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So, my Mach 1 GTO controller shipped in June, 2011, is version Q. That means losing all the data. Maybe PEM Pro can read it off the mount. Anyone know for certain?

-Rich

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"S" chip is $80. Why so expensive
Pass.....

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So, my Mach 1 GTO controller shipped in June, 2011, is version Q. That means losing all the data. Maybe PEM Pro can read it off the mount. Anyone know for certain?

-Rich

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Hi Rich,

PEMPro can read the PEC table and restore it but I don't think the PEC Index is saved so you would have to reprogram the mount anyway. But if you don't have PEMPro you can always download the trial and use it to analyze and reprogram PEC. Besides, periodic error changes over time as the gears wear in so you want to occasionally confirm the mount's PEC curve is still doing a good job... and if not, reprogram it.

-Ray

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"S" chip is $80. Why so expensive
Pass.....

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Orly for permanent installation I am also considering the Tak JPZ if one comes up used....

best regards
Chris

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Its not AP that manufactures these chips....just programs them. Chips are mass manufactured.
I don't know what exact chip it is, but $80 for a ROM chip seems overly expensive. I'd be interested to know the chip details though that make them so costly assuming AP is not marking them up 5x.

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Perhaps to salve the underlying complaint about how expensive AP equipment is, the replacement ROM should be included with the purchase of APCC? $80? AP? ... sounds about right to me ...

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I seem to remember that APCC is really effective if you have a permanent setup. For those who have to travel it might not be necessary as a new pointing model would have to be generated at every imaging session.
I see that they have a 30day trial version. Since I have the S chip I might download it and report back. I will have to wait for better weather here in the NW which means months from now

Andy

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Perhaps to salve the underlying complaint about how expensive AP equipment is, the replacement ROM should be included with the purchase of APCC? $80? AP? ... sounds about right to me ...

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And when mounts start shipping with the new chip they would expect a $80 discount if they buy APCC.

The pricing was set individually because some people might not want both APCC and the "S" chip. Some might not want either. You can pick what you want.

-Ray Gralak

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Thanks for the post, Ray.

David

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Hi Faron,
The S chip became available as I ordered the mach1. For $65 it sounded like a no-brainer upgrade. I ordered it mostly for resale value.

Andy

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I really find it interesting that people are complaining about the cost of this chip. If $80 is too much for you then don't upgrade, but don't complain about the price. It is very reasonable considering the price of these mounts. -Ray Gralak

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I really find it interesting that people are complaining about the cost of this chip. If $80 is too much for you then don't upgrade, but don't complain about the price. It is very reasonable considering the price of these mounts. -Ray Gralak

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Ray, if you read my post, I deemed $80 as expensive and decided not to upgrade. Not complaining, just want to understand the price. Hopefully someone will post the chip details when they get it.

BTW, price of mount has nothing to do with the price of the chip.

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Not sure what you mean by "chip details when they get it". I can tell you that it won't look any different than the square one that is in your CP3 right now. The software/firmware on it will allow you to do certain things you could not do previously IF you have additional software which will take advantage of it.

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I really find it interesting that people are complaining about the cost of this chip. If $80 is too much for you then don't upgrade, but don't complain about the price. It is very reasonable considering the price of these mounts. -Ray Gralak

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Ray, if you read my post, I deemed $80 as expensive and decided not to upgrade. Not complaining, just want to understand the price. Hopefully someone will post the chip details when they get it.

BTW, price of mount has nothing to do with the price of the chip.

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That's not what I said. I said the price of the chip is inexpensive compared to the price of the mount. The cost of the chip includes the physical cost of the chip, labor to program it, and the amortized cost of its development. Again, no one is forcing you to buy it. If you are happy with the firmware you have then that's great.

-Ray

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I really find it interesting that people are complaining about the cost of this chip. If $80 is too much for you then don't upgrade, but don't complain about the price. It is very reasonable considering the price of these mounts. -Ray Gralak

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Ray, if you read my post, I deemed $80 as expensive and decided not to upgrade. Not complaining, just want to understand the price. Hopefully someone will post the chip details when they get it.

BTW, price of mount has nothing to do with the price of the chip.

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Not sure what you mean by "chip details when they get it". I can tell you that it won't look any different than the square one that is in your CP3 right now. The software/firmware on it will allow you to do certain things you could not do previously IF you have additional software which will take advantage of it.

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Some of the additional software is free and already available. The V2 ASCOM driver takes advantage of many of the new commands, the most significant of which are those that can read the mount state. So, without initializing the mount the ASCOM driver will know the complete state of the mount. If another application or the keypad changes the mount state, the driver will now see the change and diaplay it. There is a new command that will prevent the mount from tracking after a power cycle, thus preventing one common case of the mount "getting lost" or losing pointing accuracy. Other improvements and refinements have been made to improve accuracy and robustness when tracking, slewing and parking.

-Ray

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BTW, price of mount has nothing to do with the price of the chip.

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Other improvements and refinements have been made to improve accuracy and robustness when tracking, slewing and parking. -Ray

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What I find fascinating is the consumer psyche where people will pay tens of thousands of dollars on hardware, but consider $100 for some software to use it to its full capabilities too expensive.

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Other improvements and refinements have been made to improve accuracy and robustness when tracking, slewing and parking. -Ray

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Ray, where can one find the details of these accuracy improvements?

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I'm not sure that you can, but I gave you one example... that is the power cycle scenario. If the mount was not parked the accuracy of the RA position can be compromised. That's because there is usually a non-zero time between the time power is applied and mount initialization. This causes an error in RA position equal to the time it takes to initialize the mount. The error doesn't happen if you park the mount but can anyway if power is unexpectedly lost or an application unknowingly starts tracking after the mount was parked.

-Ray

Edited by Ray Gralak (11/23/12 12:59 AM)

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My 20 minute exposures at 2800mm look much better than my 5 minute 800mm ones ever did on the Atlas.

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