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EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

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Replied by Matt Baker on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

I found this rather odd. I'm currently out at the moment and it still keeps happening. My guide rate is at 0.8 hence the 12.0329 but why is the RA then deciding to go at 1.8x sidereal
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.640 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide West 79 ms at rate 12.0329  "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.640 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartRATracking() : trackspeed = 27.0739 arcsecs/s, computed rate = 1.8 "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.641 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetRARate() : rate = 1.8 "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.641 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[MOUNT] SetMotion() : Axis = 1 -- dir=forward mode=slew speedmode=lowspeed "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.641 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[SCOPE] CheckMotorStatus() : Axis = 1 "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.642 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":f1\", 4 bytes written "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.642 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read_eqmod: \"=111\", 5 bytes read "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.643 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[MOUNT] SetSpeed() : Axis = 1 -- period=344 "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.644 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":f1\", 4 bytes written "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.645 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read_eqmod: \"=111\", 5 bytes read "
[2020-11-30T19:32:46.646 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":I1580100\", 10 bytes written "

A few seconds later, it receives a command after the spike occurs and is told to do a 1776ms @ 0.8x when it then only does 0.2x
[2020-11-30T19:32:54.476 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide East 1776 ms at rate 12.0329  "
[2020-11-30T19:32:54.476 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartRATracking() : trackspeed = 3.00821 arcsecs/s, computed rate = 0.2 "
[2020-11-30T19:32:54.476 GMT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetRARate() : rate = 0.2 "
3 years 5 months ago #63638

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Replied by Jim on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

Your first set of logs is "Timed guide West", and the second is "Timed guide East". To guide west, the mount has to go faster than 1.0 (sidereal), so with your setting of .8, the combined speed is 1.8x, and the application computes how long it needs to go at this rate and gives it a time in milliseconds (79ms). The opposite is for guiding east, it needs to slow the mount down by .8, giving you a .2 rate.
3 years 5 months ago #63639

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Replied by Matt Baker on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

Ahh, I see
3 years 5 months ago #63640

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Replied by Matt Baker on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

I do keep getting this error when they occur

EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read error, will retry again... "
3 years 5 months ago #63643

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Replied by Jim on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

What are your settings, both in Ekos and in INDI for the pulse limits?
3 years 5 months ago #63645

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Replied by Matt Baker on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

Update. I ended up changing the time and location updates in the INDI options from KStars to the mount and there's no spikes to be seen. Currently been over 30 minutes
3 years 5 months ago #63647

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Replied by Jim on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

Ah! yes, I knew there was one more change that I made, I just could not recall what it was. I had been reading the thread about GPS and time sync, so wanted to see what would happen if I changed to kstars updates mount some time ago. I did switch it back to using the GPS along with the other changes. If that is the only thing you have changed, that must be the problem.

Jim
3 years 5 months ago #63648

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Replied by Matt Baker on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

I've been having to throw away half of my subs for the past 3 months because of this issue, so hopefully it doesn't budge and stays exactly like it is

Matt
3 years 5 months ago #63649

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Replied by Jim on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

Tonight we are back to this mess. No settings changed from 2 nights ago when I had excellent guiding.



continuing to investigate, checking hardware logs as well. Bad cable? Bad connection? It is possible that 3 people with 3 different EQmod mounts have bad connections... but how likely?

It is a little different tonight though.
1) I only have 1 line of the Invalid parameter error in the log.
2) I have 109 "read error, will retry again" messages in about 90 minutes of operation... seems high. I went back to my old log, where I had a long stretch of good operation... No read errors.
3) The system running the ZWO cameras is reporting a USB reset after every image comes in from the guider camera:
kernel: usb 1-4.3: reset high-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
I did not look at this log prior to know if it was still doing this during the good operating time. It is doing it during the short windows of good guiding tonight though.

Of these things, number 2 above bothers me the most. The read errors stopped at the same time the mount started acting normal 2 nights ago. Going out to check some hardware now. Will park and re-power the mount, will pull the EQdirect wire and inspect, etc.
Last edit: 3 years 5 months ago by Jim. Reason: more analysis
3 years 5 months ago #63656
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Replied by Matt Baker on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

I've just had a look and there's quite a few read errors on mine too. Sometimes just before the spike and some not. Communication error in the eqdirect wire? Could also be voltage drops from psu? What psu are you both using?
3 years 5 months ago #63658

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Replied by Jim on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

Initially, I had a 10A medical grade PSU that I used to run everything except the dew heaters. I later moved the mount to its own PSU as well, and have been running with that dedicated PSU ever since. Looks like I should put a voltage meter on it. It sure would be nice if the mount would report voltage.


All of the entries in the syslog are from the ASI camera usb port, and they are WARN of reset. I will open this in another report, because I don't think it should be happening after every exposure, but it does not seem to be hurting anything. They are consistent as well; as long as there are guider images coming in, there are the USB reset WARNs.
That is it though. There are no other system/OS reported USB errors to go along with those timeouts that INDI is reporting as a COMM error. It has become pretty apparent though, that these are the cause of the large spikes and failed guiding. If there were a cable or port problem, I would hope there would be an error indicating such.

Other notes:
My issues seem to be primarily in RA. Any time the mount "drifts away" DEC looks fine, but RA RMS goes high.
The direction that RA goes does not seem to matter. It has drifted both positive and negative, so doesn't seem like "drift" in that case. It seems more like a correction was issues and it times out trying to stop it, so the correction keeps going.

Edit: I looked last night and the current supply is a 12v 5A supply, dedicated to the mount.
Last edit: 3 years 5 months ago by Jim. Reason: more info and observations
3 years 5 months ago #63660

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Replied by Jim on topic EQMod : "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs)."

I need to come back to this thread, because that last evening, two nights ago, was quite frustrating. I checked the connections, everything seems tight and clean. The power supply is a regulated 12v 5A, which should be more than enough, but it could be getting weak. To address that, I just bought a 13.5v 90w medical grade PSU, and the custom GX12-2 connector to solder directly to the PSU to get rid of any connections on the way to powering the mount. While this might not be the solution, at least it is one less thing to worry about. The other thing that could be a problem would be the EQdirect cable, and I do have a spare that I will try, but if that was faulty, I would expect that there would be more problems than just this one. That statement goes for the PSU as well. At this point, it feels more like timing issues in talking to the mount than it does hardware. It looks like a few clear-ish nights coming up, so will keep trying.

@knro, any thoughts on this ?

Any updates from other eqmod users that have had problems with timeouts?

Jim
3 years 5 months ago #63761

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