David,

My G11 came with default limits. If you set limits, and they are farther out than the defaults, you can get more time before hitting them.

Dave

Here is the scenario.? Last night I was imaging M 104 well beyond the meridian without flipping.? This was the third night getting data and I probably chased it a little lower in the sky than the past nights.? I have not set limits in the Gemini because I use various scopes with it and I plan my imaging so I am with it when it comes time to do a meridian flip. About ten minutes before I was planning on stopping my image run the mount started chirping.? So, the question is, was the Gemini chirping at me because the scope was well past the meridian or is there another reason for a chirping warning.? And, are there settings for chirping warnings?

David R. Boulanger

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Darryl,

On Mon, May 15, 2023 at 07:00 AM, Dale wrote:

’ve owned a G11 for a few years now and it’s been mostly trouble-free until tonight. ?Recently I upgraded the rig to include an ASIAIR Plus talking to the Gemini II through the ‘USB’ Port and the evolution was seamless. ?Tonight though, I powered on the Air as well as the Gemini II and a quiet rattling or growling sound was coming from the DEC motor/worm gear area. ?The commands would slew the mount but it never completely stopped. ?Any short image appeared to have the stars streaking and not points. ?I tried re-seating all the RA & DEC cable ends. ?Reset the Gemini II and reset the AIR. ?The problem persists and I’m stumped. ?Does this sound familiar to anyone. ?Thank you.

Dale,

Perhaps you should back up once and try going around the ASIAir for a few slews. That should tell you if it is the software and not the hardware.

The noise could be from the motors not being seated properly - they can come loose after many sessions (years) of rocking back and forth. Losmandy has a video on how to adjust these:



which you can try in the daytime.?

Not sure what you mean by the mount never stops. Is it going past your target or are you seeing drift with guiding?

After these steps we might suggest some further adjustments to gearbox and worm tension as Paul mentioned. There is a video on worm adjustment as well:



After trying these items, then some disassembly might be required. If your mounts is only a few years old, it should not need any major teardowns just yet.

John




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Losmandy G11G2 on pier; Losmandy G11 with OnStep (rebuild in progress); SkyShed design roll-off observatory; ZWO ASI2600MM-P; ZWO ASI071MC; Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED; Celestron C925 Edge HD with 0.7XFR, William Optics Zenithstar 61 APO; PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro and PixInsight user

Beginner here, but I want to sell you guys on something. Not literally.

?

When I bought my Losmandy I got the Polar Scope with it. Never used it, ever. Too cumbersome.?

I had an iPolar in the iOptron skyguider. Got an iPolar for Losmandy too. Someone had an adapter before Losmdandy did. Used that since purchase.?

iPolar + Sharpcap = awesome.

For the last 2 months I use NINA Polar alignment routine. It's super duper awesome. Won't go back.

NINA Polar alignment = super duper awesome

--
Losmandy gm811g

On Sun, May 14, 2023 at 08:13 AM, @VictoryPete wrote:

I managed to get a rough PA with the Polar Scope but it was not easy. I am glad I bought the Ioptron Polar Camera because I do not want to do that again.?

?? I have the? Ioptron polemaster also.? It makes polar aligning easy. Ive had neck issues over the years and getting down to look through a polar scope is not very fun. I have yet to try drift alignment in phd2 but the next time I set up I may try that. I haven't had my scope out since July of last year. 2022 was a bad year for me and my neck. I had 2 more disc fused in January and I'm starting to do really well. I have now had 5 disc fused in all.? But use that polemaster. 2nd or 3rd time you use it you will be able to do it in just a few minutes.???


?? Greg Morris???? (otis4411 on CN)

I'm sure many on here can add on here but the following programs work natively on Mac and have a polar alignment function; I've used all three:

KStars/Ekos [
Polemaster (with their camera) [
if you have a ZWO camera you can use the ZWO ASIAIR app (found on the applestore)
PHD2 has three different polar alignment tools: static polar alignment, polar drift alignment, and traditional drift alignment [

This of course assumes you have a camera connected to your OTA (with the exception of pole master, which has a camera purchase involved) and you are not trying to polar align sans-camera.

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I think it depends on what function of SharpCap you want a Mac alternative for.

Polar Alignment?
Sensor Analysis?
Capture?
Other?

I don't know of any SharpCap "equivalent" for Mac, although you can run it in Parallels, but most of the actual functions you can find (more or less) in other programs that run natively on Mac. Can you be more specific with which SharpCap function you want to run natively on a Mac??

This question should really be its own entire thread though.

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+1 on using Sharpcap.? It takes a couple of minutes and you never need to bend down and look thru a little scope.??

On Mon, May 15, 2023 at 07:00 AM, Dale wrote:

Greetings

I’ve owned a G11 for a few years now and it’s been mostly trouble-free until tonight. ?Recently I upgraded the rig to include an ASIAIR Plus talking to the Gemini II through the ‘USB’ Port and the evolution was seamless. ?Tonight though, I powered on the Air as well as the Gemini II and a quiet rattling or growling sound was coming from the DEC motor/worm gear area. ?The commands would slew the mount but it never completely stopped. ?Any short image appeared to have the stars streaking and not points. ?I tried re-seating all the RA & DEC cable ends. ?Reset the Gemini II and reset the AIR. ?The problem persists and I’m stumped. ?Does this sound familiar to anyone. ?Thank you.

Hi Dale,

Can you try to take the motors off the mount and see if the growling continues? Don't remove the gearboxes, just the motors. Does DEC motor move continuously even when no movement is requested? You may have a bad motor or servo encoder. Does RA motor appear to function correctly? It should rotate slowly when tracking at Sidereal rate.

If growling stops with the motor off the mount and the motors behave normally, you may have a bad gearbox or possibly a loose oldham coupler. Unbalanced mount, worm/mesh too tight, or dirty or dried up grease could also cause noise and result in poor tracking.

Just mentioning the usual culprits to investigate in cases like this.

Regards,

? ? -Paul

Greetings

I’ve owned a G11 for a few years now and it’s been mostly trouble-free until tonight. ?Recently I upgraded the rig to include an ASIAIR Plus talking to the Gemini II through the ‘USB’ Port and the evolution was seamless. ?Tonight though, I powered on the Air as well as the Gemini II and a quiet rattling or growling sound was coming from the DEC motor/worm gear area. ?The commands would slew the mount but it never completely stopped. ?Any short image appeared to have the stars streaking and not points. ?I tried re-seating all the RA & DEC cable ends. ?Reset the Gemini II and reset the AIR. ?The problem persists and I’m stumped. ?Does this sound familiar to anyone. ?Thank you.

I have a GM-8 (25+ years old) and need to replace the clutch pads.

Please
(1) Tell me where to buy new pads
(2) Recommend a video or instructions for how to do it.

Thanks,
Bob Menius
Katy, TX

I managed to get a rough PA with the Polar Scope but it was not easy. I am glad I bought the Ioptron Polar Camera because I do not want to do that again.?

On Sat, May 13, 2023 at 07:46 PM, @VictoryPete wrote:

I am trying to use the polar scope. I cant find any instructions for it other than a vague and confusing Losmandy video.

Peter,

There is a smart phone app called PS Align you can use to work with the Losmandy polar scope. It will show you a representation of the gradients and where Polaris should be placed based upon your location and time of night. You should be able to adjust ALT-AZ to move the pole star accordingly. Many users have moved to a QHY PoleMaster or iOptron iPolar camera for ease of use. You can also use SharpCap with your guide scope which has a very accurate polar alignment tool. But since you have the Losmandy polar scope, the app I mentioned should help a great deal.?

My routine is to use the PoleMaster first, and if I want to be very precise, I will use the drift align tool in PHD2. Drift align is the gold standard and will result in the best final alignment over axis mounted tools.

John
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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Losmandy G11G2 on pier; Losmandy G11 with OnStep (rebuild in progress); SkyShed design roll-off observatory; ZWO ASI2600MM-P; ZWO ASI071MC; Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED; Celestron C925 Edge HD with 0.7XFR, William Optics Zenithstar 61 APO; PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro and PixInsight user

Nick,

You can take apart the gearboxes with an Allen wrench and relube them if they are newer than a few years old. Up to that point they were riveted and not easily dissembled without destroying them. Personally, I consider the gearboxes a maintenance part, and I replace them about once a year as they are not that expensive. I use Jet-Lube MP-50 on the ring and worm gears but many other have used the CRC Brake and Caliper Grease as a less expensive alternative. For all other moving parts I use Mobilgrease 28, an excellent aviation grade lubricant with superior wear protection. I have completed a long-term study of the 28 but have yet to issue a report to the forum due to some other distractions. You'll probably need to buy a grease-gun size tube, but the quality is well worth it.

John
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Losmandy G11G2 on pier; Losmandy G11 with OnStep (rebuild in progress); SkyShed design roll-off observatory; ZWO ASI2600MM-P; ZWO ASI071MC; Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED; Celestron C925 Edge HD with 0.7XFR, William Optics Zenithstar 61 APO; PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro and PixInsight user

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Peter,