I know it’s been discussed many times but I used to have it working…
IEq45, non Pro, I am aware of the ascom limitations but in previous versions i could have guiding set to restart after a 10px move and it would handle the mount doing a flip without too much delay, maybe one or two retries.
Now, (probably since 2.6) I get an immediate failure that says “user aborted sequence”. I looked at the logs when this first started and it looks like when they mount is flipping it either isn’t responding or appears to not be tracking and the sequence immediately aborts.
I have tried letting SGP handle the flip but it’s not reliable, at least the last time i tried, although it does work sometimes but certainly not enough to sleep well.
Is there another way? Is there a way to disable whatever is causing the speed at which it aborts?
I will attach a log once I get my laptop back online for review.
Its a few weeks since i have allowed one to flip and when i looked for the logs they only go back 4 or 5 days it looks, unless there’s an archive location, or a setting i have set too few days.
I can recreate it tonight easy enough and attach.
Yea, i agree log directory would certainly get large if not limited.
I tried to get logs tonight, raining out so i tried inside thinking it would do it on flip as it would outside… but it didn’t.
I don’t have guiding running so it must be related because when it flipped, SGP didn’t even seem to know or react to the mount movement. It wasn’t until i parked the mount that SGP reacted to it throwing up a “start tracking” dialog. I am fairly certain i saw something in the log last time it happened about mount not tracking but i don’t remember for certain. I do everything i can to stay up for any meridian flips since this started to avoid it.
Ill have sky in the next few days and will get logs on this.
This is making me think you’re flipping via EQMOD. If that is the case SGP won’t know about it until it’s too late, and by that time it will likely think something has gone wrong. I’d highly recommend you use the meridian flip functionality inside of SGP as this can also recenter you (if/once you are plate solving).
No EQMOD, i don’t think it works with this mount.
I use POTH connecting to the ascom 2.4 driver.
I have tried letting SGP handle the flip with the mount set to track past meridian and it has worked, sometimes. It has been awhile since Ive tried it but if it fails and i am not awake to intervene it could be more of an issue than just missing a few hours of sky time.
I haven’t tried to leave the mount to flip and set SGP to flip as well, do you think this may be a solution? I know that the flip countdown in SGP is spot on accurate when the mount flips but could the command from SGP cause the mount to flip back since no side of pier is provided by the ascom driver?
ok,
Any thoughts on why in 2.5 it would treat it as a lost guide star and recover?
That’s what i had been doing without issues.
Is there a way to make SGP flip BEFORE meridian, like 1min so that i have a fail safe if it doesn’t? I don’t think i can use a negative in the flip field.
That depends on your mount. If you can’t enter negative numbers then it means that the ASCOM driver lacks the ability to flip prior to the meridian (Cannot Set Side Of Pier).
The “lost guide star” is likely highly dependent on how long it takes your mount to flip and other settings that you have setup.
I mean in SGP having it flip 1min before meridian and keeping my mount set to flip at meridian.
The only options i have in the mount are flip, stop or keep tracking.
If SGP would flip slightly early, i would still have the mount doing it in-case of SGP failing to flip.
I can enter a -1 in the field “minutes past meridian” but i don’t know if its a valid entry or not.
Otherwise i suppose i can come up with some sort of safety switch to prevent crashes or roll back to the versions that did work in the past.
I think you probably need to look into why SGP can’t flip your mount and go from there. We have lots of folks using iOptron mounts that flip just fine. Having SGP control everything is much better than some weird hack that will likely fail most of the time.
testing last night, i see what you meant, SGP sees the negative and checks the driver which doesn’t support.
SGP will flip it, its just it isn’t 100%, i think its due to ASCOM attempting to keep up with side of pier since the driver doesn’t provide.
Logs from last night i could send up but they aren’t clean due to shooting Ha so lots of plate solve fails and other mess that would add variables to it. Tonight i may get clean ones but it certainly fails/ends almost instantly during the mount initiated flip.
I may look at another way to do a safety switch of some sort as a fall back to prevent pier crashes and let SGP have control.
I also my try one of the older versions to confirm what i remember since it was some time back, like a year ago at this point.
I have an IEQ45 Pro, and the way you must set it up is to have SGP do flip one or more minutes past the meridian. You can’t use a negative value. (You have to get a little past the meridian to avoid a race condition between the mount and SGP) I suggest figuring out how far past the meridian you can go without a crash and then set the mount to stop at that point. That will provide a safety stop in case SGP does not do the flip. Note, do not set the mount to flip - just set the safety stop. The bottom line is you must let SGP control the flip and the mount must be past the meridian for the flip to happen. Unless you have a very long telescope setup you should be able to go 15 or minutes or more past the meridian.
thank you for the input but unfortunately its not the pro, its ieq45 with 8407 HC so i cant set mount that way.
the only options are flip, don’t flip and stop.
Here is log, I assume this is the reason here -
[Sequence Thread] Mount is not tracking! Aborting capture event (and sequence… recovery is not allowed here… assuming mount is not tracking for safety). sg_logfile_20170514204214.zip (33.8 KB)
So it appears you can set a stop so set the stop somewhat past the meridian (like 15 minutes). The idea being it is a safety stop not a flip. SGP handle the flip.
Ok, I looked up your mount’s manual and you don’t have the option of stopping after the meridian. For your mount you want
Meridian Treatment -> Continue to Track
That means you will have to be watchful to prevent a crash if SGP fails to do the flip. You have to let the mount get past the meridian to have SGP initiate a flip.
Right… Avoiding a pier crash is the point of this thread.
Thanks again.
Jared,
Attached is another log, I changed drivers to see if there’s a difference. This driver is newer but poorly coded. It hammers CPU but seemed ok until a moment ago when it threw up a mount isn’t tracking yes/no dialog. If i could set that dialog to auto continue (choose yes) then i would probably over come this.
The mount was tracking and PHD2 was running perfectly with total RMS 0,6(.55’). this wasn’t a meridian flip but just after a plate solve. Youll see the event at [05/15/17 00:43:01.506] I clicked yes and the sequence continued without further issue. Had i not been awake, this was a night ending event.
