Hello everyone, this is my 1st post and I hope I am not asking a question that has an answer already. I did check but nothing seemed to hit this problem on the head. I guide perfectly with the Maxim box ticked that allows maxim to find the star. When the scope dithers the fist guide results show the guide error out about the amount of the dither. Then it quickly reduces the error down to an acceptable error and starts the next frame. When it gets to the 3rd photo the errors are too large for it to solve the problem in X. When it dithers in Y it does not even attempt to correct.

I have tried to do the dithering without the maxim box ticked and CCD Autopilot as the dither program and the guiding on the 1st photo is week but accptable but on the second it is out of control.

I am on a paramount me and using sky 6. It has to be something simple. By the way if I don't dither then maxim does an extremly good job of guiding with CCDAP.

Thanks, and if I did not mention it my observatory is remote in the Atacama desert in Chile. So what ever you suggest if it is not software related does take time to make it happen.

Atacama Andy

Hi Andy,

Please post a log file. It is hard to diagnose without one but one thing to look at is your min. and max. move settings in Maxim.

Thanks John, but after spending ten minutes trying to figure out how to get the log. I decided to ask you to tell me how to do that. As its not in the help menu or in your instructions at the beginning of this forum????

Andy

Hi Andy,

The log files are located in a folder called "CCDAutoPilot Logs" in the folder specified on the Options Tab in the Data Storage section. Look in there and post the latest log file in the folder. HTH .....

In the help file, go to command summary/options/data storage. Or you could type "log" in the help file search box.

Where the log file depends on where you specified your image folders.

Here you go. I attached them all.

Andy

CCDAutoPilot_Logs.rar (130 KB, 6 downloads)

Hi Andy,

I am currently traveling and my laptop doesn't have a .rar archive opener. Either please repost in a .zip or I will look into it when I return to the office next Monday.

Thanks.

John I got it to work. It was actually the ascom setting in MaximDl that was causing the problem. Once I set it to pulse everything started to work fine. I am using maxim to select my star, still can't get CCDAP to do it. Any idea what might be causing that problem

Andy

Hi Andy,

Sending me an archive of 46(!) logs is a bit overhwhelming so I'll comment on the most recent log: ccdap20091026_214449.log

1. Your min. guide exposure is too short - you will chase seeing. A reasonable minimum when not using AO is 3 sec.
2. Your max. guide exposure can be considerably longer, depending on your Paramount. You should be able to go at least 8 sec.
3. Since you have an 8-bit guider, the maximum signal is 255. This limits the dynamic range between the noise floor and the peak signal. I suggest you set your target guide exposure at something like 200 to avoid trying to guide on a saturated star.
4. Letting Maxim choose the guide star is appropriate with 8-bit guiders since Maxim has access to internal optimization that I do not have in CCDAP.
5. I am not sure what you mean by setting Maxim to "pulse". You should use camera relays with a Paramount.

Due to the limited dynamic range of 8-bit guide cameras, automated imaging can be problematic. You may need to do some experimentation to achieve reliable results.

Thank-you John I will give this all a try

Andy

Hi John, I tried to run sky flats this morning unattended and I got a bunch of errors one being the mount hit its stop over the night. Here is the log.

Andy

ccdap20091104_230447.log (8 KB, 6 downloads)

Hi Andy,

According to your log, tracking was not able to be turned on. Try using the test buttons on the tools menu to confirm tracking can be externally controlled for your mount. See the Help file, Command Summary/Tools "Test Buttons"

Exposure failures were due to a problem with Maxim. See the Help file, Troubleshooting/Techniques "When things don't go as expected". I suspect you had more than one instance of Maxim running.

John I solved that problem, but I am now getting a lock-up about 3 hours into my sequences. It has happened two nights in a row. Again I have attached a log for your perusal. Any idea why it would freeze-up? I am using NT, 4Gigs of ram and a dual core. Seems like lots of memory and it operates fine until it locks up. Also the script to open and close works great, but the open command opens when the sequence starts. But is a bit fast and the clamshell is not completely open. I would like to delay the start time by a few minutes while the clamshell opens, but I can't see how. Also when the sequence is done the clamshell closes just fine, and it parks the scope. The problem is when a sequence needs to start later the scope is parked and the new sequence does not home the scope, and continues to fire commands at the paramount. Of course it is parked and won't move. How do we tell the mount to home before the beginning of the next sequence. The reason for this is I would like to program sequences for mulitple days. Open home sequence park close, and the next night do the same. Right now I can only run a sequence for one night and once the scope parks the program needs to be shut down and restarted to start a new sequence. Thats not what I expected???

Andy

ccdap20091108_000405.log (29 KB, 5 downloads)

Hi Andy,

If you look at the log, Maxim stops responding to calls starting around 00:56:39. This could be almost anything from a camera driver problem to a bad USB cable or hub. When this lock-up occurred, what was Maxim's state? Could you take an exposure with Maxim? I bet you couldn't, indicating a driver/hardware issue.

When you say home, I assume you are talking about a Paramount. If so, you only need to home on initial power up. If you park, as while waiting for a target to get in position for example, CCDAP will unpark and initiate tracking as needed automatically. No further homing is needed. This is also true if you leave the mount powered up from one day to the next. I do this routinely for an automatic system running remotely. If you power down the mount between days, simply select Home on Link from the Telescope/Options/More Settings box for the ME.

If you want to delay the start until after the dome is open, simply add a cooler start delay on the Options page. The session will wait for the desired period of time before continuing on.

quote:

John I solved that problem, but I am now getting a lock-up about 3 hours into my sequences

Maxim 5 seems to have an issue with automated software and can hang. In the options under Setup, you can check download image on abort. Not sure if that is a related issue but this seems to fix a number of other items that can go wrong with Mxim 5