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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

How to set park position with telescope pointing to nothern horizon

  • Posts: 31
  • Thank you received: 1
Hi,

I have built an "observatory in a box" (www.angelaschule-os.de/wie-noch-eine-sternwarte/) and hence have to define a park position where the telescope is pointing at the northern horizon (alt = 0°, az = 0°, counterweight bar leveled horizontally) in order to avoid collision with the roof. I am using a SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro mount. I have searched through older threads in the indilib.org forum and found that I need to slew the telescope to the desired position in the sky and set this as new park position. I have tried that procedure using the telescope simulator but found that as time procedes, the park position "moves with the stars" and changes over night. 

I am probably just missing something in my workflow. I am sure there are people out there who have done just what I need and can help me.

Thanks
Simon
Last edit: 3 years 4 days ago by Simon.
3 years 4 days ago #69138

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Hello Simon,

Glad to see another one who may have been inspired by my observatory .
For your home/park position, check out my setting the home or park position on a eq5  as it solved the exact issue you're having.
3 years 4 days ago #69168

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Hi Gonzothegreat!

Actually I have read your and Magnus Eriksen‘s Blog on how to build a box observatory quite extensively over the last years. Thanks for the documentation of your work. It is a great project and I had students of mine contribute some parts (Roof opening, motorised dust cover, ventilation and weather station).

The link you provided seems to explain how to precisely set a park position using the hand controller of the mount. I am not using the hand controller but only KStars/Ekos. I probably wasn‘t precise enough in my post. So I think my question is:

How do you define a park position where the telescope is pointing to the nothern horizon using KStars/Ekos.

Simon
3 years 4 days ago #69181

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hello Simon,

thanks, I had the same problem as you described when trying to set a custom park position via Ekos.The only way to solve that was to use the controller and set the home position scope up, weight down. Following the exact procedure from my post I linked. Once that's done, I then connected the mount over to Indi/Ekos and in eqmod, under Site Management I was able to deal with the park position (after slewing the mount to the adequate position).

My observatory is several hundreds of miles away from home and in a different country, and without this procedure I just said, it would not have been possible to trust the box.
I do have however an HEQ5pro and not the EQ6-R
The following user(s) said Thank You: Simon
3 years 4 days ago #69188

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Hi Gonzothegreat :-)

Thanks for the reply. I understand that the telescope has to be pointed to the "regular" park position (counter weight down, looking north) precisely first, as described in your post. I just don't see how to proceed from there. Using the Kstars/Ekos telescope simulator, the telescope should be perfectly aligned with the earth's rotation axis. Slewing to a point near or on the northern horizon and setting this as new park position only updates the RA/DEC coordinates unter INDI control panel -> Telescope Simulator -> Site Management. These coordinates are also found in .indi/ParkData.xml. However, positions in the sky described by RA/DEC coordinates move with time. What I need is to define ALT/AZ coordinates here, I guess. How did you fix that problem?

Simon
3 years 3 days ago #69215

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Unlike the simulator EQMod driver stores park position as motor steps and not RA/DEC so that is not a problem, the position will always be the same (unless the mount loses track of its position):

<code><device name="EQMod Mount">
<parkstatus>
true
</parkstatus>
<parkposition>
<axis1position>
8388608.000000
</axis1position>
<axis2position>
11172608.000000
</axis2position>
</parkposition>
</device></code>
The following user(s) said Thank You: Simon
Last edit: 3 years 3 days ago by Jarno Paananen.
3 years 3 days ago #69230

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Ok, I wasn‘t aware of the difference between the Telescope Simulator and the EqMod driver. Thanks for making this clear.

Simon
3 years 3 days ago #69241

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