Last night I was imaging M78 over its transit. As the time for transit approached, the sequence paused waiting for transit. After transit, the rotator moved to the correct new position, then the mount slewed to the west of the meridian, took a plate solve image and then slewed back to the east (I was out there watching this all happen). The problem was that it did not move the rotator back but started to image in the flipped camera orientation. Needless to say this was not a big success. I aborted the run and waited a minute then ran it again and it again went to the east in the flipped orientation. I aborted again and waited a couple of minutes and put the mount in coutnerweight down position and ran the sequence and it worked fine.
I am assuming that it is operator error somehow in one of my settings, but I am not sure which one.

ccdap20080225_190039.log (10 KB, 70 downloads)

What kind of mount are you using?

I am using a MI-250 mount with Gemini Level 4.

John,

I responded with my mount, but i didn't hear back for you today?

Chris

Hi Chris,

Does the Gemini have safety zones ? You had the flip set for 1 min after crossing, could this be too tight a tolerance for the Gemini and your MI-250? Could you try letting the mount track 5 to 6 min past the meridian before the flip ? I have my Paramount set to go 12 min past the meridian before it flips as I know the hard stops are at approx 15 min. This will usually let me maximize my zenith exposure times.

Thanks, Frank. I wondered about that. It can go past the meridan about 10 minutes. I will try 4 minutes first and go up if need be.