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Will Ekos make the mount do a meridian flip?

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Will Ekos make the mount do a meridian flip? was created by David Allmon

Forgive my ignorance. I just got my first real GEM and I don't know anything about it. Losmandy mount.

The question is: if the mount is tracking and gets in the area the mount has set for limits, will it do a flip automagically, or does it have to be forced on the mount itself? Or in Ekos?

I ask because when the mount takes off in a completely wrong direction at slewing speed, it hits the set limits of the mount, stops and beeps. (There are nuances I haven't figured out yet)
Last edit: 1 year 2 days ago by David Allmon.
1 year 2 days ago #92425

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Replied by Dan Sawyer on topic Will Ekos make the mount do a meridian flip?

Good question. There are 3 independent controls working, EKOS, the Kstars mount driver, and the actual mount controller. The EKOS Mount window has a flip control section. I will be interested to see if there are others who experience the 'master' to be the driver.
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1 year 2 days ago #92427

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Replied by Frederick Ruegsegger on topic Will Ekos make the mount do a meridian flip?

David,

I don't have your mount but there is some guidance on meridian flip settings on the driver page (under the heading Main Control): www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/telescopes/losmandy.html.

Not sure if that corresponds to the mount you have but hope it helps.

Cheers
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1 year 2 days ago #92430

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Replied by David Allmon on topic Will Ekos make the mount do a meridian flip?

Well,

I set the scope on the west side, pointing east, about 30 minutes from the meridian flip, and let it track. It flipped just like it should - east side pointing west. Then half an hour later I did a goto to a star on the east side, and it flipped back, just as it should. However, the logs say something else happened.
[2023-04-26T16:31:04.250 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Meridian flip planned with LST= "06h 21m 12s"  scope RA= "06h 01m 11s"  ha= 0.333572 , meridian diff= 0.333333 , hrstoFlip= -0.000239039 , flipDelayHrs= 0 ,  "Pier Side: West (pointing East)"
[2023-04-26T16:31:04.250 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Setting meridian flip status to  "MOUNT_FLIP_PLANNED"
[2023-04-26T16:31:04.250 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Setting meridian flip status to  "MOUNT_FLIP_WAITING"
[2023-04-26T16:31:04.251 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Setting meridian flip status to  "MOUNT_FLIP_ACCEPTED"
[2023-04-26T16:31:04.251 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - "Meridian flip ready to start..."
[2023-04-26T16:31:05.250 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Meridian flip: slewing to RA= "06h 01m 11s" DEC= " 44° 57' 03\""  Hour Angle  "00h 01m 20s"
[2023-04-26T16:31:05.250 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Setting meridian flip status to  "MOUNT_FLIP_RUNNING"
[2023-04-26T16:31:05.250 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - "Meridian flip running..."
[2023-04-26T16:31:05.252 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.align] - Target coordinates updated to JNow RA: "06h 01m 11s" DE: " 44° 57' 03\""
[2023-04-26T16:31:05.252 MST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ISD:Telescope sending coords RA: "06h 01m 11s" ( 6.01972 ) DE: " 44° 57' 03\"" ( 44.9508 )
[2023-04-26T16:31:05.309 MST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Losmandy Gemini :  "[INFO] Slewing to RA:  6:01:11 - DEC: 44:57:03 "
[2023-04-26T16:31:05.569 MST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Losmandy Gemini :  "[INFO] Slew is complete. Tracking... "
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.251 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Slew finished, MFStatus  "MOUNT_FLIP_RUNNING"
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.251 MST WARN ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Meridian flip failed, pier side not changed
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.252 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - "meridian flip failed, retrying in 4 minutes"
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.252 MST INFO ][   org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "meridian flip failed, retrying in 4 minutes"
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.252 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Setting meridian flip status to  "MOUNT_FLIP_COMPLETED"
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.252 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - "Meridian flip completed."
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.252 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - "Telescope completed the meridian flip."
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.252 MST INFO ][   org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "Telescope completed the meridian flip."
[2023-04-26T16:31:06.252 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reset non guiding dithering position
[2023-04-26T16:31:07.249 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Setting meridian flip status to  "MOUNT_FLIP_NONE"

The errors are repeated from 16:31:04 to 17:08:52 every four minutes (over 30 minutes). At 19:13:51 I did the cross-meridian slew, and it doesn't show in the logs, only the MOUNT_FLIP_NONE line shows up:
[2023-04-26T19:13:50.966 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.align] - Target coordinates updated to JNow RA: "13h 24m 54s" DE: " 54° 48' 17\""
[2023-04-26T19:13:50.967 MST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ISD:Telescope sending coords RA: "13h 24m 54s" ( 13.4149 ) DE: " 54° 48' 17\"" ( 54.8046 )
[2023-04-26T19:13:51.033 MST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Losmandy Gemini :  "[INFO] Slewing to RA: 13:24:54 - DEC: 54:48:17 "
[2023-04-26T19:13:51.250 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Mount status changed from  "Tracking"  to  "Slewing"
[2023-04-26T19:13:51.250 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - "Mount is moving. Resetting calibration..."
[2023-04-26T19:13:51.251 MST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - "Calibration is cleared."
[2023-04-26T19:14:27.333 MST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Losmandy Gemini :  "[INFO] Slew is complete. Tracking... "
[2023-04-26T19:14:28.256 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Mount status changed from  "Slewing"  to  "Tracking"
[2023-04-26T19:14:28.257 MST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.mount] - Slew finished, MFStatus  "MOUNT_FLIP_NONE"

It looks to me like the first flip was performed by Ekos, and the second one by the Losmandy Gemini. I could be reading it wrong, but the docs Frederick pointed me to say that is what should happen.

Thanks go to Frederick and Dan for steering me the right direction.
Last edit: 1 year 2 days ago by David Allmon.
1 year 2 days ago #92432

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Replied by James Amendolagine on topic Will Ekos make the mount do a meridian flip?

I've updated the meridian flip to be able to use a new "force flip" feature. So far this is only available for the Losmandy/Gemini driver but could be made available to other drivers if the mount supports the feature. It is in the nightly builds now, and will hopefully make it to the next release.

To enable got to settings->configure kstars->ekos->capture-tab and select "use flip command if supported by mount"

Once you do this the mount will be sent a command that requests not just a slew, but a flip as well. The mount will not need to pay attention to the "west, or east goto limits", but will just flip as long as the flip will result in a position that is within the safety limits.

Jamie
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11 months 4 days ago #93055

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