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Skysafari won't control my telescope below 25 degrés above horizon

Hi,
First excuse my bad english, i'm french.
I'm piloting my Telescope (Takahashi EM200 Temma2) with Skysafari 5 pro and SkyBT.
All is working fine but :
- when i want to point an object below 25 degres (but above the horizon), Skysafari tell me "you cannot point telescope below horizon" (or something like this).
I searched on all the menus, but i didn't find the solution.
In settings, i set horizon altitude at 0°, and the Skysafari horizon match exactly my real horizon.

Thanks for your help
Regards

Date Votes

13 comments

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    It is the EM200 mount that is returning this error to us.  Generally this means that time & location is not being set when connecting.  

    Make sure the "Set Time & Location" option is ON in the Scope Setup settings.  I believe that about 6 months we made a change where we set this even if the checkbox is OFF because the Takahashi mounts require it, but it could be that you don't have the latest.

    You should also make sure your time & location in SkySafari are set accurately.

    If that doesn't solve the problem, are all GoTos above 25º accurate?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Colmifr

    Thank you Bill for your answer.

    My friend has the same problem with a CG5 Goto.

    On the Temma mounts, the only way to Goto them is to use the "Pegasus" software on PC. There is no electronic function on the hand controler. Only the 4 buttons RA/DEC. So, without any PC, the only way to dialog with the EM200 Temma2 is via Skysafari. The "set time and location" option in the scope settings is ON and i cannot change it.

    I bought Skysafari last week (Android version), so i guess this is the latest version?

    And yes, all goto above 25° are accurate. The mount's position is correct in Skysafari. The horizon position is correct too.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    I use an NJP mount for my personal scope so I'm well aware of how it is controlled.  We are having no known problems with this mount type.

    Have you verified that your time and location in SkySafari are correct?  Correct time zone?

    One possibility: You need to align on a star (generally in the east) within a couple of minutes of turning the mount's computer on.  If you have had the mount on for a while and try aligning, it may not work properly.  I can't recall right now why we have this limitation, but make sure to align reasonably soon after turning the mount's computer on.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Colmifr

    Thanks again Bill. Nice to know you're using a Tak mount too :) Is your NJP Temma2?

    Yes i checked time and location, all seems ok. Time zone was ok too.

    I compared Skysafari horizon and real horizon, they matched.

    I wil test your advice: align at east just after turn on the mount. But i'll cannot test it before monday or tuesday.

    I'll tell you the results... To be continued...

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    Yes, my NJP is a Temma 2.

    If you are still having a problem, please describe the exact steps you take to setup and align the mount in SkySafari. This is generally pretty robust so I'm not sure what is going on.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Robert Nielsen

    And I have two different Takahashi mounts ... one is an EM-200 Temma2 .. and use SkySafari with both.   I very, very rarely had any problems, and the couple of times I did (when I upgraded to a new version ... from 3 to 4 and then from 4 to 5) it was because the default setting for "Send time and date to mount" was OFF ... and as Bill mentioned, he set it to always ON for Takahashi mounts.   So now ... I can expect that each time I upgrade, it would work first time.

    In my case, when this was not set, SkySafari would sometimes return an error from the mount that it couldn't slew to that position because it was below the horizon (even though it wasn't).   So the problem wasn't exactly the same as you see.

    Are you controlling the scope directly from SkySafari to the mount?   Or do you have an ASCOM driver in between (this sounds like there is a slew limit set somewhere)?   Can you see that "Send date and time to mount" is on?   Do you have the mount type set to Equatorial Goto (German)?  Do you have the scope type set to Takahashi Temma 2?  

    (You know ... now that I look at the last sentence ... it sounds wrong.   It isn't the scope type that is Temma 2 ... it's the control software ...)

     

    Robert

  • 0
    Avatar
    Colmifr

    Hi Robert,
    I bought this EM200 two weeks ago. This is a second hand. In perfect conditions.
    I only use skysafari with it, no ascom or pegasus.
    I can confirm setup scope options are:
    Taka temma2
    Equatorial goto german mount
    Set time and location is On (and i cannot change it when temma2 is set)
    Connect via bluetooth (skybt)
    Is it possible that the temma2 has a internal memory wich has been modified by an old session of pegasus connexion?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    No, there is nothing that could be left over from using the Pegasus.  Again, if yo are still having problems, please describe the exact steps you take to star align the mount.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    Actually, I'll take that back.  With the NJP nothing is remembered.  Perhaps the EM200 is different.  I suppose there could be some sort of slew limit stored in non-volatile RAM.  That is outside my domain of knowledge.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Robert Nielsen

    Almost 100% sure there is nothing remembered in the EM-200 Temma2.

    Is the problem *precisely* 25 degrees?  Is it on all four horizons?

     

    Robert

  • 0
    Avatar
    Colmifr

    Hi,

    i tested at south (Moon) and west (Jupiter). I tested on Altair at east too, and each time, Skysafari told me the error message "impossible to point below the horizon". Not tested at north.

    It's not precisely 25°, but approximately 25.

    I cannot make new tests because it's raining since last sunday...

  • 0
    Avatar
    Colmifr

    Hi all,

    i have some good news. Tonight i had a clear sky (after one week of rain...).

    I have followed your advice :

    - connecting the SkyBT and just after turn ON the EM200
    - clicking on Connect in Skysafari in less than 1 minute

    All is perfect, the scope pointed all object just above the horizon..

    Thank you all for your help :)

    Regards

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    Glad to hear it is working.

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