accurate enough.? This is with the legs at ¡°minimum¡± length?? That seems higher than expected.? Do you know what it is with the legs extended?
Basically, I¡¯m thinking of putting a TEC 180 on it and want to make sure I¡¯m not totally sitting on the floor when looking near zenith.
Bill
--? Bill Tschumy Otherwise -- Longmont, CO
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Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
I had the same issue with my Gemini -1. The problem went away
when I replaced the hand controller
John
On 10/11/2020 6:26 PM, Michael Herman
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
This sounds surprisingly like my last repair in
which the extra serial port had corrosion...or a wire touching.
The corrosion was shorting some wires leading to the CPU
thinking it was getting a signal.??
Inspect those serial port and RS232 sockets for
trouble.??
Best,
Michael
Yamada
If it¡¯s ¡°cycling¡± it Initially it sounds like the HC ¡°menu¡±
button is stuck or shorted. ? But this does not explain why
it reset nor garbage characters.? Even with a bad battery
your system will run fine until you shut it down. Next boot
it will then show ¡°SRAM reset¡±.
Garbage characters .....comes straight from CPU and
EEPROM.?
I suggest the issue is CPU related thus your Gemini unit
needs repair.? You can see if Losmandy is exchanging G1¡¯s in
an upgrade programme but I doubt it.? It¡¯s a long way to
send a G1 to me (Australia) for repair? ? Yes I can repair
them but the post could be costly.?
Cheers
--
Brendan
|
Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Hi Michael... I was thinking the same.
--
Brendan
|
Use of Warm-Start with G11/Gemini-1
To facilitate mounting and unmounting my Celestron-11, I have been using a tip-in saddle as shown in this photo: ? This way I don't have to lift a 35+ pound OTA up to chin height to engage its dovetail in the clamp. So my shut-down sequence is park mount and power off.??I ensure that the RA setting circle is turned to read 0 hours and Declination circle reads 90 degrees. ?Then ?I slide the OTA forward in the dovetail clamp to a mark, so that when I swing it down as shown it rests on the black box. Then counterweights are removed, the saddle clamp is loosened and the OTA taken inside for storage. Setup is just the reverse of the above procedure. ?Now for the next observing session after mounting the OTA as described above, I'm wanting to turn the telescope so that the RA and Dec circles read 0 hours & 90 degrees. This will put the telescope and mount almost exactly where they were at the previous shutdown - counterweight down, parked. The OTA is slid down in the dovetail clamp to marked position that balances the OTA in declination. The Gemini-1 is then powered on. Question:
- Can I use warm-start to preserve the previous alignment model, with just a single alignment star?
Thanks! Russ
|
Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
This sounds surprisingly like my last repair in which the extra serial port had corrosion...or a wire touching. The corrosion was shorting some wires leading to the CPU thinking it was getting a signal.??
Inspect those serial port and RS232 sockets for trouble.??
Best, Michael
Yamada
If it¡¯s ¡°cycling¡± it Initially it sounds like the HC ¡°menu¡± button is stuck or shorted. ? But this does not explain why it reset nor garbage characters.? Even with a bad battery your system will run fine until you shut it down. Next boot it will then show ¡°SRAM reset¡±.
Garbage characters .....comes straight from CPU and EEPROM.?
I suggest the issue is CPU related thus your Gemini unit needs repair.? You can see if Losmandy is exchanging G1¡¯s in an upgrade programme but I doubt it.? It¡¯s a long way to send a G1 to me (Australia) for repair? ? Yes I can repair them but the post could be costly.?
Cheers
--
Brendan
|
Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Hi Michael, David and Brendan,
Thank you for your quick reply.? Maybe it's unlikely, but I've asked Losmandy whether there is any upgrade program to Gemini-2.
If such path is not available, I will have my unit to be repaired.? I might request Michael in the U.S. or Brendan in Australia.
I will check with my nearest post office about the cost and delivery time of EMS first.? I don't mind the time because I have a Gemini-2 unit for my another G-11, but if the delivery cost is high, I need to reconsider the new Gemini-2.
?
Thanks in advance,
masami
|
Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Yamada
If it¡¯s ¡°cycling¡± it Initially it sounds like the HC ¡°menu¡± button is stuck or shorted. ? But this does not explain why it reset nor garbage characters. ?Even with a bad battery your system will run fine until you shut it down. Next boot it will then show ¡°SRAM reset¡±.
Garbage characters .....comes straight from CPU and EEPROM.?
I suggest the issue is CPU related thus your Gemini unit needs repair. ?You can see if Losmandy is exchanging G1¡¯s in an upgrade programme but I doubt it. ?It¡¯s a long way to send a G1 to me (Australia) for repair? ? Yes I can repair them but the post could be costly.?
Cheers
--
Brendan
|
Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Yamada san ¨C you should consider sending your Gemini-1 to Brendan Smith in Australia for repair: ?
? David ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of YAMADA masami
Sent: 11 October 2020 17:32
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Losmandy_users_io] Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1 ? Hi,
My G-11 Gemini-1 system, which is more than 15 years old, showed strange behavior last night.
While capturing the Mars image, suddenly the image went somewhere out of the FoV of my ASI224MC.
I powered down the system, and restart it, then I found the SRAM was reset somehow.? I noticed that because the location info were zero, and the mount type became Titan.
After several restart attempts, now I cannot control the mount via deluxe HC nor PC, because the menu on the HC was cyclically changing and sometimes shows garbage characters.? The system does not accept any interruption.? I replaced a CR2354 battery and EPROM.? But no avail.
I'm afraid my Gemini-1 seems broken.? Maybe is it time to upgrade to Gemini-2?
masami
Gifu-city, Japan
?
|
Thank you Brian.? I was not sure if that was same as the Gemini 2 system used on the Losmandy G11.? Really appreciate your help.
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Re: Height of G11G on folding tripod
Wes,
Oh man, I¡¯d love to go to the Eldorado SP. ?When I lived in Austin that was one of my favorites.
If anyone has a G11 with the legs extended and can make the measurement, I¡¯d appreciate it. ?However, if it is 51¡± collapsed, I suspect I will be fine.
Bill On Oct 11, 2020, at 10:38 AM, wes Bolin < k5apl41@...> wrote:
Sorry Bill.? Just packed it up for Eldorado Star Party.? The legs were minimum height.? And I have the G11T model. Wes On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 9:44 AM Bill Tschumy < bill@...> wrote: On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 07:41 AM, wes Bolin wrote:
My "flimsy" tape measure shows 50.5 inches with the legs at minimum length.? Measured from the floor to the separation of the two clamp pieces.? Hope that is close enough. Wes,
Yes, that is accurate enough.? This is with the legs at ¡°minimum¡± length?? That seems higher than expected.? Do you know what it is with the legs extended?
Basically, I¡¯m thinking of putting a TEC 180 on it and want to make sure I¡¯m not totally sitting on the floor when looking near zenith.
Bill
--? Bill Tschumy Otherwise -- Longmont, CO
|
Re: Strange behavior of my G-11 Gemini-1
Yamada-san,
Contact expert repairer Brendan Smith, who is closest to you, in Australia, at:
He knows the Gemini-1 inside out and I'm sure will get it back to health.
Best, Michael
On Sun, Oct 11, 2020, 9:32 AM YAMADA masami < yamada@...> wrote: Hi,
My G-11 Gemini-1 system, which is more than 15 years old, showed strange behavior last night.
While capturing the Mars image, suddenly the image went somewhere out of the FoV of my ASI224MC.
I powered down the system, and restart it, then I found the SRAM was reset somehow.? I noticed that because the location info were zero, and the mount type became Titan.
After several restart attempts, now I cannot control the mount via deluxe HC nor PC, because the menu on the HC was cyclically changing and sometimes shows garbage characters.? The system does not accept any interruption.? I replaced a CR2354 battery and EPROM.? But no avail.
I'm afraid my Gemini-1 seems broken.? Maybe is it time to upgrade to Gemini-2?
masami
Gifu-city, Japan
?
|
Re: Height of G11G on folding tripod
Sorry Bill.? Just packed it up for Eldorado Star Party.? The legs were minimum height.? And I have the G11T model. Wes
On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 9:44 AM Bill Tschumy < bill@...> wrote: On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 07:41 AM, wes Bolin wrote:
My "flimsy" tape measure shows 50.5 inches with the legs at minimum length.? Measured from the floor to the separation of the two clamp pieces.? Hope that is close enough.
Wes,
Yes, that is accurate enough.? This is with the legs at ¡°minimum¡± length?? That seems higher than expected.? Do you know what it is with the legs extended?
Basically, I¡¯m thinking of putting a TEC 180 on it and want to make sure I¡¯m not totally sitting on the floor when looking near zenith.
Bill
|
Michael Herman
Paul Kanevsky
Russell Milton
David C. Partridge
Bill Tschumy