Argo Navis - if you're happy and you know it clap your hands...

[gary]

Originally Posted by erick

Re "Double check that your navis_app300.sgz file size is 1,310,761 bytes.
One user who downloaded the firmware had a truncated file."

File size was 1,310,720 bytes or 1,310,628 depending which measurement I take (attached). I downloaded it twice and it was the same each time. Any problems there Gary?

Hi Eric,

Great to hear you performed the upgrade.

Version 3.0.0, which was in the navis_app300.sgz file, was 1,310,761 bytes.

This has been superseded by Version 3.0.1, which is what you have loaded
with the navis_app301.gz file and it is 1,310,628 bytes.

So your install is good.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[gary]

Wildcard Innovation's Gary Kopff, StellarCAT's Gary Myers, Obsession's Dave
Kriege and Alan Dyer will be giving presentations on the afternoon of Thurs 19th March 2015
at the 3RF Messier Marathon and Spring Break Star Party at Comanche
Springs Astronomy Campus near Crowell, Texas.

There will be keynote address from a NASA representative on the Saturday.

The event is a week-long star party for amateurs, under Bortle Class 2 skies
held by the Three Rivers Foundation for the Arts and Sciences (3RF).

The site is a premium dark-sky location, with complete amenities for the visiting astronomer.
These include air-conditioned and heated bunkhouses, a restroom and shower building, RV sites,
plenty of observing-field electricity, and free WiFi access.

Comanche Springs is a working observatory complex dedicated to education and outreach.
Instruments available to visitors include Argo Navis equipped 30", two 20", and two 18" Obsession Classic
Dobsonians, a motorized StarChair outfitted with 25x150mm Giant Fujinon APO binoculars,
a 15" F12 custom D&G achromat in a 28-foot Ash dome, and 90mm Coronado SolarMax
hydrogen-alpha telescopes for daytime use.

Learn more about 3RF here -
http://www.3rf.org/

Registration is limited to 100 participants on a first-come, first-served basis and is now open.
There is a USD50 registration fee, a USD10/day site-use fee, and an optional meal plan.

See here for details and for the registration form -
http://www.3rf.org/sciences-2/2015-s...ssier-marathon

We would look forward to meeting you there.

Qantas operate daily non-stop direct flights from Sydney to Dallas and return using their A380's.

See ya'll in Texas!

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place
Mount Kuring-Gai NSW 2080
Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[erick (Eric)]

Thanks for the confirmation Gary.

3RF Star Party - so tempting. One of these days

[Rick Petrie]

Have downloaded the new version 3.0.1 firmware with no known glitches yet.
Also downloaded some geostationary satellites I hope to find soon.
Hoping to get out with scope soon to give the AN a workout.
Thanks for update Gary and Mai.

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Going to try tracking the ISS tonight for the first time. Expecting a 6minute pass at 51deg elevation

[gary]

Originally Posted by mbaddah

Going to try tracking the ISS tonight for the first time. Expecting a 6minute pass at 51deg elevation

Excellent. Good luck!

Pages 200 to 202 of Edition 11 of the Argo Navis User's Manual provides
valuable tips on satellite tracking.

http://www.wildcard-innovations.com..../argoman11.pdf

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Originally Posted by gary

Excellent. Good luck!

Pages 200 to 202 of Edition 11 of the Argo Navis User's Manual provides
valuable tips on satellite tracking.

http://www.wildcard-innovations.com..../argoman11.pdf

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately i couldn't get it centered without manually overriding the tracking with handset. Looking through the telrad I'd say it was approximately 5 degrees off from where the ISS was.

I did a 2 star alignment (Betelgeuse, canopus) , sync date/time, set location, uploaded latest ISS data etc... I'm guessing that I needed to perform a TPAS? There's another pass tomorrow night so I'll give it a shot then.

Thanks

[mbaddah (Mo)]

I recorded a short video of the ISS passover and uploaded it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYycI0kWOoU

I was only able to track the final moments as it was disappearing unfortunately. Next time i'll try it with TPAS.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Mohammed
That is a pretty impressive result, at least I think so.

Malcolm

[erick (Eric)]

Finally had a session out with the new AN Firmware.

Horizon Mask I had dust in the sky up to some 30 deg.

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Originally Posted by barx1963

Mohammed
That is a pretty impressive result, at least I think so.

Malcolm

Thanks Malcolm

[gary]

Originally Posted by mbaddah

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately i couldn't get it centered without manually overriding the tracking with handset. Looking through the telrad I'd say it was approximately 5 degrees off from where the ISS was.

I did a 2 star alignment (Betelgeuse, canopus) , sync date/time, set location, uploaded latest ISS data etc... I'm guessing that I needed to perform a TPAS? There's another pass tomorrow night so I'll give it a shot then.

Thanks

Hi Mohammed,

Thanks for the posts and the video!

Using TPAS it would be instructive to determine what your whole-sky
"raw" pointing performance is.

When syncing the time from the PC, it is important to be running an
NTP client and to check the status of that client to ensure
that it is in fact synced against one or more NTP servers.
Windows native Time Service can be out by several seconds. Microsoft
themselves recommend an NTP client for time-critical applications.

The current version of the Argo Navis/ServoCAT protocol specifies
a lock radius of 5 degrees for satellites. If you would like to do some
testing, we could experiment and extend that radius for you.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Originally Posted by gary

Hi Mohammed,

Thanks for the posts and the video!

Using TPAS it would be instructive to determine what your whole-sky
"raw" pointing performance is.

When syncing the time from the PC, it is important to be running an
NTP client and to check the status of that client to ensure
that it is in fact synced against one or more NTP servers.
Windows native Time Service can be out by several seconds. Microsoft
themselves recommend an NTP client for time-critical applications.

The current version of the Argo Navis/ServoCAT protocol specifies
a lock radius of 5 degrees for satellites. If you would like to do some
testing, we could experiment and extend that radius for you.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

Hi Gary,

I'll give it a another try with TPAS next ISS passover. I do remember checking the NTP client was running and it syncing with the servers, but i'll double check again. If increasing the lock radius will help I'm happy to test it

Mohammed.

[Rick Petrie]

Whilst at Bretti recently I tested new firmware with some geostationary satellites I downloaded.
Found the Optus C1 and D3 satellites right near each other.
Having a non tracking scope, I just set on them and watched the stars streaming by. Awesome sight it was. Something different without having to track.

[gary]

Originally Posted by Rick Petrie

Whilst at Bretti recently I tested new firmware with some geostationary satellites I downloaded.
Found the Optus C1 and D3 satellites right near each other.
Having a non tracking scope, I just set on them and watched the stars streaming by. Awesome sight it was. Something different without having to track.

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the report and great to hear you gave this a try! When I
observe them, at times my brain will tell me that it is the scope
that is moving.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[gary]

The Wildcard Innovations team anticipate that they will be largely out of email and phone contact in the period from 18 March 2015 to April 2nd 2015 inclusive.

Gary will be on the road starting from today 14th March until April 2nd.

Online orders for Bundled Special systems made during this period will ship after April 2nd.

All other orders placed after March 18th will also ship after April 2nd.

I'm waiting at the lounge at Sydney airport about to board QF7 non-stop to Dallas in order to attend the 3RF Messier Marathon.

Wherever you are, clear skies!

Best Regards
Gary Kopff
Wildcard Innovations

[jim_bones (James)]

Hi all,

Last night I couldn't get AN to align and this morning I think I found the culprit: The yellow and black wires on the ALT encoder have come loose (see attached image).

I am assuming that the yellow cable goes back into slot 2 (Index) and not 1 (Ground)? My other question is how to lock the cable in place on the blue plastic bit?

Many thanks!

- Jim.

[gary]

Originally Posted by jim_bones

Hi all,

Last night I couldn't get AN to align and this morning I think I found the culprit: The yellow and black wires on the ALT encoder have come loose (see attached image).

I am assuming that the yellow cable goes back into slot 2 (Index) and not 1 (Ground)? My other question is how to lock the cable in place on the blue plastic bit?

Many thanks!

- Jim.

Hi Jim,

The Yellow wire goes on the far left (Ground). Index is left no-connect.

These style of connectors use insulation displacement technology
and the wires are inserted, unstripped, using a special tool. The pins
on the connector pierce the insulation when the wire is inserted.

I would recommend you contact us and we could re-insert the wire for you.

In a pinch you could try pushing it in using a small flat-bladed jeweller's
screwdriver but it is unlikely to be successful as it is not the right tool.
It certainly won't provide for a reliable connection but might get you through
an observing session until you get it fixed properly.

See drawing below for how the locking ramp on the plug mates with the
encoder.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[jim_bones (James)]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the advice. I will get in touch and send back for repair.

Cheers,

James.

[MattT]

I have just recived my AN from Gary. My old pillow block mount the 'Gaunt' is going to be bought into the modern age

Photo's to follow in due course.

Matt