18 replies to this topic

[JayRuhMe]

Howdy!

 

I just got my AA+ in last week and finally got some time with it over the weekend. Being new to AP I'm impressed with the potential for this device to be really cool, but so far I've been unable to use it for a session. The PA feature is neat, but I trust my manual method better for now I think. The plate solving is kinda cool and really helps locate things in sky for me. I have a manual Sky Guider Pro so every bit helps. I also see some benefit in using mobile devices for control as well, keeps me out of the weather (well, at some point). 

 

Here's the issue: 

 

I get everything ready... PA is good, I pick a target, set the plan, get guiding going, all systems go... then when I start the plan it gets stuck on "uncentered, retry #xxx". I have no idea what this means and am hoping someone here has seen this issue. I have also tried different iterations of no guide camera or mount enabled, but the AA+ will complain about it and ask to turn it back on. 

 

 

I've tried asking for support, posting to their forums, searching the internet, not getting any responses. Am I missing something here?

 

<Edit> I've also tried "tricking" the positioning with a manual target position, it makes no difference. 

 

 

 

 

J

Edited by JayRuhMe, 24 January 2022 - 07:35 PM.

[DeepSky Di]

The AAP wants to move the mount to center on the target. It can't if it's a manual mount.

 

With a goto mount, I have seen this message when using an SCT and planetary camera. The field of view is too small for plate solve to work. If lined up on the planet I just cancel this dialog and start the autorun, and that works because it does not require plate solve. However the plan feature allows you to go to different targets. I'm guessing plan may not work with a manual mount. Did you try autorun rather than plan, to work on a single target?

[Baron von Smoogle]

You're getting that message because the Skyguider cannot slew the mount, especially in DEC since there is no DEC motor.  I am almost positive you need a goto mount to use PLAN since it will want to slew the mount which, again, the Skyguider cannot do.

I always used Autorun or Live.  If using Live, ensure you tell it to save all subs.  If you don't it will only save the stack.

Edited by Baron von Smoogle, 24 January 2022 - 08:44 PM.

[JayRuhMe]

Thanks DJL!

 

I feel like a fool, but am glad someone pointed this out. I watched several videos of folks going through the setup of the AA+ and everyone used "Plan". I thought about "autorun" last night, but I was out of time and patience for the evening. I spent the majority of my time trying to get the target centered, like you mentioned. I was bouncing back and forth between aligning the target and plate solving. What threw me off was that I was able to get M45 pretty well centered in and identified in the app, but it still gave me that error. 

 

I just powered everything up and used "autorun", it's doing it's thing!!!! So excited! 

 

Clear Skies!

 

J

[crowley213]

Hmm, maybe I miss something, but do I understand correctly that you want to have your mount go to a specific / defined target?

 

How should that work? Your mount can only move in the RA axis, not the DEC axis!

 

I also have the AA+, using it with a SA 2i, and the only functions I (can) use is PA, Auto Guiding and video.

 

By the way, PA with the AA+ is way more comfortable and exact than doing it with my polar scope, but that’s just me.

 

But again, maybe I miss here something.

 

Herbert

[JayRuhMe]

Hmm, maybe I miss something, but do I understand correctly that you want to have your mount go to a specific / defined target?

 

How should that work? Your mount can only move in the RA axis, not the DEC axis!

 

I also have the AA+, using it with a SA 2i, and the only functions I (can) use is PA, Auto Guiding and video.

 

By the way, PA with the AA+ is way more comfortable and exact than doing it with my polar scope, but that’s just me.

 

But again, maybe I miss here something.

 

Herbert

Nope! Just learned that the "plan" option is when you want to shoot multiple targets. You are correct and I'm very aware about no DEC. I remember every time I spend 20 minutes trying to center a target

[Baron von Smoogle]

Crowley213 said"By the way, PA with the AA+ is way more comfortable and exact than doing it with my polar scope, but that’s just me."

 

I agree.  I have not looked through my polar scope since I got the AA+.  No more gravel in the knees!!  Or banging the headlamp on the mount trying to get my eye close enough to the polar scope.

Edited by Baron von Smoogle, 24 January 2022 - 08:51 PM.

[Baron von Smoogle]

 I remember every time I spend 20 minutes trying to center a target

I also spent a huge amount of time trying to get a target in the FOV, let alone centered!  Then I found this video and had a friend with a Star Adventurer he had bent the DEC bracket on.

HOLY MACKEREL!!  What a difference it made!!!

 

https://www.youtube....PQUDjGuk&t=338s

[JayRuhMe]

 

Crowley213 said"By the way, PA with the AA+ is way more comfortable and exact than doing it with my polar scope, but that’s just me."

 

I agree.  I have not looked through my polar scope since I got the AA+.  No more gravel in the knees!!  Or banging the headlamp on the mount trying to get my eye close enough to the polar scope.

 

Here's my problem with the PA- it's a trust issue. I went through the process, rotated it 20 degrees, and another 20 degrees (or what looked like 20 degrees), but I saw weird things on the screen. 

 

It seemed that I would get the yellow circle almost inside the target reticle and the whole screen would "refresh" and throw the yellow circle far away from the target reticle. I did notice that one time after it did that there was a "finish" button in the bottom. Maybe I had missed that before. What was disappointing was that my PA score was only better than 18% of other users. 

 

I really want the PA feature to work, but I need use it before a short session to make sure it tracks well I guess. Fingers crossed for tomorrow! 

 

J

[JayRuhMe]

I also spent a huge amount of time trying to get a target in the FOV, let alone centered!  Then I found this video and had a friend with a Star Adventurer he had bent the DEC bracket on.

HOLY MACKEREL!!  What a difference it made!!!

 

https://www.youtube....PQUDjGuk&t=338s

What's funny is that I had the SkyWatcher Pro2i with that Dec bracket. I miss it dearly. Long-story-short... thought it had a FW issue, upgraded the FW, bricked the unit. Turned out the tracking issue was due to metal shavings in the gear box. 

[crowley213]

Here's my problem with the PA- it's a trust issue. I went through the process, rotated it 20 degrees, and another 20 degrees (or what looked like 20 degrees), but I saw weird things on the screen. 

 

It seemed that I would get the yellow circle almost inside the target reticle and the whole screen would "refresh" and throw the yellow circle far away from the target reticle. I did notice that one time after it did that there was a "finish" button in the bottom. Maybe I had missed that before. What was disappointing was that my PA score was only better than 18% of other users. 

 

I really want the PA feature to work, but I need use it before a short session to make sure it tracks well I guess. Fingers crossed for tomorrow! 

 

J
 

With a smile in my face... I trust my eyes more when looking at the PA process in the ASIAIR app on my iPad than when looking in whatever uncomfortable position through my polar scope! In my case it's also a little more difficult as my latitude is just about 20.5 degrees, means I also may face the topic of atmospheric refraction.

 

Hmm, why do you rotate in increments of 20 degrees? I rotate once between 60 and 90 degrees and that works fine. Sometimes I do a double check and start he process again when done from the actual position (means reversed) and the results are normally quite similar.

 

Your PA score depends a lot on the time you need to do your polar alignment, not just on how exact it is. But who cares how long we need? It's not a race... it's a journey!

 

Herbert

[JayRuhMe]

Hmm, why do you rotate in increments of 20 degrees? I rotate once between 60 and 90 degrees and that works fine. Sometimes I do a double check and start he process again when done from the actual position (means reversed) and the results are normally quite similar.

 

I rotate 20 degrees because that is what the AA+ was telling me to do when going through PA. 

 

Rotate 20, takes a picture, Rotate another 20, takes a picture, then alt-az adjustments.

 

I'm too new to this to be making up my own way of doing things! 

[crowley213]

I rotate 20 degrees because that is what the AA+ was telling me to do when going through PA. 

 

Rotate 20, takes a picture, Rotate another 20, takes a picture, then alt-az adjustments.

 

I'm too new to this to be making up my own way of doing things! 

Maybe have a look into these video, they explain a lot regarding auto guiding with our type of tracker and the ASIAIR:

 

https://www.youtube....X8s-bz0&index=1

 

https://www.youtube....X8s-bz0&index=2

 

https://www.youtube....X8s-bz0&index=3

 

Herbert

[crowley213]

What's funny is that I had the SkyWatcher Pro2i with that Dec bracket. I miss it dearly. Long-story-short... thought it had a FW issue, upgraded the FW, bricked the unit. Turned out the tracking issue was due to metal shavings in the gear box. 

That sounds interesting...! I will also "open" my SA 2i within the next days to see if I can figure out why there are such inconsistencies in the tracking accuracy.

 

Herbert

[drd715]

If you end up getting a 2 axis driven mount some day, one feature on the asiair is after the database target selection and a plate solving goto, you can then do a quick auto stretch image to ckeck framing.  Then just put your finger on the screen,  hold a few seconds and the asiair centers you there. Rotate your camera to best angle and run the auto capture sequence.   So much easier than hunting for framing with the hand controller (not remembering which button goes which way or how long to hold down the drive motor motion). 

[DeepSky Di]

Here's my problem with the PA- it's a trust issue. I went through the process, rotated it 20 degrees, and another 20 degrees (or what looked like 20 degrees), but I saw weird things on the screen. 

 

It seemed that I would get the yellow circle almost inside the target reticle and the whole screen would "refresh" and throw the yellow circle far away from the target reticle. I did notice that one time after it did that there was a "finish" button in the bottom. Maybe I had missed that before. What was disappointing was that my PA score was only better than 18% of other users. 

 

I really want the PA feature to work, but I need use it before a short session to make sure it tracks well I guess. Fingers crossed for tomorrow! 

 

J

PA score is not about your accuracy, it's about how long you took. PA racing may sound like a bad idea but sometimes competition can lead to improvements in efficiency. As long as you get the required accuracy, don't worry about the score.

[DeepSky Di]

Thanks DJL!

 

I feel like a fool, but am glad someone pointed this out. I watched several videos of folks going through the setup of the AA+ and everyone used "Plan". I thought about "autorun" last night, but I was out of time and patience for the evening. I spent the majority of my time trying to get the target centered, like you mentioned. I was bouncing back and forth between aligning the target and plate solving. What threw me off was that I was able to get M45 pretty well centered in and identified in the app, but it still gave me that error. 

 

I just powered everything up and used "autorun", it's doing it's thing!!!! So excited! 

 

Clear Skies!

 

J

Glad to help and don't worry everyone has "doh!" moments - https://www.cloudyni...inner-blunders/

[Baron von Smoogle]

Here's my problem with the PA- it's a trust issue. I went through the process, rotated it 20 degrees, and another 20 degrees (or what looked like 20 degrees), but I saw weird things on the screen. 

 

It seemed that I would get the yellow circle almost inside the target reticle and the whole screen would "refresh" and throw the yellow circle far away from the target reticle. I did notice that one time after it did that there was a "finish" button in the bottom. Maybe I had missed that before. What was disappointing was that my PA score was only better than 18% of other users. 

 

I really want the PA feature to work, but I need use it before a short session to make sure it tracks well I guess. Fingers crossed for tomorrow! 

 

J

I have never seen the 20 degree thing.  Mine has always said to rotate the mount 60 degrees. 

When I am doing a PA I always let the image update several times.  It is taking another image while I am moving the mount (auto-refresh is on) so I let it update with an image that is not moving.  Also when I am getting close I make pretty small corrections.  My PA is usually good enough that I could get 2 minute exposures from a mount rated at 11 pounds max with an 11 pound load.

I no longer use the Skyguider mount since I have 2 go-to mounts now but the ASIAir PA function is pretty **** awesome.

[JayRuhMe]

I have never seen the 20 degree thing.  Mine has always said to rotate the mount 60 degrees. 

 

I no longer use the Skyguider mount since I have 2 go-to mounts now but the ASIAir PA function is pretty **** awesome.

It was the new experimental "all sky" PA feature. I have since turned that off and am using the normal mode with great success. So much easier and tracks so well. I have my first go-to coming in tomorrow, the I-Optron GEM-28. I got tired of hunting for things in the sky and pulled the trigger. This mount will also let me grow into a more serious setup later on, so, worth the money. 

 

BTW- the ASIAir is busy working as we speak, and I couldn't be happier with its performance now that we've worked out the bugs. It's rock-solid for now.