6 replies to this topic

[francomeconi]

Hi everyone, I recently installed my new (second hand) Losmandy G11 mount (running on Gemini 1v4) on my home observatory. I've been having a very difficult time trying to get it to confidently do automated meridian flips with the legacy sequencer in NINA. After reading up on several forums and groups, I read that in order to configure this correctly, there are several parameters one has to set both in the Gemini 1 and in NINA. The issue I'm facing is that after setting these parameters NINA will actually give the flip command but it'll get stuck in an endless flip command loop, and as soon as it finishes, insted of resuming imaging, it will again run the flip command sequence, although the telescope has already flipped (thankfully it won't flip back risking the tube crashing into the pier, it'll just stay in the flipped position on the east side of the pier, but the imaging won't resume).

 

To make things worse, there are a couple of things complicating the situation. For one, I'm in the southern hemisphere, so as far as I could read and learn, my settings on my mount have to be reversed (so I should input the east limit on the west limit field and vice versa), which makes trying to follow instructions very confusing. Also, the side of pier reported by the mount as shown by nina is always incorrect, which makes me wonder if that is making the problem worse (it reports EAST when my telescope is on the west side of the pier, and viceversa). I have tried disabling "use side of pier" in the settings in NINA but this hasn´t helped. 

 

My current limits are 95 degrees both east and west, and my "western goto limit" is at 5 degrees. I also tried it at 0 and at 90 but this didn't solve the issue. I have very conservative limits because unfortunately having the RA motor on the right of the mount (facing the pole) this makes my western limit very small (normally a problem reserved for the easter limit for users in the northern hemisphere). I have also tweaked the NINA settings within a reasonable range of values, including the wait for meridian setting, but nothing seems to work and I will get into the infinite meridian flip command loop in NINA.

 

Like I said, I tried fine tuning all the parameters but nothing seems to work. NINA will send the flip command, wait, re center, wait, and then start over again.

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[D_talley]

Just want to make sure, you have switched the G11 to Southern using the N/S switch in the control box?

[francomeconi]

Hi Dwight, not sure what switch you're referring to, an actual physical switch inside the Gemini 1 aluminum controll box? I was not aware that there is one and have not seen this in the user manual, I believe the mount "knows" it's in the Southern hemisphere once you set your lat and long and timezone. Additionally, I've had no issues with the mount tracking correctly, so I would say that it does know that it is in the Southern hemisphere, at least as far as sidereal tracking direction is concerned. I've actually been using it for astrophotgraphy with no issues. My only problem is this specific configuration for meridian flips in NINA.

[rkaufmann87]

You mentioned that you tried some forums however  you were not specific as to what forums those may be.

 

I also wanted to step in a mention the Gemini forum. This is for Gemini-2 forum however, I also believe there is a Gemini-1 forum too but I don't know the address. I suspect the settings would be the same though.

 

https://groups.io/g/Gemini-II/

 

This is where the majority of Gemini gurus hang out, I have seen numerous users post there where they had similar issues but as far as I could  tell, once they got their settings setup correctly in NINA and Gemini their Meridian Flip issues went away. 

[francomeconi]

Thanks Roger! Just subscribed to the Gemini Forum, will post there as well. Yes, I'm pretty sure this is a config/settings issue, it's just really frustrating because I've been trying to solve it for about 10 days now with no success...  

[davidmalanick]

Thanks Roger! Just subscribed to the Gemini Forum, will post there as well. Yes, I'm pretty sure this is a config/settings issue, it's just really frustrating because I've been trying to solve it for about 10 days now with no success...  

There is also a Losmandy Forum. Here is a link to a topic that has the link for the meridian flip spreadsheet. https://groups.io/g/...408028#msg82077 . You input your info, and it will tell you what to enter in NINA. Just needs Western Safety Limit and Desired Meridian Flip Time entered.

[francomeconi]

Wow David sounds like this is just what I needed! Just donwloaded it and am looking forward to trying it tonight. The only thing that gives me doubts is if there are any settings that should be changed considering I'm in the southern hemisphere. For instance, gemini will report the opposite side of pier. When my telescope is on the west, it will report east (which would actually be correct if my mount was pointing north instead of south). 

 

Thanks again!