Dome control problems

[h0ughy]

I am officially frustrated. I have been mucking about with the dome control on the Sirius dome, with maxdome 2.

I am at my wits end, Automadome is turning into a waste of time and money, but for that matter i cannot get the ASCOM programmes to work correctly either?

this is using the sky6

i can connect the mount, i can connect the dome, but will the rotten bugger track - no way.

then another problem cropped up - if left for too long the gemini connection drops out....... how cruel is nature granting me a simple brain.....:P:help:

and i am not getting much from the support from Software Bisque either. I have left screen dumps and other information and how things were set up - their ansewer was to seek information from the Maxdome mob.

You guys with full dome control i need idiots setout of installation and setup, and fresh eyes methinks. Surely there must be some thing simple wrong?

[danielsun]

David, has it been working all o.k in the past?
I don't really know anything about the dome set up but maybe there is a timeout setting in ASCOM or the Sky or maybe uninstall everything and reinstall, start from scratch again. Not much, but a thought. :shrug: Or try resetting everything up with a different planetarium program.


Cheers Daniel.

[strongmanmike]

Hmmm? frustrating, good luck I wish I could help...

There are a few people out there with automated Sirius domes so hang in there, the help will come....you are probably right...you may just be an idiot... like me :stupid:

Mike

[AstroJunk]

OK, It's always hard to troubleshoot, but back to the very beginning.

Try ASCOM's POTH Handset to connect your mount and dome and make sure that everything is playing nicely before moving on. Just by using the standard handset, the scope and dome should track. Here are my settings:

[Gama]

Hi David,

I'm using the Maxdome II on my 4.5 meter Astrodome.
It works perfectly well with "The Sky 6", and The Sky 6 also controls the telescope as well.
EXCEPT, i dont use all the "Rubish" (In my eyes) to complicate things.
All i did is run a simple single program to control the Dome controller, and thats it. The dome slaves to the telescope via "THE Sky 6". In other words, when i move the telescope (With or without The Sky running) the Dome moves and follows the telescope.
To control everything remotely, i just connect via a wireless lan using Windows Remote Desktop. This allows me to control everything, like telescope camera, anything connected to the computer in my Observatory via any PC in the network or internet (In Full Screen) as if i was sitting in the observatory watching on the screen.
I'll get you my setup tomorrow and get you to try the same method, and see how we go. Its kinda late at the moment...

Theo

[h0ughy]

thanks for the screen shot - it says a lot. can you tell me more about the .hex file?



that would be great Theo

[AstroJunk]

You can ignore the hex file. I have done a firmware upgrade (hmm, I wonder if that is part of the problem).

I will have to do a trawl about to recall which version of firmware works best with which ascom drivers.

[Gama]

OK, sorry for the late reply..
But heres my setup.

The Dome controller (Maxdome II) is hooked up to a serial port (Via USB to RS232) COM2.

The Telescope is connected via a RS232 COM1 (Real serial port on the PC), to a Astro Physics telescope Controller (GTO).

First, i run the "Astro Dome Control Program" that comes with the CD with the Maxdome II.

I setup the parameters as per image1.. Yours should be easy to do as well.
For mine, i selected "Maxdome II" as the Dome, and "Astro-physics GTO" as the telescope. I also set the telescope for COM1. see image2

The setup now should work by clicking "Connect" without any other software to drive it, and as long as you tick "Slave Dome to telescope", it will follow the scope perfectly centred on the slit (If you did the offsets correctly) within "The Sky" when connected. Oh yeah, make sure your Ascom drivers for the Dome and scope controller (Mount) are installed !.



Now, in "The Sky6" i setup the telescope as "Telescope API".
In the settings for it, i selected "ASCOM DOME CONTROL" as the telescope, thats right:eyepop:, as the telescope !!!.
Now when you connect on the telescope link, "the sky" will move the dome and telescope together, but there may be a few seconds delay for the dome to start following.
The Ascom drivers where on the CD for the Dome part, you will need to find the Ascom driver for your mount. Try the Ascom home page...

To finish for the night, i disconnect from "The Sky", Click on "Park" in the Dome program, then shutdown PC when its parked.

Let me know how you go with this, and i'll see if i can help anymore.

Good luck..

Theo.

[h0ughy]

thanks theo,

i have the scope on the USB com port com3 and the dome on COM1, i might swap those around, also i have not selected the dome, but i selected the mount G11 using the gemini.net driver 1.08.

I will try the slight change in the setup today (try for slewing to moon seeing as its daylight now)

I have loaded the ASCOM drivers for both.

So if this works, then i will see how to get Automadome to work after that?

[mozzie]

no probes with the pod a little rotation with the fingers!!!!!:D:D:P

[h0ughy]

yeah yeah and i bets its kept open with a brick

[h0ughy]

well someone hates me - i turned on the PC in the observatory and it just blew out the power supply - not happy

[mozzie]

things happen in three's david what's going to go wrong next..:shrug::shrug:

[h0ughy]

ok with ascom i currently have the scope aiming fruitlessly out the hole in the dome and the dome is appearing to follow it - that makes me smile.

still will not work in the sky - should i completely uninstall this and reinstall for the 4th time from scratch?

[h0ughy]

probably be when i wish to image tonight i will get my head bitten off.......

[Gama]

Did you select "Telescope API" as the scope in THE SKY, and then in the settings for the API, select "Ascom Dome Control" as the telescope.
Once done, when you connect using the "Telescope Link", everything should work.

Make sure no other dome settings or other programs are running in The Sky.

Theo

[h0ughy]

it actually came back with a script error where it couldnt find the driver. i will uninstall tomorrow and reinstall it from scratch, but i could see it but not select it?

[danielsun]

David, It was a while ago for me but if I remember correctly it is a little tricky installing the Tele API driver for The Sky.
If I remember I had to copy the file from where you downloaded it and go into your C/: Drive and go into program files and copy it into The Sky file or something like that.
I'm pretty sure that when you download the tele API driver it comes with a txt with the instructions on exactly what to do. I am not near my laptop at the moment but will see if I still have that txt.

[h0ughy]

i will have a look and see what i got with the download - the unpacked zip file:thanx::thumbsup:

[Tandum]

There is now a plugin for ascom and the sky. Get it here (http://ascom-standards.org/Downloads/Plugins.htm).

[danielsun]

David, here are the txt instructions to install the drivers for the sky.

TheSky ASCOM Plugin
===================

This plugin allows Software Bisque's TheSky to communicate with
ASCOM-compliant telescopes via TheSky's "TeleAPI" feature.

Installation
------------

(1) Rename the file

C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\TeleAPI.dll

to TeleAPI-Original.dll

(2) Copy the ASCOM TeleAPI.dll to

C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\TeleAPI.dll


One-time Telescope Setup
------------------------

(1) In TheSky, Telescope menu, select Setup...

(2) In the Control System box, select "Telescope API"

(3) Click Settings... to open the ASCOM Telescope Chooser and
select the ASCOM compliant telescope you wish to use.

(4) Now click Properties... in the Chooser, which will display
the settings window for the telescope type you just chose. Make
adjustments as your telescope needs.

(5) Close all windows including the TheSky Telescope Setup
window by clicking OK or Close. Do not click any Cancel buttons
:-)

Operation
---------

(1) Make sure both your telescope and TheSky are set for the same
geograpic location and time.

(2) In TheSky, Telescope menu, select Link->Establish. You should
see the cross-hairs indicating where the telescope is pointing.


Cheers Daniel.