Great video Jay!!! thanks for the shout out. I was doing some testing last night and one thing I found out was that the hand controller shouldn't be plugged into the mount while using green swamp server, it's perfectly okay if it is however whenever you start the mount for the first time it loads the position from the hand controller first and then green swamp server reads that position versus the one from the software. So now I just keep the hand controller disconnected from the mount all times and green swap server handle the rest. Another thing too, in Nina when you are doing a sequence run, there's an option to park the mount from the sequencer and that works pretty good. Again, awesome video!
Not at all. Thanks for mentioning GSS. Very slick interface. That's a good note about the hand controller. I haven't plugged my hand controller in since I got the mount and, like you, only tend to use it when I'm doing planetary imaging. Yes, I use the NINA park at the conclusion of the imaging night and, as long as you Set Park, when the mount is in Home position, everything works fine. I wonder if GSS is planning on saving the park position so it remembers it next time?
James I just want to thank you for this video in particular.. after following your steps here, everything has fallen into place and imaging is now a breeze.. Selecting target in Stellarium and importing coords into NINA is huge.. GS works flawless and I don't have any com errors like I used to. Thanks again!!
Thanks Robert! I don’t have any major issues with it. If you’re planing on using it on a mini PC and you control that PC via Remote Desktop, you may have to disable the 3D scope view to avoid crashes. Thanks for watching!
@@Aero19612 thanks. I also watched your video about cold weather affecting your mimi pc. I too run one and connect to a laptop inside my house and in winter have had similar issues but never linked it to the cold and damp. I shall be doing what you have done and seeing how that works. Again many thanks from here in the UK
Thanks, Dan! I'm enjoying GSS. You may have to disable the 3D scope view if you use Remote Desktop to access the PC that runs the imaging session. I was getting crashes because of the way Remote Desktop emulates the graphics processor in RAM. Thanks for watching!
Well this video answered my question real fast,,, It was driving me crazy that my scope would go to a different home position at a 90 degree angle from where I wanted it. I thought I was doing something wrong. Well now I know and wont rack my brain anymore... Why dont they fix it ??
I know. I’ve gotten used to pressing “Unpark” in NINA, then pressing “Set Park” so the mount goes back to the counterweights down position when I have NINA park the scope at the end of the night. Still, I wish it was a “permanent” setting. Thanks for watching, Steve!
Unfortunately, I think this is a Greenswamp thing. Not sure. But it seems like GSS should be able to “remember” the setting. Most of this software is free so I guess I can’t complain too much, Haha.
I switched to GS Server a while ago. I find it a lot less finicky and easier to use than EQmod. Two things you absolutely want to do is 1/ enabling “Reverse Dec output after meridian flip" in PHD2, and 2/ choose a "safety" behavior when hitting axis limits (first icon at the bottom) - for example, turning off tracking, or parking the scope.
Thanks for the comments, Andre'! I saw the "Reverse DEC" statement before, but was prepared to ignore it. I thought PHD2 handles that (it does for my CGEM). I will certainly check the "safety" button. Thanks!
I recently switched to GSS but haven't had any clear nights so haven't been able to test it out yet. Did you end up having to enable the reverse DEC option?
@@TomDastrup Yes. Your guiding post-flip will not work unless you do this. The GSS quick start guide explicitly states this: "If guiding with PHD2 you will want to check mark the option “Reverse Dec output after meridian flip”
EQmod is one of the things I really miss after going over to a C mount. I despise closed proprietary systems and SW can in large part thank the EQmod project for the popularity of their mounts.
Hey, Rob: I was always jealous of the EQMOD when I saw people using it. This GSS seems pretty slick too. The Nexremote is functional but you still have to have the hand controller. Not sure if that's still the case with the latest Celestron mounts. The CPWI (?) interface may allow you to eliminate the hand controller. I never tried it out.
Hi James, so its two year on from when you posted this. Is the issue with the home position and GSS resolved yet? If I have to remember to set it every time, I'm bound to forget one day. If it is, I'll give GSS a go.
Good question. That would have been good discuss except this is my first Synscan mount and I've never used EQMOD or GSS. A friend told me about GSS, so I went with that. I throw in a couple of observations: EQMOD is older and more established so there may be fewer "bugs", but there also may be less future development to keep up with changing technology. EQMOD uses more worm gear periods to develop the PEC curve, but I've found the GSS curve to do well. I like the 3-D image of the scope offered by GSS. As the mount moves, the 3D image shows the motion of the scope. I have found that very useful. I hve had no issues with GSS, so I'm not planning on switching to EQMOD. I'd say you'll be happy with whichever direction you go. Heck, it doesn't cost anything to try them both out. Thanks for watching!
Great video, I am new to deep space and I use GSServer, APT and Stellarium and this was very helpful. PHD2 is the next hurdle to get over. I bought a mount and 10" reflector and I have a question. After I polar align using my Orion Atlas EQ-G (same as SW), do I then center on Polaris with the scope, set the Home/Park position before I goto a target?
Hi Brad. Welcome to the hobby. Short answer: No. once you are done with polar alignment, just rotate the RA axis (clutch released) so that the counter weights are pointed directly down (don’t need great precision here). Unlock the DEC clutch and rotate the scope so it’s pointed due north. Lock the clutches and then you’re ready to slew to the target. You’ll be off. If you haven’t already, get set up for “plate solving.” Look into ASTAP. This will determine where you’re actually pointing and send the coordinates to the scope via APT/GSS. If you’ve set things up correctly, APT will move the scope to the intended coordinates. Hope this helps!
@@Aero19612 It does, thank you! I am able to slew to my target on stellarium. I used it last night and wasn’t 100% sure I was pointing to my target. Need to figure how to compose the photo. I am using Sony’s which does offer live view via APT but as you know, really doesn’t show much. Would ASTAP help with that?
@@bradashbrook3943 If you know where you want to point the scope, then have Stellarium go to that location, ASTAP is used by APT (Pointcraft, I beleive), NINA, etc as a means to determine from a picture of a starfield, where your scope is actually pointing and then it feeds to error back to APT so that APT can move the scope to the correct location. Then you will be 100% sure you're pointed at the right location.
@@tommasosabatini9310 Hmm. Are you sure that you are aligned? The mount has to know where it’s pointing (RA and DEC) at least approximately before you can tell it where to point. Did you input your Lat and Long, date and time, and tell it it’s in the Home position?
It is supposed to allow you to pull the RA and DEC from a FITS image header. It's potentially very useful for what you want to do. Create a file folder of plate-solved fits images of targets and bright stars that you might want to use for Bahtinov Mask focusing, if you use one. They need to be plate-solved so that the picture you take will have the RA/DEC coords written into the file header. One warning: you'll have to be careful that those coordinates you import are above the horizon when you load and slew to them.
Still using it and am quite pleased with it. I see comments from time to time but haven't followed them closely. Works great with my 1-yr-old EQ6-R. Had an issue with the 3-D mount/scope display but that wasn't GSS fault - Remote Desktop emulates the graphics processor which can cause issues with some mini PCs. Rob added a "gauge" display that does not require graphics acceleration so I use that.
If you arent connected through the hand controller or using the "printer style" cable that connects straight to computer from mount you get that error. Also i got that error when i first installed and the setup wasnt done correctly to connect to ASCO.
Great video Jay!!! thanks for the shout out. I was doing some testing last night and one thing I found out was that the hand controller shouldn't be plugged into the mount while using green swamp server, it's perfectly okay if it is however whenever you start the mount for the first time it loads the position from the hand controller first and then green swamp server reads that position versus the one from the software. So now I just keep the hand controller disconnected from the mount all times and green swap server handle the rest. Another thing too, in Nina when you are doing a sequence run, there's an option to park the mount from the sequencer and that works pretty good. Again, awesome video!
Not at all. Thanks for mentioning GSS. Very slick interface. That's a good note about the hand controller. I haven't plugged my hand controller in since I got the mount and, like you, only tend to use it when I'm doing planetary imaging. Yes, I use the NINA park at the conclusion of the imaging night and, as long as you Set Park, when the mount is in Home position, everything works fine. I wonder if GSS is planning on saving the park position so it remembers it next time?
James I just want to thank you for this video in particular.. after following your steps here, everything has fallen into place and imaging is now a breeze.. Selecting target in Stellarium and importing coords into NINA is huge.. GS works flawless and I don't have any com errors like I used to. Thanks again!!
Great news, Tim! Victories in the hobby are fleeting, so enjoy! Clear skies
You make it look so easy.... Didnt know about that GS server.. very cool.
Yeah, it's pretty easy to set up. Try GSS if you have a synscan mount. Thanks for watching, Tim!
Great video! I just started with GSS and this was huge!! Thank you!!!
Glad it was useful! I really like GSS.
One of the most informative videos I’ve seen. Thank you.
Thanks Robert! I don’t have any major issues with it. If you’re planing on using it on a mini PC and you control that PC via Remote Desktop, you may have to disable the 3D scope view to avoid crashes. Thanks for watching!
@@Aero19612 thanks. I also watched your video about cold weather affecting your mimi pc. I too run one and connect to a laptop inside my house and in winter have had similar issues but never linked it to the cold and damp. I shall be doing what you have done and seeing how that works. Again many thanks from here in the UK
Excellent video, been toying with the idea of using GSS, this information will be very helpful. Thanks
Great, Bill! Thanks for watching.
That what an excellent tutorial and many thanks for taking the time and trouble.
Thanks, Dan! I'm enjoying GSS. You may have to disable the 3D scope view if you use Remote Desktop to access the PC that runs the imaging session. I was getting crashes because of the way Remote Desktop emulates the graphics processor in RAM. Thanks for watching!
Did not know about GS Server. Thanks for the insights!
Pretty cool piece of software, Don. Give it a shot if you can!
Well this video answered my question real fast,,, It was driving me crazy that my scope would go to a different home position at a 90 degree angle from where I wanted it. I thought I was doing something wrong. Well now I know and wont rack my brain anymore... Why dont they fix it ??
I know. I’ve gotten used to pressing “Unpark” in NINA, then pressing “Set Park” so the mount goes back to the counterweights down position when I have NINA park the scope at the end of the night. Still, I wish it was a “permanent” setting. Thanks for watching, Steve!
@@Aero19612 Hopefully NINA people will fix it
Unfortunately, I think this is a Greenswamp thing. Not sure. But it seems like GSS should be able to “remember” the setting. Most of this software is free so I guess I can’t complain too much, Haha.
I switched to GS Server a while ago. I find it a lot less finicky and easier to use than EQmod. Two things you absolutely want to do is 1/ enabling “Reverse Dec output after meridian flip" in PHD2, and 2/ choose a "safety" behavior when hitting axis limits (first icon at the bottom) - for example, turning off tracking, or parking the scope.
Thanks for the comments, Andre'!
I saw the "Reverse DEC" statement before, but was prepared to ignore it. I thought PHD2 handles that (it does for my CGEM). I will certainly check the "safety" button. Thanks!
I recently switched to GSS but haven't had any clear nights so haven't been able to test it out yet. Did you end up having to enable the reverse DEC option?
@@TomDastrup Yes. Your guiding post-flip will not work unless you do this. The GSS quick start guide explicitly states this: "If guiding with PHD2 you will want to check mark the option “Reverse Dec output after meridian flip”
EQmod is one of the things I really miss after going over to a C mount. I despise closed proprietary systems and SW can in large part thank the EQmod project for the popularity of their mounts.
Hey, Rob:
I was always jealous of the EQMOD when I saw people using it. This GSS seems pretty slick too. The Nexremote is functional but you still have to have the hand controller. Not sure if that's still the case with the latest Celestron mounts. The CPWI (?) interface may allow you to eliminate the hand controller. I never tried it out.
Hi James, so its two year on from when you posted this. Is the issue with the home position and GSS resolved yet? If I have to remember to set it every time, I'm bound to forget one day. If it is, I'll give GSS a go.
Thanks for the video. What are the advantages of switching from eqmod to GSS? I was hoping to see this in the video.
Good question. That would have been good discuss except this is my first Synscan mount and I've never used EQMOD or GSS. A friend told me about GSS, so I went with that. I throw in a couple of observations: EQMOD is older and more established so there may be fewer "bugs", but there also may be less future development to keep up with changing technology. EQMOD uses more worm gear periods to develop the PEC curve, but I've found the GSS curve to do well. I like the 3-D image of the scope offered by GSS. As the mount moves, the 3D image shows the motion of the scope. I have found that very useful. I hve had no issues with GSS, so I'm not planning on switching to EQMOD. I'd say you'll be happy with whichever direction you go. Heck, it doesn't cost anything to try them both out. Thanks for watching!
Great video, I am new to deep space and I use GSServer, APT and Stellarium and this was very helpful. PHD2 is the next hurdle to get over. I bought a mount and 10" reflector and I have a question. After I polar align using my Orion Atlas EQ-G (same as SW), do I then center on Polaris with the scope, set the Home/Park position before I goto a target?
Hi Brad. Welcome to the hobby. Short answer: No. once you are done with polar alignment, just rotate the RA axis (clutch released) so that the counter weights are pointed directly down (don’t need great precision here). Unlock the DEC clutch and rotate the scope so it’s pointed due north. Lock the clutches and then you’re ready to slew to the target. You’ll be off. If you haven’t already, get set up for “plate solving.” Look into ASTAP. This will determine where you’re actually pointing and send the coordinates to the scope via APT/GSS. If you’ve set things up correctly, APT will move the scope to the intended coordinates. Hope this helps!
@@Aero19612 It does, thank you! I am able to slew to my target on stellarium. I used it last night and wasn’t 100% sure I was pointing to my target. Need to figure how to compose the photo. I am using Sony’s which does offer live view via APT but as you know, really doesn’t show much. Would ASTAP help with that?
@@bradashbrook3943 If you know where you want to point the scope, then have Stellarium go to that location, ASTAP is used by APT (Pointcraft, I beleive), NINA, etc as a means to determine from a picture of a starfield, where your scope is actually pointing and then it feeds to error back to APT so that APT can move the scope to the correct location. Then you will be 100% sure you're pointed at the right location.
@@Aero19612 thank you for the clarification!
i have everything connected but when i try to slew from nina it gives me an error saying "no value has been set"
@@tommasosabatini9310 Hmm. Are you sure that you are aligned? The mount has to know where it’s pointing (RA and DEC) at least approximately before you can tell it where to point. Did you input your Lat and Long, date and time, and tell it it’s in the Home position?
Hello James, do you know what the import function is meant for? I would like to use GSS only and not a third party app for choosing a target.
It is supposed to allow you to pull the RA and DEC from a FITS image header. It's potentially very useful for what you want to do. Create a file folder of plate-solved fits images of targets and bright stars that you might want to use for Bahtinov Mask focusing, if you use one. They need to be plate-solved so that the picture you take will have the RA/DEC coords written into the file header. One warning: you'll have to be careful that those coordinates you import are above the horizon when you load and slew to them.
I've used EqMod for many years ....and I'm considering switching to GS Server, but I see a lot of people having issues. Are you still using GSS?
Still using it and am quite pleased with it. I see comments from time to time but haven't followed them closely. Works great with my 1-yr-old EQ6-R. Had an issue with the 3-D mount/scope display but that wasn't GSS fault - Remote Desktop emulates the graphics processor which can cause issues with some mini PCs. Rob added a "gauge" display that does not require graphics acceleration so I use that.
@@Aero19612 Well... I'll give it a try, Thx
When i try to connect my HEQ5 Pro Mount to GS Server i have the error: Mount: ErrNoResponseAxis1, Timeout
Send a note to the support forum along with any log produced by GSS. Rob responds very quickly and will sort things out for you. Good luck!
If you arent connected through the hand controller or using the "printer style" cable that connects straight to computer from mount you get that error. Also i got that error when i first installed and the setup wasnt done correctly to connect to ASCO.