×

INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

iOptron GotoNova alignment

  • Posts: 55
  • Thank you received: 3
Hello,

I was testing if I could use EKOS to control an old iOptron MiniTower2 the other day.  Connected the laptop to the handset and the handset to the mount.  The mount connected fine and when I told it to do a star align, it went in roughly the right direction, saw that it was not there and then for the correction went waaaaayyyy off.  Strange thing was that when I told it to Park, it would not go to the same position that it started in (it went to a completely strange position).  Even after I purged the parking configuration & mount model on EKOS.

Is the problem the handset, as in, do I need to clear alignment on the handset and then drive it with EKOS?  Or do I need to align with the handset first and then connect EKOS (the problem with that is visual alignment probably won't be as accurate as EKOS alignment would be, and its a faff to replace a diagonal and EP w a camera and refocus for an EAA session)?

Thank you!
2 years 1 month ago #80252

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 1
  • Thank you received: 1
Tonight I figured out that when Stellarmate connects to the Minitower II mount it overrides the time and the hand controller gets its time changed from say 22:15:00 EDT to 2:15:00 (the UTC time), and if the mount is not parked (say because you did an alignment with the handset), the mount immediately swivels 4 hours west. Clouds arrived shortly after this discovery so I wasn't able to determine if a goto from Stellarmate would get to the correct target or instead send the scope pointing to where the target will be in 4 hours. Should be clear in two days and will see what I can find out. I see in the driver docs to turn off DST on the hand controller and I did that first.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Vin
1 year 6 months ago #86614

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Please share the mount logs (look at my signature on how to generate the logs).
1 year 6 months ago #86615

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 55
  • Thank you received: 3

Replied by Vin on topic iOptron GotoNova alignment

I think you may have cottoned on to what's happening. I haven't tried to get Ekos to control my Minitower2 since then, but I do remember that after the first astrometry, it would keep slewing way off towards the west (always by the same amount in any session). And for park also it went west. So maybe something in the clock is what's causing it. It would be great if SM/Ekos could also control an MT2! Cheers.
1 year 2 months ago #89435

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.729 seconds