Park, sync, align and all that in EQMOD

Hi!

I am constantly having mount issues (EQ6 with synscan upgrade kit in a permanent observatory), where suddenly the mount think it is in some place where it is in fact not. I thought I had fixed this by going through all "snooping" setting and removing all "simulators". But somehow that did not solve things as all the troubles are back again...

Parking seems to function in a way that does not fit with my expectations, as trouble always begins if I have connected and disconnected indi a couple of times due to other issues (in this case focuser trouble). I have a custom park position with the scope pointing south and slightly downwards. How do I check that the park position used by EQMOD is in fact the one it should be and change it in case it is using a wrong parking position?

I also have some alignment issues. They seem to be related to how "sync mode" and "alignment mode". Everything seems to work if I set "sync mode" to "Standard sync" and "alignment mode" to "nearest point". But if I close kstars and indi and start up again, "sync mode" have switched to "add point on sync", even when I have saved the configuration. Is this normal behavior and should I get things working with "add point on sync" instead of "standard sync"?

Last time I also suddenly began to get some errors related to "horizon limits", something I have never modified. Can I turn this completely off? If I for example uncheck "abort tracking", save the configuration and restart everything, "abort tracking" is on again. It seems to not save this setting?

On top of this, when something goes wrong I can see the mount in kstars, but if I then press "goto" on some object the mount does not move to this object. Neither in kstars nor in reality. Don't know why it would not at least move to the object in kstars. Sometimes it moves, but then suddenly jumps to some other location.

So all in all, it is one hell of a mess

All help and suggestions are very welcome!

Best Regards,
Søren

Hello,

The EQMount gets its information from the EQ6 Mount. Motors give their position.

My scope has setting circles for RA and DEC. When I setup, I use EQMOD to link the itself with the motors by using 0 RA and 90 DEC.

Wherever the scope is pointing, I release the scope and move the scope to 0 RA and 90 DEC. I then set this positive as the current Home position.

I suggest this method’s description be included before use. This makes use much easier.

Yes, it seems that indi/ekos/kstars/eqmod/the mount or something is very happy about the 0 RA 90 DEC position. However, I need a custom park position which can be unparked without me being near the scope, so manually moving the scope does not work in my case.

Hello,

Using the method I use described, a custom park position can be used. Normalize the mount to RA=0 and DEC=90. Slew to mount to this custom position and identify the RA and DEC. Save this position as the new Hone.

Under ASCOM, EQMOUNT had the ability to save custom home positions as unique names. Using a multi-button joystick, buttons could be assigned different home positions. Under AstroBerry, 1 home is possible. However, knowing custom RA and DEC positions is just as easy.

Yes, that is basically how I do it also. But then from time to time kstars/ekos/indi suddenly after unparking think the mount is parked near polaris, but I in fact know it is not (it never is in my case!). How do you then start up, telling kstars/ekos/indi that the mount is NOT parked near polarins but somewhere else (without physically being next to the mount to move it manually)?

What sync mode and alignment mode do you use in the eqmod driver?

Hello,

Before I went to QHY PoleMaster, I tried to use the polar alignment system of the scope. The mount was an old Vixen SP. When I added new motors, I went to AstroEQ to run the system. To align, I had to set the scope up for alignment. Alignment was RA=90 and DEC=0. Home was Polaris at RA=0 and DEC=90.

With the QHY Polemaster, Home is RA=0 and DEC =90. So, I used technology to satisfy the Home problem. I setup and tear down my rig. If I was in a shelter with limited space, home would be custom. I can see the dilemma. I use web services to manage INDI/KSTARS/EKOS. I also use RealVNC to manage the RPI. I do not have to be by the scope.

Hello,

I saw that analogous post about EKOS and EQMount out of sync. Within EKOS, click on options. Under INDI, is Mount Updates KSTARS selected? If not, what is?

Under INDI options "time and location updates", "kstars updates all devices" is selected. Is this not good?

Hello,

Any option is fine as long as the prerequisites are met.

1. KSTARS ownership
2. Mount ownership
3. GPS time, location, and elevation ownership


The link between KSTARS and the Telescope is within KSTARS. Make sure this is selected in KSTARS.

Hello,

All park information is stored in the .indi folder within a specific file. It is clearly labeled. I would suggest that this file be renamed. Then, start over. If the file is corrupt, a default park data file is used. I would not suggest to modify any default file. An option exists to walk back to the original configuration. As stated, only 1 park position is available in this version of OS and InDI at this time.

I know ASCOM and INDI for Windows allows for multiple park positions. I started out this way.

AradoSKYindi wrote: Hello,

Any option is fine as long as the prerequisites are met.

1. KSTARS ownership
2. Mount ownership
3. GPS time, location, and elevation ownership


The link between KSTARS and the Telescope is within KSTARS. Make sure this is selected in KSTARS.

I'm sorry, I have no clue what you are saying here.....
What do you mean by 'ownership'?
And what should be selected in kstars?
Sorry for being stupid ...

AradoSKYindi wrote: Hello,

All park information is stored in the .indi folder within a specific file. It is clearly labeled....

Do you know what type of information is stored in this file? What do the numbers mean?