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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Problem with Polar Alignment

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Replied by Jambbe on topic Problem with Polar Alignment

I have exactly the same problem, mount not stopped when moving to the next position on the polar alignment. In the attachment is my log-file if it helps. Is there any suggestions how to fix this?

File Attachment:

File Name: log_18-44-38.txt
File Size:1,309 KB
3 years 1 month ago #67158
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Is this issue fixed or is there any plan to address this issue?
 
2 years 11 months ago #70526

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One more here.  A few days ago I was sitting inside doing the 30 degree rotation and it never showed signs of ending.  When I went outside my 12" astrograph was upside down as far as it could and had slammed into the mount.  No damage fortunately.

I tried again last night sitting right by the scope ready to press Stop.  When it kept moving I pressed Stop and nothing happened.  I ran to the power strip and turned everything off as fast as I could.  Later I noticed the "Are you sure?" dialog, lol.  In emergency situations in the dark I could do without the confirmation request!

Meanwhile BTW I am enjoying Ekos a lot, it is fantastic, very solid and thanks to all developers working on it.

PS reading the other comments. I should mention that I am using OnStep too.  It's rather striking to see how many responders are using OnStep.
Last edit: 2 years 10 months ago by Henk Aling.
2 years 10 months ago #71235

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I have always had this issue with my CGEM mount as well. It also comes up with crazy numbers for how much the mount should be moved during PA. I set the PA option to manual move, then I open up the "motion control' panel in the mount tab and note the 'hour angle' I then use the 'motion control' panel to move the mount 1 hour for each 15 degrees of motion I intend to use for PA. I don't have to go outside to see the mount, the panel tells me what direction the mount is moving, I can control the speed of motion with the 'motion control' panel. It works fine and quick and performs PA exactly as it should. The only time I have to go to the mount is to make the final PA adjustment, for that I start the PA looping (after it has presented the correction arrow or line) and at the scope I monitor the progress of my 'adjustments' using a tablet that is linked wirelessly to the Rpi running Ekos using VNC.

I never have resolved why the PA angle motion numbers are so large or that it does not move as intended, I have just continued to manually move it and it works just fine.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Henk Aling
2 years 10 months ago #71249

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HI CapnRon

I followed your advice doing the slew manually and everything works fine like you said. Who needs an automatic slew, anyway. I'm fine with it now and am certainly impressed with the feature, having used it once now.
2 years 10 months ago #71339

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The problem I had with the Polar Align in auto mode is that it would take the program 8 minutes to move the mount. So I also adopted the "manual slew" mode. Works great.
2 years 10 months ago #71387

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The polar alignment scheme has a speed control, see the image below.
 
You can see mine is set to 600x in the screenshot. I have seen, unfortunately,
that after some updates the speed can default to a very slow slew rate, e.g. 2x or 4x.
As you can see, I use a fast slew, e.g. 600x.
If you don't change it from a very slow default like that, the mount will take a long time to move.
Perhaps that's your issue--e.g. if you notice the rate is set low, try it at 600x.

Hy
2 years 10 months ago #71389
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Is this selection mount dependent? I watched Jasem's tutorial, then went to duplicate his results. My highest choice was 9x which caused some strange results. I have a Celestron CGX mount.

If I chose the default 5x, the program would wait 8 minutes after solving the 1st frame, then move the mount which only took about 30 seconds. So the manual move was an easy choice.

Regardless, the user interface to move the Az/El once the pointing error is determined is simply marvelous.
2 years 10 months ago #71392

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I took a quick peek at the Indi Celestron driver (though I'm not at all familiar with it, or for that matter any of the mount drivers) and it looks to me like there are just 9 "presets" that Celestron uses, and that the numbers 1-9 don't reflect actual multiples of the sidereal rate, the way the Skywatcher EQMOD mount driver that I use does (e.g. in my driver 600x really is 600 times the sidereal rate).  So, I guess if you were interested in a little more automation, you could play with the different presets and see how they work and if one's fast enough.  I'll admit that manual can work very well. The main advantage for me of the semi-automated one is that I'll check the polar alignment while I'm inside, and not actually go outside unless I need to adjust.

Glad the manual movement and new polar alignment scheme is working well for you.
2 years 10 months ago #71393

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Chuckle.

Yes, the word "manual" can mean many things. Maybe I "unclutch" the RA axis and move the scope a skosh. Or I use the hand controller to move some amount. Or I use the mount control panel from Ekos to move 2 hours in whichever direction. It was the latter that I used.
2 years 10 months ago #71395

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Replied by Martha on topic Problem with Polar Alignment

Hi guys,

I experience exactly same on my ATM EQ fork mount and Astroberry @ RPi 4. I also use OnStep firmware. My RA motor doesn't stop after 30 degs. Should the mount be exactly at the home position first (not just +/- several degs?) as it's written in the screenshot posted by HY MURVEIT? I didn't try to use the half speed, I'm gonna do it next time.

Because of the fault I used the SharpCap Pro for the PA, but recentrly I've bought an iOptron iPolar camera, which in opposition to the Polemaster doesn't require to rotate the fork at all. After the rough PA using the iPolar I perform PA using a drift method provided by the PHD2, which is possibly the most accurate.

Martha
Last edit: 1 year 11 months ago by Martha. Reason: Cosmetic syntax improvements
1 year 11 months ago #82573

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Checking the manual slew button for PA works fine. Someone else pointed that out when I asked the same question in this thread some months ago. The PA of Ekos works really well, very nice implementation.
1 year 11 months ago #82597

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