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Celestron AVX - bypass manual interaction on start up

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I've been using a mach1 so I'm spoiled. I just turn it on and go. But I just picked up a AVX and not really used it yet (it's for travel). I suspect that if you use the hibernate feature after alignment. You can then just polar align and come out of hibernate then a plate solve should align. I won't get experience with it until late spring. I too hate HC... I don't even have one for my mach1. It's always balls on target. I don't have a manual for the AVX since I bought it used from a local friend I met online... but read up on the hibernate function I've seen in the menu.
AP Mach1 / CP4 APCC & PEMpro.
EXP SCI - ED152cf APO - Celestron 11" RASA - Stellarvue 80mm
Baader F2 HS NB filters, Lodestar X2 guide camera / OAG - ZWO 290mm mini
ZWO ASI1600MM Pro / ASI174M (solar) / ASI094MC
NEXDome, CLoudwatcher, AVX mount/ASIair and Stellarmate

The following user(s) said Thank You: Craig
Last edit: 5 years 3 weeks ago by Ron Kramer.
5 years 3 weeks ago #36136

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@RON KRAMER I will give it a try. need to check if I can command hibernate from ekos and if hibernate survives through a power cycle. It's a pity...
Current gear:
- AVX
- E8HD + ASI294MC
- Celestron 150x30 + ASI224 for guiding
- Celestron Focuser for harp stars

SW:
- Linux NUC + Ubuntu + INDI nightly on the server
- Linux Ubuntu + KSTARS nightly on the client (via CAT5 wire)
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5 years 2 weeks ago #36141

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I've been looking at this and the hibernate/wake up commands are in the driver and partially implemented. Hibernate seems to work but generates errors.
After that power cycling shows the wake up prompt on the HC.

Wake up is attempted at start up - in the handshake code - but that's really too early and it generates errors which cause the driver to think there's no mount attached.
I'm going to shelve this while I look at the focuser issues but can see no fundamental reason why hibernate - power cycle - wake up can't be done without touching the HC.

Recovery from a power failure may be more of an issue without any way to determine what the initial position is.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jasem Mutlaq, Craig, Ron Kramer
5 years 2 weeks ago #36147

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YES you can power down the mount - move it - reset it to the pole and unhibernate and it will be retained. (not sure what you use to unhibernate?) check the manual. (let me know) you choose quick? or last alignment? Not gotten into fine tuning that portable setup yet - to cold and to much snow here.
AP Mach1 / CP4 APCC & PEMpro.
EXP SCI - ED152cf APO - Celestron 11" RASA - Stellarvue 80mm
Baader F2 HS NB filters, Lodestar X2 guide camera / OAG - ZWO 290mm mini
ZWO ASI1600MM Pro / ASI174M (solar) / ASI094MC
NEXDome, CLoudwatcher, AVX mount/ASIair and Stellarmate

5 years 2 weeks ago #36170

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THANKS - I'm a PLUS 1 on this. I hate the HC and would prefer not even plugging it in, but it needs it as a interface for the usb port. = ( My mach1 is erroring at handshake in Ekos with experimental driver as well. Wondering it it too needs more time for the mount to respond. IT connected fine last night. But errors today and (the day before yesterday). Without changes... buggy? or maybe a weak USB connection. I'll trace it and see if I can bypass hubs and go direct to PC if I can.
AP Mach1 / CP4 APCC & PEMpro.
EXP SCI - ED152cf APO - Celestron 11" RASA - Stellarvue 80mm
Baader F2 HS NB filters, Lodestar X2 guide camera / OAG - ZWO 290mm mini
ZWO ASI1600MM Pro / ASI174M (solar) / ASI094MC
NEXDome, CLoudwatcher, AVX mount/ASIair and Stellarmate

The following user(s) said Thank You: Craig
Last edit: 5 years 2 weeks ago by Ron Kramer.
5 years 2 weeks ago #36171

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I've found is that it's possible to hibernate and wake up including a power cycle. It seems to work well. and I've managed to implement this in the Celestron GPS driver.

But starting from cold, with no previous alignment is more difficult.
There is a Last Align command which will restore a previous alignment. That works well but relies on the mount being at the align position. The CGX and CGX-L mounts have home switches that allow the mount to be returned to the home position and there are commands that I think will do that. But I don't have one of those mounts so can't test.

I know that people would like to do an alignment with a mount which doesn't have home switches but I'm unhappy about that. If people don't understand the problems and expect that a mount will be aligned from where ever it is then it could easily be damaged by running into an unexpected hard stop such as a camera. I don't want people complaining about broken hardware. They already make enough fuss if they loose a few hours of imaging time because of what they perceive as software issues.

What I'd like to do is implement remote alignment only for mounts with home switches. I believe it's possible to be safe with those. I don't think it's practical with a mount without home switches.

What I really need is someone with a CGX or CGX-L mount who could test some of this.

Chris
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5 years 2 weeks ago #36307

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Wow Chris, a lot of folks would love that! Maybe (just a thought) this could be enabled for non-home-switch mounts if the user explicitly consents to this feature while getting hearty long warning message? But I'll ask around as well if there are users willing to test this.
5 years 2 weeks ago #36323

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Thanks Jasem,
I realised this is Linux so if a user wants to bypass the check they can edit the code - simply comment out the check and rebuild.

How would I get a dire warning message to the user and get a confirmation back? Strictly speaking the driver has no UI, it's delegated to the application.

For testing what is needed is a user with a CGM or CGM-L mount and a willingness to send me debug logs.
5 years 2 weeks ago #36327

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Chris,

I have a CGX. Not sure how much help I could be, but I would like to see a more automated initial setup. Let me know.
5 years 2 weeks ago #36361

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It would be great if you can test.
This is what I need:
  • Install the latest version of indi. The new version should be built now.
  • Enable driver debug and save to file.
  • Connect to the scope
  • Check the Celestron driver has a Hibernate option and ensure this is enabled.
    This is where you need to be careful because I expect that your mount will move.
  • Click on the Align button in the main control tab. The mount should move to the index switch positions.
    It should then report that it is aligned. The declination will be 90 deg and the Ra depend on the hour angle. Slews to objects should be close to where they should be.
  • Obviously keep an eye on it to ensure that it isn't going to run into anything hard. I test with a naked mount, no OTA or counterweights so it can run freely in both axes but I'm not sure if the CGX will do that.

This should work with a mount that is running and already aligned or after the mount has been powered on from cold regardless of where it is pointed.

In all cases PLEASE send me the log files. There should be useful ones in ~/.indi/logs/<date>/indi_celestron_gps as well as the usual ones. I would far rather have too many logs, they compress well.

Park and Unpark should also work and you should be able to cycle the power between them.
5 years 2 weeks ago #36383

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The attached log files are from a couple of short test. I made sure that the Hibernate option was enabled, but was not able to locate an Align option. The set up was the latest nightly builds, Celestron CGX selected as the driver, and standard logging. To verify, the Align button will be located on the INDI Control panel under Celestron GPS - Main Control?

Also, I was not able to generate log files at ~/.indi/logs/<date>/indi_celestron_gps. I will need more instructions for how to do that.
5 years 2 weeks ago #36428
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Regarding the logs, I think once you enable logs in Ekos (with mount checked) then those are all that is required.
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5 years 2 weeks ago #36431

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