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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Haven't had a real problem for a long time with SM - tonight a big guiding problem

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Hello,
I've been using this setup/rig without any real problems (e.g. occasional meridian flip problems, making my new ASI2600MC to work correctly) for well over a year, maybe more.
Had several successful sessions around last New Moon.
Tonight, the Guide Module gave me a real headache.
It was really doing strange things during the calibration step.
-- didn't do anything but claimed that the calibration was successful.
-- would go RA forward for a couple of steps and claim that the calibration was successful.
-- would go RA forward and back but skip DEC and claim that the calibration was successful.
-- etc.
-- after that the guiding was atrocious
-- sometimes the Drift Plot wouldn't show anything at all even though the guider was (badly) guiding.

So, I kept doing and redoing the calibration, rebooting RPI, connecting/disconnecting cables and eventually the calibration went through
and now it guides quite reasonably.

What could be the cause of this?
My guess it's either the FTDI cable (quite new) to the mount or the mount itself (quite old HEQ5) or just a bad contact in some connector somewhere.

Using the latest stable INDI/KStars/Ekos. It was the same with Windows and RPI client.

 
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
Last edit: 2 years 11 months ago by maxthebuilder.
2 years 11 months ago #69799

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Tonight was more of the same but now it consistently did this during calibration:
-- RA forward and reverse - OK
-- DEC forward - OK
-- DEC reverse - goes for just one step and claims that the calibration is successful.
Guiding goes nowhere after this.
I again, booted/rebooted, connected/reconnected cables and finally it worked.

Can a flaky cable or a loose USB connector cause this?
If it's a cable/connector - why it only affects the DEC?

Thanks!
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
2 years 11 months ago #69839

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I have also been experiencing a problem with guiding this week. 

Been doing guiding successfully for about a year now but this week it doesn't work. It appears to do the RA forward motion OK but when it attempts to do the RA reverse, it continues in the same direction as the RA forward motion until it eventually loses the guide calibration star. No equipment has been changed. Performed the sudo apt-get update/upgrade this week before attempting to do the guiding. Unfortunately haven't been able to get out for the last few months due to clouds so I don't know if this is only associated with the latest release.

Any ideas?
Last edit: 2 years 11 months ago by Edwin Hekman.
2 years 11 months ago #69945

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@edh: Celestron driver vs 3.5 has a bug which produces the symptoms you describe.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Edwin Hekman
Last edit: 2 years 11 months ago by Joaquin.
2 years 11 months ago #69987

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I moved the cables around. All is well now.
It was a bad connection somewhere.
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
2 years 11 months ago #69988

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Jabian,

Thanks for the info. I am also using the Celestron AVX. Is there a newer or older version of the Celestron driver available that would resolve this problem?
Last edit: 2 years 11 months ago by Edwin Hekman.
2 years 11 months ago #70010

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Yes, vs 3.6 on the nightly.

Vs 3,6 fix the problem of guide calibration. Although it still fails when calibration starts after a GOTO from the park position (p.e. starting a job from the scheduler).

Search in the forum: there are a couple of recent threads on the subject, with several strategies to fix it (switching to beta from stable, copy/pasting the 3.6 driver from a beta installation into the stable one, ...).
2 years 11 months ago #70027

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