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Hi all. I'm new to Groups, and new to the hobby. I am set up with a very old C-11 on a G-11, with G-1 controller. It has power but is not tracking well.?

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I don't want to be in the 'wrong section', ask the wrong questions, or otherwise agitate others.?

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I know that someone knows how to do it/everything the easy way. IDK if I am on the correct settings on the unit itself. It's tracking, but not following the object.?

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What am I doing wrong?

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Thanks,

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TC

Hi Thomas, let me be the first to welcome you to the groups. Just FYI, there’s another group tailored more specifically for the Gemini 1 controller. Most of the people who hang there also hang here so this post should do fine here but, if you have more questions relating to the controller, you may want to join that group as well :)

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As for this post, you will need to provide a better description of what’s going on for us to try and help. When you say the mount is not tracking well, what does that actually mean? What are the symptoms you see??

For now I can think of a couple of possibilities:

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1.- Make sure you have the correct settings in the controller, like your location coordinates, time zone, mount type, etc.

2.- make sure your motors are connected correctly and not reversed. Trust me, everyone has made that mistake once or twice lol. Somewhat related, make sure both motors are working when power is applied.

3.- make sure you are properly polar aligned. A gross misalignment will make objects drift off the field of view fairly quickly.

4.- if using a computer, make sure the settings are also correct.

5.- make sure tracking is active in your mount and not set to terrestrial, which basically stops tracking altogether.

There are also physical reasons for the mount to not track well, like a misaligned worm creating a large periodic error or bad bearings causing stiction, but let’s leave those options for last as they tend to be more involved in solving.

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I’m sure others will have more suggestions but, in the mean time try and give a more descriptive explanation of the symptoms.

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Good luck

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Jonathan

Sorry, forgot to mention, have you read the ? it’s a bit long but a must if you want to make the most of your new mount :)

On Thu, Jan 23, 2025 at 04:42 PM, <thomas.clark@...> wrote:

Hi all. I'm new to Groups, and new to the hobby. I am set up with a very old C-11 on a G-11, with G-1 controller. It has power but is not tracking well.?

?

I don't want to be in the 'wrong section', ask the wrong questions, or otherwise agitate others.?

?

I know that someone knows how to do it/everything the easy way. IDK if I am on the correct settings on the unit itself. It's tracking, but not following the object.?

?

What am I doing wrong?

?

Thanks,

?

TC

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Welcome to the Losmandy groups!? Many of the folks here are long time users and have a ton of useful info and I hope you find us helpful and that you become part of this great community of users.?

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As a G11 Gemini 1 user the best places for you for all things related to the G11 and Gemini 1 are this group, the Losmandy_users group and the Gemini_users group? Joining these two will get you 99% of the applicable information specifically for your G11 mount and Gemini 1 controller.? BUT if you also join the GeminiII group you will also find great nuggets of wisdom as well as get a handle on your next controller for the future time when you want to make the jump to the latest generation of Gemini controllers.?

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If anybody gets annoyed by you asking question related to Losmandy or Gemini gear that's on them.? We all get along here and if the thread is really not related to the sub group or gets out of hand the mods will say so and move the thread.? In other words don't worry about it, easy peasy.

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Anyway - to answer your question the G11 is an equatorial mount and like all EQ mounts it needs to be setup a certain way to work as designed.? The main issue with the actual mount hardware is that the RA axis needs to be pointed accurately at the North Celestial Pole - NCP for short - and if you do not know it Polaris is NOT the same as the NCP.? The other thing is that the Gemini needs to be configured correctly for your location and know what time it is.? Sounds simple but there are also a few other settings you need to get right for it to actually work and a few more to get it to work well.?

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As others have mentioned there is a dated but still relevant manual for the Gemini 1 located here: written by the guy who wrote the internal code the Gemini 1 is running.? The later Gemini 2 controller is based on the same ideas and at its core very similar.? That said the most useful Gemini related website IME is the website which has basically ALL the Gemini 1 and Gemini 2 stuff in one place.? ? ? ?

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Review these sites, ask questions and let us help you find your way through the Gemini and to a happy tracking mount place.??

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My quick off the top advice is to buy some new batteries for the Gemini 1, to find the correct type of batteries go to the Gemin-2.com site and look at the identification photos to determine what version Gemini 1 you have in hand.? A marginal or expired battery is the #1 issue for most new Gemini owners both Gemini 1 & 2 with a used Gemini.? Trust me just get a few new name brand batteries of the correct type and leave them in the case with the Gemini controller as having a couple spares will pay off in the middle of the night at a dark sky site hours from home as the Gemini 1 controllers are known to eat batteries regularly.?

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Next remove the battery and wait 30 seconds then reinstall the battery and immediately manually set up the Gemini 1 to UTC time, set any local time zone offset, GPS coordinates, mount type etc.? This is the minimum data the mount needs to operate but there are other setup requirements to achieve good tracking and GOTOs the obvious being excellent polar alignment and a known good power supply.??

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Keep us posted on your adventure!?

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