Thanks for the post and I hope you have been keeping well.
From the report of the message you received, I can deduce that you
were not performing a two-star alignment using MODE ALIGN or
MODE ALIGN STAR at the time.
Instead you would have received the message during a TPAS sampling
run.
You would have been in either the MODE CATALOG, MODE IDENTIFY
or MODE TOUR menus.
The display would have been showing "RIGEL KENT" in the top line
and GUIDE with the guide direction arrows in the bottom line.
You then have pressed ENTER.
The display would have prompted "SAMPLE MNT ERR?". You then
would have pressed ENTER. The display then said "TOO NEAR HORIZON".
If you had intended to perform an alignment rather than a TPAS sample,
you should use the MODE ALIGN or MODE ALIGN STAR functionality.
If you never intend to take TPAS samples, dial up MODE SETUP,
SETUP MNT ERRORS, ACQUIRE DATA -> OFF.
If you had intended to perform some TPAS sampling - and that in
itself can be a good thing to do - then I can further deduce that
your location in SETUP LOCATION has in all probability not been
correctly set. In particular your latitude will likely be too far
north of your actual location. If I were a betting man I would guess
that it is still at the factory default setting of NOWEHERE, ATLANTIC
which is at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude.
When performing TPAS sampling, Argo Navis uses your location
setting to determine the distance the object is from the horizon.
If it is below the horizon and you attempt to sample it, Argo Navis
will warn BELOW HORIZON. If it is less than 10 degrees above the
horizon, Argo Navis will warn TOO NEAR HORIZON.
Argo Navis, by design, will not provide horizon warnings when you
perform a MODE ALIGN or MODE ALIGN STAR operation.
I recommend you check your SETUP LOCATION setting and whilst you
are at it, also check your SETUP DATE/TIME setting. Once you have
correctly established these, we also recommend you switch SETUP
REFRACTION to ON.
If you require further assistance, please don't hesitate to email.
Yep you're absolutely correct I don't know what I was thinking Gave it another run last night and it ran like clockwork I forgot to set refraction to ON when setting a TPAS model, so i'll have to give it another try with that setting.
As always, many thanks for your prompt response and extensive help
Tracking the Moon with Argo Navis/ServoCAT Beta firmware during a grazing occultation
Argo Navis owner Alex Cherney is among our dedicated team of Beta testers trialling forthcoming releases of both Argo Navis and ServoCAT firmware.
One of the features of the Beta firmware is the ability to track solar systems objects, such as the Moon, at their inherent tracking rates.
In the Argo Navis/ServoCAT architecture, the Argo Navis performs all the tracking rate calculations on the ServoCAT's behalf.
The ability of the ServoCAT to track at the inherently non-sidereal rates of solar system objects can only be achieved when it is driven by an
Argo Navis Digital Telescope Computer.
On August 4th of this year, Alex took his Argo Navis/ServoCAT equipped 22" f/3.6 SDM Dobsonian telescope to central Victoria to pursue the grazing grazing occultation by the Moon of Saturn.
Alex reported that :-
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Cherney
"The weather in Heathcote was fine with no cloud in sight right until ingress and out of the blue came thin high clouds but luckily it did not adversely affect the images. The seeing was ordinary but 22" fast f/3.6 mirror allowed me to use short exposures (1/200s) and "freeze" the seeing. The image is attached and the video is here:" http://vimeo.com/102933610
He reported that :-
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Cherney
"SDM, Argo Navis and Servocat worked very well and I tested tracking on both Saturn and the Moon with great results - drift of less than 5 arcmin in 2 hours."
The inherent resolution of the 10,000 step optical encoders fitted is 2.1 arc minutes. So a fine result!
We want to thank Alex for assisting in Beta test and for the great video!
Hi Gary,
Could you say us when will we see the new firmware?.
Thank you.
Víctor
Hi Victor,
Thanks for the post.
Rather that set fixed release dates for firmware, we only make a general release when our confidence levels are high that it is bug free.
Suffice to say we are looking forward to making it available as soon as that goal is met.
With the current production release, customers today have in their hands software that is extremely reliable and already feature-packed.
But to show our appreciation for their support, we have created some bonus features in a forthcoming release, which despite all the
time and hard work we put into it, we will be giving away a free license to use it to existing customers who agree to the terms of
the license agreement.
That firmware is currently being actively tested by dozens of Argo Navis customers around the world in a Beta test program.
Some people prefer to avoid being Beta test guinea pigs, but if you are interested in signing up, drop me an email.
Just received my Argo Navis back after Gary spent hours and hours tracking down a fault caused by a minuscule particle carried in possibly by dew. Fantastic customer service and great communication throughout. I also need to mention that it was a unit that I acquired second hand and out of warranty. Most other suppliers would have walked away and said "buy a new one" All in all Argo Navis is (I think) the best unit on the market, Australian made with support that is second to none.
Astrophotography using a Argo Navis/ServoCAT equippped large aperture Dob
Argo Navis customer, Marco Guidi in Italy, sent me an image today of the
planet Uranus which he captured using his Argo Navis/ServoCAT equipped
20" f/4 Dob. See images attached below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco Guidi
E' la prima ripresa dopo il restyling del 20'' con l'aggiunta del goto Argonavis e devo dire che il tracking è spettacolare,questa ripresa di Urano di 10min è stata ottenuta senza alcuna correzione !
Ho utilizzato il nuovo oculare Takahashi da 12,5mm in proiezione con il filtro Baader IR da 685nm a 5,9fps ,devo dire che il seeing era buono e la zona più chiara del pianeta era a tratti visibile all'oculare (ortho Taka 9mm+Barlow Powermate Televue 2,5x) .
L'immagine finale è un resize del 200% e somma di 3750 frames,aggiungo un dettaglio che interesserà a pochi,il cuore del primario aveva una temperatura superiore di 1,5° rispetto alla temperatura ambiente.
which translates as :-
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco Guidi translated
This is the first shot after the restyling of the 20" with the addition of the GOTO Argo Navis and I must say that the tracking is spectacular, this revival of Uranus 10min was obtained without any correction!
I used the new Takahashi 12.5mm eyepiece projection with the Baader IR from 685nm to 5,9fps, I must say that the seeing was good and the lighter area of the planet was at times visible to the eyepiece ( 9mm ortho Taka + Powermate Televue 2.5x Barlow ).
The final image is a resize by 200% and the sum of 3750 frames, I add a detail that will affect only a few, the core of the primary had a higher temperature of 1.5° with respect to the ambient temperature.
Just checking if anyone else has experienced an occurrence where the readout on the Argo simply freezes. After selecting an object it start to move towards it and realize that the numbers on the screen are not changing. If I then hit the exit button and re enter the object it displays the numbers but they have changed. If I select and object that I can find without the Argo (bright star for example) and then move to it, then exit and reenter it indicates that I am pointing at it. So it appears to be tracking OK just not updating the screen.
Just checking if anyone else has experienced an occurrence where the readout on the Argo simply freezes. After selecting an object it start to move towards it and realize that the numbers on the screen are not changing. If I then hit the exit button and re enter the object it displays the numbers but they have changed. If I select and object that I can find without the Argo (bright star for example) and then move to it, then exit and reenter it indicates that I am pointing at it. So it appears to be tracking OK just not updating the screen.
Any thoughts?
Hi Malcolm,
The behaviour you observed is so out of the ordinary that I don't have
an immediate answer.
In particular that you were still able to locate the target is peculiar.
By way of background, the unit employs a multitasking OS and it could be some other task or
interrupt abnormally continually pre-empting it and not allowing the task that updates the guide display
enough CPU time. If so, this is not normal.
Could you please drop me an email at sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
and we can begin a dialog to try and determine what is happening?
Could you please dial up MODE STATUS, STATUS VERSION and let me know by email which version you have?
If you could also let me know whether you use internal AA batteries or an external DC source.
When the unit is interfaced to the encoders, if you dial up MODE STATUS, STATUS POWER, is the power source flickering between OK and LOW?
When you email, could you also please let me know if you have any
satellite, comet or asteroid orbital elements currently loaded.
Hi All and Gary,
Any news on the new firmware release date, seems to be in testing since 6 months now.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for the post.
Still in active Beta test by an ever widening circle of volunteer users around
the world. There is also a new version of the ServoCAT firmware in Beta
as well which will be released concurrently. To convey some sense of
the level of activity, we have undergone approximately 40 Beta revisions
in the past twelve months, with the bulk of the work centering around
the enhanced ServoCAT protocol.
On the truck. Perfect day for testing too. Cold windy and the clouds are thick. With a little bit of luck I will have it ready to go when this front blows through and clears out the air.
Thanks lots of good stuff here. I just did the initial encoder testing with my Argo the DIY encoder. Everything is perfect. I have one question though. The steps you enter in the setup phase is that the total number of steps or the CPR or total divided by 4? Wish it wasn't cloudy I sure would like to test it under the stars tonight.
Thanks lots of good stuff here. I just did the initial encoder testing with my Argo the DIY encoder. Everything is perfect. I have one question though. The steps you enter in the setup phase is that the total number of steps or the CPR or total divided by 4? Wish it wasn't cloudy I sure would like to test it under the stars tonight.
Griz
Hi Dan,
Great to hear your Argo Navis has arrived in Texas.
The values you enter are actually the manufacturer's CPR multiplied by four.
The encoders are used in quadrature.
So for example an encoder with a CPR of 2500 provides 10000 steps
and the later is what you enter.
I put those in and rotated through 45 deg and it said 45 so I figured it had it right. But wanted to make sure. Thats about as far as I can go tonight. Cloudy and very windy here. Going to have to get a longer piece of velcro to put the cradle on my pier. Might just permanently mount it. I'll head up to the store tomorrow and get some and see if it will work like that on the pier before I put any holes in it.