losmandy gemini 2 with stellarium

[icytailmark]

does anyone know where i can download the USB driver for gemini 2? I am trying to hook stellarium to my g11 mount. I want to be able to click on a star and the mount move to or near that star.

[Octane]

Have you downloaded the ASCOM platform? Or the Gemini.NET driver (likely will not work with the Gemini 2, but, worth a shot).

H

[mill]

The Gemini.net driver doesn't work, you need the modified driver.
PM me your email address and i can send you the latest net driver.
I can also send you the usb driver.

[TrevorW]

The latest version of stellarium scope which supports et al Stellarium V10.6 the gemini platform does not seem to work with the gemini through the ascom platform maybe someone can elighten me

[icytailmark]

does anyone know a program i can use with the gemini 2? The gemini 2 star list is very small.

[mithrandir]

There is a new release of GeminiTelescopeInstaller (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Gemini_ASCOM_Driver/files/Installation%20Files/GeminiTelescopeInstaller%281.0.18.0 ) out today which seems to have more G2 settings, but you need to belong to the Y! Gemini ASCOM group to use that link. If all else fails I have a copy.

Andrew

[mithrandir]

CdC or C2A might work with the latest GeminiTelescopeInstaller.

[Logieberra]

Sorry to hijack, but can anyone help me with limits on the G11, G2, w' Maxons? She's set to rip a motor off good n' proper... :(

[Octane]

Should be under mount parameters -> slew speeds, or something very close to it.

H

[TrevorW]

Join the user group, as I found out like you, nearly damaged a motor with a runaway goto (may have need to check) apparently the limits function plus several other features are not working with the current software

Cheers

[Logieberra]

H & Trev - thanks for details.

I spent ALL NIGHT trying to familiarise myself with the latest version of the GeminiTelescopeController.

I feel much better now. I have set the limits, enabled the fancy voice warning / alerts and other jazz. A powerful piece of software.

I feel much better now.

For other noobs out there, spend some quality time with Gemini 2 and it will start to make sense J

[icytailmark]

im having trouble with the alignment. I align a bright star then i press goto saturn and its no where near saturn. What am i doing wrong? The mount is pointing south.

[Logieberra]

Ummm... here goes:

Cold start in CWD position?

GPS Coordinates/Site/Time/Laptop Time spot on?

Are you using ASCOM (this work for me), or just the hand controller or ethernet to http://gemini to align? The last two give me grief :(

I have only played with Alignmaster in partnership with ASCOM (which connects to Gemini). Seemd to work ok. Pointed to the two reference stars...

Will try and align this week and report back. Let me know if you come across any helpful G2 hints.

Logie.

[mithrandir]

There is a trick to getting the real CWD position. It is not necessarily with the counterweight bar pointing straight down. Here is the link to the magic CWD (http://www.arizonaskys.com/downloads/magiccwdposition.pdf) explanation. No reason it would not work just as well with a G2 as with a G1.

Spot on is a bit over the top. Within a few minutes in both location and time is enough for most purposes. But then I have a GPS for my Gemini.
http://gemini only works on Windoze, and then only works if NetBIOS is enabled for hostname lookup. Get the IP address from the Gemini, and ensure your PC is on the same subnet.

Andrew

[icytailmark]

i have a gps in my car, can i use those figures from it? i use cold start every time. i put the mount in park position first 00 on both axis. I have mount lattitude to the same as the hand control setting. I have the leg on the counterweight tube headed towards south. How many bright stars do i need to do for goto to work fairly accurate? I want to use my computer to do the slewing but i cant seem to get the mount to accept commands from the computer. I use the USB driver and Ascom 5.5 software. Im probably taking too long to line up the bright stars in the finderscope and main scope. Its very hard to do it quickly with a c14.

[mithrandir]

You really should join Yahoo! Gemini-II group. The G2 software is not finished and they keep a running list of what is and isn't ready. The G2 comments I've made here and elsewhere come from reading the group. I'm a G1 owner.

The GPS in the car would be close enough. Be really careful with the signs on the latitude and longitude. You might have to toggle the +- a couple of times to get it to save correctly. This is on the "to be fixed" list.

I would stick to setting the time in UTC. Local time and DST just confuses things.

If the finder and scope agree, you should be able to just use the finder to get your "bright stars". At least three on one side of the meridian each separated by 15 deg or more and then at least on on the other side of the meridian. Multi star alignment is also on the "to be finished" list but you might as well get into practice.

Do you have a reticule eyepiece? It is very hard to guess whether the object in a regular eyepiece is really centered. One good method is to make up an alignment target.

Take a sheet of paper with two dots the same distance apart as the centerlines of the scope and the eyepiece. Because the dots have the same separation parallax error is minimised so you don't need the target a huge distance away.

Hang the target on a wall/fence/tree/pole a practical distance away (as little as across a wide room or down the hall can work) so the dot orientation matches the scope and finder. The dots should be as small as possible but still visible through the finder. Focus and centre the scope on its dot. Adjust the finder to its dot.

Do you have the GeminiTelescopeInstaller(1.0.18.0). exe for your Ascom? This is the newest one with G2 support.

Also I've added the "magic CWD" link to my other post (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=704484&postcount=14).

Andrew

[TrevorW]

anyone know why i'd be getting a port time out error when connecting to the mount through gemini on the laptop

also some features don't work on the HC but can work through usb or ethernet connection

[Logieberra]

Mark

Returning to your original question, did you end up getting Stellarium to work with Gemini 2? I'd like to do the same.

P.S. only interest in comments from current G2 users, there have been many software changes...

[Visionoz]

Mark

From my understanding of the use of Stellarium - it needs StellariumScope to be run first before you can get Stellarium itself to "goto" or "sync" - and using ASCOM is a must! I connect to the "Scope" via ASCOM6 now on a Win7 64bit system with no issues

I am using my G11 with it that way, as well as the EQ6Pro thru EQmod - however my G11 is SiTech driven but that should not make a difference as far as Stellarium is concerned - after all the interface is still ASCOM - so I presume that your Gemini G2 via ASCOM should work too

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[Barrykgerdes]

I am not sure about the Gemini 2 but I can't see any reason for a change in this area. Someone with a Gemini 2 manual will need to check.

The Gemini 1 uses a version of the Meade protocol as well as its own system and will connect directly to a Computer COM port or a USB/RS232 adaptor and can then be interfaced with Stellarium to provide cross hairs at the scope location on the screen or can send a set of coords and a GOTO to the telescope. Just ensure that the telescope plug in in Stellarium is configured for the correct COM port and telescope number using the Gemini protocol.

The use of ASCOM and Stellariumscope is not necessary unless you want to control other features of the Gemini (eg Park) from the computer.

By the way, the Telescope control plug in of Stellarium is in the process of adding ASCOM and Servo Cat interface.

Barry