Just started using AP3 today. Am attempting to cause my paramount to make an automatic meridian flip as a target crosses the meridian. Have read help. I am doing this during the day, so no imaging or autoguiding with ccd is taking place. However, both ccdsoft and sky are active and ap3 is connected to both. I have tested park and track buttons succesfully and confirmed park and change in noise during change in tracking. I have meridian flip checked. I have set the flip delay to 1 minute. I have the unguided tracking set to adjust the position every 1 minute, (since I'm not using the ccd autoguider). It appears that this is happening based on brief appearance of hourglass on sky screen.

As object moves across the meridian in Sky6, no flip occurs. The object moves several (at least 5) minutes with no flip. Is a longer or shorter (0) delay required with a paramount? OR more likely, since this is my first try, am I missing something that is intuitively obvious to all others??!!

Hi Ken,

CCDAP3 controls the mount in conjunction with a camera control program. Since they work together, unless CCDAP3 has a specific target, I don't think it is going to flip the mount, as it doesn't have any RA/DEC coordinates to "goto" on the other side of the meridian. You may be able to do this with the simulator and see it flip, but John would have to be the one to give the definitive answer on this one. I have my "Flip Delay" set to 2 min and my "Meridian Tracking" set to 12 min. This will let the Paramount track up to (if needed) 12 min past the meridian to finish an exposure if required. Otherwise, it will flip at about the 2 min mark after crossing. HTH .......

Thanks for the input. I do have a target selected in AP3 and slewed to this target from AP3 not sky6. I watched sky6 move and center on the target. The scope moved to the proper location and tracked the target.

I'll set up sky and ccdsoft to 'simulator' and see what happens. Thanks!

I've never tried this with my ME and I'm not sure you can successfully test this during the day. Your target coordinates are normally entered via a plate solve at the start of a run and of course you can't do a plate solve. As a result, I suspect your target coordinates may be RA = 0, Dec = 0.

In any case, please post a log of one of your tests.

Don't forget to post that log! Many times we can tell something from it.

JohnZ:

Why would target coordinates come from a plate solve before the run starts? I selected the target from AP3 by typing in the name of the object and clicking get. I highlighted it in the target list and clicked slew to. Sky6 moved the telescope to the proper location and continued to track it. HOWEVER, was it really sky6 tracking the target on its own after the initial AP3 move, rather than AP3 telling sky6 what to do (track the object)? Interesting?

I'll try this exercise again soon AND click save log. It's unclicked at this point and I suspect not saved??

I've been thinking some more. (weakening the nation)!

I think that nothing actually happened from within AP3 after the initial slew from AP3. I did not click run session. No logs were created, at least I couldn't find them. I think I was just watching sky6 run the paramount and I know that the sky6 and the paramount CANNOT execute a meridian flip on their own.

Oh well, I guess I have to wait for a clear sky. UGH.

I guess I'm confused. There can not be a meridian flip except during the course of a run. If you didn't start a run, what are you expecting to happen? Did you use the Slew To Target button on the Targets page?

To summarize, an automated meridian flip happens only during the course of a session being run, which of course generates a session log.