Can you do the calculation of the max time after Meridian indoors? If you set up indoors facing north then figure out what angle causes the telescope or camera to hit an d use a planetarium app to see what location the telescope is at and whether it is close to or gone past the Meridian? Use the planetarium app to fast forward slowly to get a rough number? Also, is it better to have the mount peg that the azimuth bolts screw onto over one of the tripod legs or have it in a hole between two tripod legs? Do you get more time before collision with the peg between tripod legs? I have my peg over a tripod leg. Thanks
Absolutely, you can do this procedure indoors. That’s actually exactly how I figured mine. As far as the peg being center of leg or center of two legs, it can allow for more clearance depending on your setup. That would be something that you have to play with on your personal setup. Keep in mind, you don’t want to go too far past meridian and my advice is keep it around the max exposure time you’re going to use but also check clearance on the other side of the pier as well so you don’t have a collision after flip.
@@Hidden.Light.Photography I have my peg over a tripod leg. I tried it both ways and it didnt seem to make a difference how far past meridian I could track before hitting something. I think its setup dependent. Thats why they have two holes. I also set mine up indoors by first parking the mount, then manually slewing until I was near the point of earliest collision but not yet past the meridian (the counter weight bar level). Then zero the limits in EQMOD and turn them on. Turn on tracking and let it track until it hits the limit and it will stop when the mount thinks it's at the meridian, not relying on a planitarium software to determine. Then turn off the limits, start a stopwatch on your phone and then turn tracking back on. When the mount gets to the point where you feel you need to stop, the stopwatch will tell you how many minutes past the meridian is your MAXIUM time.
I've notice the last couple of sessions doing the auto flip, Nina gets to the guiding part but in PHD2 the guiding never starts. I have to manually select the Auto Select and Guide icons to start it back up. It used to work. I'm on version 3.1 HF2. What should I check. Thanks
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that! What do your meridian flip settings look like and are you using the legacy sequencer or advanced? Also, are you using NINA to open PHD2 or are you opening PHD2 outside of NINA and then connecting?
Im using the legacy sequencer. My Auto Meridian Flip settings : Minuts after Meridian = 5, Max Minutes = 10, Use Telescope Side of Pier = On, Recenter after Flip = On, Scope Setttle Time = 30 Sec, Pause before = 0, Autofocus = On, Rotate Image = Off. PHD2 setting show server is enabled. During set up in NINA I connect all and PHD2 is opened. I got through autofocus and TPPA . Lately I have not been calibrating PHD2, I'm using previous calibration. With my AVX mount my guiding doesn't seem to be any better or worse if I calibrate or don't calibrate so I'm testing not calibrating. I then use Framing Assitanct to Slew and Center or Slew, Center and Rotate. Then I will go to PHD2 and manually start the Guiding. Looping, Star select, Gudie. I 'll monitor the guiding from NINA Image window to make sure guiding is running as good as it gets, usually when RA and DEC RMS indivdual values are below 1", then I'll go to the legacy sequencer and start the sequence run. I have Meridian Flip turned on. I don't have the Target Options turned on since all those steps have been completed . I don't want the sequence file to start the guiding because with the AVX and PPEC algorithm the guiding is erratic for the first several minutes. When NINA starts the Meridian Flip the progress display window appears and it goes through the check list of items. It stops the guiding, flips, slews, autofocus, then centers then to guiding and I notice the graph never starts moving. Nina continues on to the end and the sequence starts the next image even though the guiding hasn't started. I go into PHD2 and I think its looping but maybe not, can't remember, click on the star then the guide icons and it start guiding. How does NINA talk to PHD2? Do it send a command to start looping , then choose star then start guiding and does NINA receive a reply from PHD2/ Thanks for any help.
Honestly, it sounds like PHD2 and NINA are fighting for control. I would always recommend starting PHD2 from within NINA this way NINA maintains control of PHD2. I have heard of strange things happening if opening PHD2 from outside NINA. Do you have a mount settle time set for after slewing? If not, I would recommend setting one. It allows tracking to settle after slewing and this might explain some erratic behavior from guiding. The rest of your settings seem fine so those are the two changes I would make for now. At minimum, as an experiment, I would ensure PHD2 is opened from within NINA and do your normal thing by starting guiding etc. From there, I would allow the legacy sequencer to start guiding (just leave guiding running as you normally would). I believe doing these two things should give NINA the control over PHD2 it needs.
Nice video, but you should also check the clearance on the East side after meridian flip, there could be worst case obstructions, on that side especially if you do the meridian flip close to meridian. Also if you have a electronic rotator, the worst case clearance may be affected by rotation angle, especially if you have a large filter wheel
Hi Tony, another very useful video for beginners. I think it would have been useful to show how the telescope achieves a meridian flip by doing it manually. You almost got there when showing how the telescope got very close to the tripod leg but didn't continue to show the position of the telescope after the flip. Also, what is to stop the flip continuing in an anti-clockwise direction if you don't have limits set?
Thank you! I love the suggestion and will put together a short video demonstrating it. To answer in the meantime, a manual meridian flip is achieved by manually stopping your guiding and imaging and the sending the mount home and then re-slewing to the target as the drivers will then favor East side of pier instead of West side. You never want to undo your clutches and move the telescope manually as that will throw off the current known position in the encoders. To address the question about stopping the flip from continuing anti-clockwise without limits being set, this is very good question!! An automated meridian flip is going to the same sky coordinates, but favoring East side of pier instead of West side. When you connect your mount to the driver (EQMOD, Green Swamp Server, CPWI etc) it asks for you to have your mount lined up with the index marks and this is because those mark the home position. As soon as you connect your mount to the driver, it assumes home position and the encoders note the motors step position. As your mount tracks, the step positions are known, so when NINA initiates a meridian flip, the signal sent is the bring the motors to a specific position to meet the sky coordinates of the target it is going to, but on opposite side of pier. If the mount keeps going without stopping, that means there was a glitch in the encoders where it lost position and mount limits would not matter because it thinks it is in one position, but in reality in a completely different position. You can see this as an experiment if you put your mount in a different position and then connect it and slew to, say the moon. It will be way off because it thinks it is starting at home position, but in reality is not. This is part of the “quirks” I mentioned in my EQMOD video where, even though I was starting in home position, EQMOD thought it was somewhere else, so I had to reset my encoders sometimes. It’s important to note that if you stop mid sequence, unlock the clutches and then move the telescope, then relock the clutches, it has not idea that happened. It still thinks it is in the last known position and will continue as such. I hope this helps and if I need to reword something, please don’t hesitate to tell me 😀
Can you do the calculation of the max time after Meridian indoors? If you set up indoors facing north then figure out what angle causes the telescope or camera to hit an d use a planetarium app to see what location the telescope is at and whether it is close to or gone past the Meridian? Use the planetarium app to fast forward slowly to get a rough number? Also, is it better to have the mount peg that the azimuth bolts screw onto over one of the tripod legs or have it in a hole between two tripod legs? Do you get more time before collision with the peg between tripod legs? I have my peg over a tripod leg. Thanks
Absolutely, you can do this procedure indoors. That’s actually exactly how I figured mine. As far as the peg being center of leg or center of two legs, it can allow for more clearance depending on your setup. That would be something that you have to play with on your personal setup. Keep in mind, you don’t want to go too far past meridian and my advice is keep it around the max exposure time you’re going to use but also check clearance on the other side of the pier as well so you don’t have a collision after flip.
@@Hidden.Light.Photography I have my peg over a tripod leg. I tried it both ways and it didnt seem to make a difference how far past meridian I could track before hitting something. I think its setup dependent. Thats why they have two holes. I also set mine up indoors by first parking the mount, then manually slewing until I was near the point of earliest collision but not yet past the meridian (the counter weight bar level). Then zero the limits in EQMOD and turn them on. Turn on tracking and let it track until it hits the limit and it will stop when the mount thinks it's at the meridian, not relying on a planitarium software to determine. Then turn off the limits, start a stopwatch on your phone and then turn tracking back on. When the mount gets to the point where you feel you need to stop, the stopwatch will tell you how many minutes past the meridian is your MAXIUM time.
Bingo! Great workflow for figuring this out!
I've notice the last couple of sessions doing the auto flip, Nina gets to the guiding part but in PHD2 the guiding never starts. I have to manually select the Auto Select and Guide icons to start it back up. It used to work. I'm on version 3.1 HF2. What should I check. Thanks
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that! What do your meridian flip settings look like and are you using the legacy sequencer or advanced? Also, are you using NINA to open PHD2 or are you opening PHD2 outside of NINA and then connecting?
Im using the legacy sequencer. My Auto Meridian Flip settings : Minuts after Meridian = 5, Max Minutes = 10, Use Telescope Side of Pier = On, Recenter after Flip = On, Scope Setttle Time = 30 Sec, Pause before = 0, Autofocus = On, Rotate Image = Off.
PHD2 setting show server is enabled. During set up in NINA I connect all and PHD2 is opened. I got through autofocus and TPPA . Lately I have not been calibrating PHD2, I'm using previous calibration. With my AVX mount my guiding doesn't seem to be any better or worse if I calibrate or don't calibrate so I'm testing not calibrating.
I then use Framing Assitanct to Slew and Center or Slew, Center and Rotate.
Then I will go to PHD2 and manually start the Guiding. Looping, Star select, Gudie. I 'll monitor the guiding from NINA Image window to make sure guiding is running as good as it gets, usually when RA and DEC RMS indivdual values are below 1", then I'll go to the legacy sequencer and start the sequence run. I have Meridian Flip turned on. I don't have the Target Options turned on since all those steps have been completed . I don't want the sequence file to start the guiding because with the AVX and PPEC algorithm the guiding is erratic for the first several minutes.
When NINA starts the Meridian Flip the progress display window appears and it goes through the check list of items. It stops the guiding, flips, slews, autofocus, then centers then to guiding and I notice the graph never starts moving. Nina continues on to the end and the sequence starts the next image even though the guiding hasn't started. I go into PHD2 and I think its looping but maybe not, can't remember, click on the star then the guide icons and it start guiding.
How does NINA talk to PHD2? Do it send a command to start looping , then choose star then start guiding and does NINA receive a reply from PHD2/
Thanks for any help.
Honestly, it sounds like PHD2 and NINA are fighting for control. I would always recommend starting PHD2 from within NINA this way NINA maintains control of PHD2. I have heard of strange things happening if opening PHD2 from outside NINA. Do you have a mount settle time set for after slewing? If not, I would recommend setting one. It allows tracking to settle after slewing and this might explain some erratic behavior from guiding. The rest of your settings seem fine so those are the two changes I would make for now. At minimum, as an experiment, I would ensure PHD2 is opened from within NINA and do your normal thing by starting guiding etc. From there, I would allow the legacy sequencer to start guiding (just leave guiding running as you normally would). I believe doing these two things should give NINA the control over PHD2 it needs.
Nice video, but you should also check the clearance on the East side after meridian flip, there could be worst case obstructions, on that side especially if you do the meridian flip close to meridian. Also if you have a electronic rotator, the worst case clearance may be affected by rotation angle, especially if you have a large filter wheel
Very good point!
Hi Tony, another very useful video for beginners. I think it would have been useful to show how the telescope achieves a meridian flip by doing it manually. You almost got there when showing how the telescope got very close to the tripod leg but didn't continue to show the position of the telescope after the flip. Also, what is to stop the flip continuing in an anti-clockwise direction if you don't have limits set?
Thank you! I love the suggestion and will put together a short video demonstrating it. To answer in the meantime, a manual meridian flip is achieved by manually stopping your guiding and imaging and the sending the mount home and then re-slewing to the target as the drivers will then favor East side of pier instead of West side. You never want to undo your clutches and move the telescope manually as that will throw off the current known position in the encoders.
To address the question about stopping the flip from continuing anti-clockwise without limits being set, this is very good question!! An automated meridian flip is going to the same sky coordinates, but favoring East side of pier instead of West side. When you connect your mount to the driver (EQMOD, Green Swamp Server, CPWI etc) it asks for you to have your mount lined up with the index marks and this is because those mark the home position. As soon as you connect your mount to the driver, it assumes home position and the encoders note the motors step position. As your mount tracks, the step positions are known, so when NINA initiates a meridian flip, the signal sent is the bring the motors to a specific position to meet the sky coordinates of the target it is going to, but on opposite side of pier. If the mount keeps going without stopping, that means there was a glitch in the encoders where it lost position and mount limits would not matter because it thinks it is in one position, but in reality in a completely different position. You can see this as an experiment if you put your mount in a different position and then connect it and slew to, say the moon. It will be way off because it thinks it is starting at home position, but in reality is not. This is part of the “quirks” I mentioned in my EQMOD video where, even though I was starting in home position, EQMOD thought it was somewhere else, so I had to reset my encoders sometimes.
It’s important to note that if you stop mid sequence, unlock the clutches and then move the telescope, then relock the clutches, it has not idea that happened. It still thinks it is in the last known position and will continue as such.
I hope this helps and if I need to reword something, please don’t hesitate to tell me 😀
Thanks so much for your comprehensive reply. You explained it so even a novice like me understood 😀 Keep up the good work.@@Hidden.Light.Photography
Thank you! Let me know if there’s anything else I can assist with.