×

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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Meridian Flip Configuration

  • Posts: 185
  • Thank you received: 28
I think you missed my point. I didn't call for a switch in direction. I only commanded a solve and slew. I didn't look at the hour angle until after the slew took the mount to the east side.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Craig
4 years 1 month ago #49884

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 554
  • Thank you received: 138
Any slew that is done when the mount prefers to be on the other side of the pier will do a flip.

All that the pier flip process does is wait until the flip condition is reached, then does a slew to the current coordinates.
4 years 1 month ago #49889

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 185
  • Thank you received: 28
It's OK that the flip occurred. The issue is it wouldn't then go to the target (M42). The actual (not the desired) behavior was replicated in KStars. I would think that if the logic says we need to flip that it would then go to the target, not just somewhere close.

The capture and slew and, if I recall correctly, a load and slew did not go to M42 at that point in time. Several minutes later (didn't make note of the actual hour angle), it finally would go to the target.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Craig
4 years 1 month ago #49899

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 1009
  • Thank you received: 133
It goes to the same coordinates. Where that is 'on the sky' depends on the quality of your pointing model. So usually it does a solve-and-slew round after flip, if the flip was initiated by EKOS. If it does the flip because it hit the mounts setting limit, this of course doesn't happen, and you are left with the accuracy of your pointing/alignment.
4 years 1 month ago #49903

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 554
  • Thank you received: 138
Normally it's possible to reach any position from one side or the other of the pier and it is possible to track a reasonable distance past the meridian. I'm not sure that all of this applies to your mount and you have a very small range where you can reach an object wth the mount on either side of the meridian. It may even be that there is a zone which can't be reacked at all.

As Der Pit says pointing errors may make your mount point differently when the pier side is changed. Ekos will usually do a solve and sync after a pier flip, at least when it's imaging.

As I said before I don't think there's anything in Ekos to manage hour angle limits, at least at present.

i'm not sure how much we can help though, we can't see your mount and so can't see much of what is needed to help you work out what is going on. A few lines of social media posting doesn't give us much. The result is confusion, misunderstanding and misinformation.
4 years 1 month ago #49905

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 185
  • Thank you received: 28
Are you saying my mount model is reflected in KStars? When the mount slewed to Alnitak instead of M42 and plate solving said I was on target, I looked at KStars to see where it thought I was pointing and it indicated Alnitak. I selected M42 in KStars and told EQMod to slew to M42 and it wouldn't move there.

When it wouldn't move to M42, I went to the Flame Nebula in KStars and told EQMod to slew to it. The slew showed properly in KStars, staying on the east side, and plate solving showed I was very close to the target. It took about the usual amount of fine moves to get the mount centered on the target within the tolerance I had given.

I have attached the log from this particular session for additional information. I think the issue starts around line 439150, local time 21:21:30.

File Attachment:

File Name: log_17-19-02.zip
File Size:7,516 KB
4 years 1 month ago #49914
Attachments:

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 1009
  • Thank you received: 133
Uh, that sounds weird indeed.
Could it be that you had moved the KStars FOV (not the mount pointing) at some point after having slewed to M42, so that EKOS/the align module thought that was the target?
Also, if you look at the log, the messages from align only start around 21:34, so before there seems to not have been a try to actually do an alignment....
(Edit: and the coordinates refered to there are the ones of M42)
Last edit: 4 years 1 month ago by Peter Sütterlin.
4 years 1 month ago #49917

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 185
  • Thank you received: 28
Look at line 146277 which shows the mount is on target for M42 at 19:27:54(+) local time. This was on the west side of the pier. I realigned at 19:52 (194825), 20:00 (276814) and 20:18 (311291). At 20:18, the accepted solution is about 2 minutes in declination from M42 (which isn't Alnitak either). I'm still confused....
The following user(s) said Thank You: Craig
4 years 1 month ago #49918

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 554
  • Thank you received: 138
2 arc minutes in declination away is very close after a meridian flip and if you mean 2 minutes of time then it's still only half a degree which is still not bad.
4 years 1 month ago #49928

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 185
  • Thank you received: 28
2 arc minutes puts the target outside my FOV.

It's more important to note that this was the plate-solved location that was meant to be M42. I guess I'll just chalk this up as an ongoing mystery.
4 years 1 month ago #49929

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 19
  • Thank you received: 1

Replied by Niki on topic Meridian Flip Configuration

Hey RDBeck!

I had the EXACT SAME SITUATION yesterday!

Since i had flip-problems all of the time i was awake yesterday at flip-time and decided to have a look, what happens.

So everything worked fine, mount flipped, went to the target from the other pierside and made a platesolve afterwards. And then it says "solver succesful" after 1 try , but stays WAY out of the desired location. Funny thing is that when working on "the other side" i can say go there or there, the mount moves but ALWAYS goes to the wrong point in the sky, saying solver succesful!
WTF
I can not understand this behaviour.
Cleared Mount model several times.

Conclusion ATM:

Platesolving works great when west pointing east.
Platesolving goes wild when east pointing west...

System not usable after the flip for me...

Ideas?

Niki
The following user(s) said Thank You: Craig
4 years 6 hours ago #51301

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 1185
  • Thank you received: 370
Hi Niki,
without logs it's not that easy. Could you please post the logs, I could take a look...

- Wolfgang
The following user(s) said Thank You: Niki
4 years 3 hours ago #51312

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 1.093 seconds