I am unable to connect to my Losmandy Gemini 2 mount with Sky Safari 6 Pro. I have triple checked the IP address and port, I can connect the iPad with a browser to the IP interface on the mount so the networking is good. They are on the same subnet. Two other PCs on the network can connect to the mount using Gemini software and using PHD. I have rebooted everything several times with no changes, to the point of pulling the power from everything and starting over. Any suggestions?
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John Petterson Note that I am able to connect to my other mount - an iOptron AZ Mount Pro. Change the 4 parameters (scope type, mount type, IP address, and port number) after connecting to the iOptron wifi and it connects and runs that mount. But it will not connect to the Losmandy.
John
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Tim Campbell Hi John. When you say "Sky Safari 6" ... which device OS are you using?
Also ... can you describe what networking gear is involved. For example... if I use an iPad with the "SkyFi" device ... I can set the "Auto-Detect SkyFi" toggle switch to on. But if I use other devices ... such as direct-wired from my laptop or a third-party device (my ZWO ASIair or StellarMate ... both of which provide a Sky Safari gateway but do not support the Auto-Detect protocol) I have to set the "Auto-Detect SkyFi" to off ... and manually set the port number value.
I have connected to the Gemini 2 via physical ethernet cable, via the USB port, and via the serial port. All work and I'm sure we can help you identify the issue... but probably need a few more details.
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John Petterson Thanks for the response Tim. I have iOS 9.3.5 on my iPad. I am using a TP-link travel WIFI router (https://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-9_TL-WR802N.html) and a 5 port Netgear Prosafe gigabyte switch as my network backbone. The switch has 3 ports used: wireless router, mini PC and the Gemini 2. As I said in the original post I can open Safari and connect to the Gemini controller from the iPad so I think the network is working. I can also connect to the Gemini controller using PHD and Gemini software on both PCs, from my laptop which connects over the WIFI and from the mini PC that is plugged into the switch. IP addresses are non-conflicting, the mount is 192.168.1.109, mini PC is 192.168.1.201, wireless range is 192.168.1.150-199 and wireless router is 192.168.1.1. That network is not linked to my house network or internet although I have an additional wireless router that I can connect to do that if I want to transfer files or access it from my desktop.
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John Petterson I have verified that the IP and port number being used on the PC over wireless for PHD is the same as what the iPad is using in Sky Safari, so the wireless router is not blocking that port. The two devices (laptop and iPad) are right next to one another and 10 feet from the mount. Both can access the IP interface on the mount.
Any suggestions?
John
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John Petterson I have done a little digging into the files - log files are mostly zero length. There is one that is 8K in length from a couple of days ago, that was when I connected to the iOptron mount for a couple of minutes to verify that the iPad was OK.
Here is the scope section of the configuration file:
ScopeType=6
ScopeMountType=2
ScopeReadoutRate=4
ScopeMotionRate=4
ScopeTiltToSlew=0
ScopeReversNS=0
ScopeReverseEW=0
ScopeRAEncoderTickPerRev=8192
ScopeDecEncoderTickPerRev=8192
ScopeQueryEncoderTicks=1
ScopeCommIPAddress=192.168.1.109
ScopeCommPortNum=11110
ScopeSendTimeAndLocation=0
ScopeSaveLog=1
ScopeParked=0
ScopeParkAzimuth=0.000000000000000e+00
ScopeParkAltitude=0.000000000000000e+00
ScopeAutoDetectSkyFi=0Are there any other parameters you need to see from this?
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Tim Campbell Hi John,
I'm looking at:
ScopeCommPortNum=11110
That doesn't look right. Are you, by chance, using some intermediate software (INDI, ASCOM, etc.?)
The Gemini 2's default port for socket-access (the port Sky Safari should use) is TCP port 4030. Note that this is not the same port used for the web-interface. Sky Safari doesn't use the Gemini's web-interface ... the Gemini implements Meade's Autostar command protocol.
If ever in doubt as to which IP address the Gemini is using, you can use the Gemini hand controller and navigate to "Menu" -> "Mount" -> "Network" (or "Menu" -> "System" -> "Network" should also work). Unfortunately this does not display the socket port. (That port number can't be viewed or changed via the hand-controller. I'm not sure if the web-interface allows this to be viewed or changed ... I never tried.)
Keep in mind that sometimes some intermediate software can be involved and confuse things (ASCOM, INDI, etc.) I have a StellarMate. StellarMate will take control of a mount, but it also offers a "Sky Safari Bridge" ... basically the program pretends to be a telescope ... Sky Safari tells it what it wants, and it forwards the message to the mount (because while StellarMate has taken control of the mount, nothing else can directly communicate with it. But the whole point of things like ASCOM and INDI platforms is to let everything talk to everything by setting up the software to act as an intermediary (so you no longer directly talk to components... you talk to either ASCOM or INDI). StellarMate uses port 9624 (by default ... it can be changed) as the Sky Safari bridge port (if I use the StellarMate appliance, then I tell Sky Safari to talk to my Raspberry Pi (that's the StellarMate appliance) and I use port 9624 ... but StellarMate relays the message to the mount and returns the responses to Sky Safari (Sky Safari doesn't know it isn't talking to the real mount.)
If your setup is "Sky Safari on iOS" -> WiFi-router -> Gemini-2 ... and there are no intermediate software applications in that chain... then use port 4030 and it should work. Also make sure the option to auto-detect "Sky Fi" is not enabled (the Gemini does not support the auto-discovery protocol used by Sky Fi.)
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John Petterson Actually, the port IS shown on both the web interface AND the hand controller. And the on line documentation says it should be 11110. (See https://gemini-2.com/configuringEthernetASCOMdriver.php right near the bottom of that page). I saw the 4030 number elsewhere on the controller page and tried that - setting both the hand controller and the iPad software to that value, and it still did not work. And after setting that the ASCOM connection did not work either, so I set it all back. I would like to know where you saw that 4030 as the default - I cannot find it in any documentation now.
If I cannot get this working, I may just use the iPad and SkySafari for the AZ Mount Pro and my visual astronomy work. I have downloaded Cartes Du Ciel onto my PC. This works very well, even connecting to the PC from the iPad using the RD client to control it. I think using that through the ASCOM driver will let me do all communications to the mount vie Ethernet from the PC including guiding, and simplify everything as I will not have two devices trying to make the mount go different ways. But I would still like to find out why it is not working.John
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Tim Campbell John, the page you referred to is for ASCOM. Are you using the ASCOM platform? This would make a big difference in how things work.
Can you detail all the components and how they are connected in your setup?
For example... if you use the SkyFi, the Gemini itself doesn’t use the Ethernet port... but the SkyFi *does* use the port (but not he SkyFi device... it uses a serial or USB connection to talk to the mount.)
But if you were to connect the mount to your home network via actual Ethernet and your iPad is connected to the same network, the Gemini 2 *does* listen on TCP Port 4030.
ASCOM and INDI are completely different... these take over the mount. E.g. if you use ASCOM then you don’t connect to the mount... you connect to ASCOM and ASCOM connects to to the mount for you. I don’t use ASCOM but I do sometimes use INDI (INDI is similar to ASCOM but runs on Linux, Mac, Raspberry Pi. ASCOM only works on Windows). Anyway... when I use INDI, it takes over the mount ... but it does provide a Sky Safari bridge. Sky Safari can no longer talk directly to the mount because the INDI is running it. So INDI creates a listening port on whatever computer is running INDI and you tell Sky Safari to talk to *that* computer and port (rather than the mount’s IP & Port).
This is why those details are important.
You may want to isolate things for testing.
You have three different connection methods to the Gemini... (1) via serial port, (2) via USB, or (3) via Ethernet. If you connect Ethernet than the Gemini is directly on your network. If the iPad is on the same network and if NOTHING else is trying to talk to the mount (no serial connection, no USB connection, no ASCOM, and no INDI) then Sky Safari should be able to directly control the mount.
If you do use either serial or USB... then Sky Safari should not be configured to talk directly to the mount... it should instead be configured to talk to whatever computer & software you are using as an intermediary.
Make sense?
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John Petterson OK. I got it. You are correct about the 4030 port. I did more reading, and with your comments about ASCOM using a different port I found the section in the Gemini documentation that talks about that. So the key is that both port values need to be set in the controller / web interface (and both are visible and can be changed in both interfaces), and they need to be different values.
The issue was that I was trying to use the UDP port instead of the TCP port. When I changed the UDP port on the mount to match the TCP port number, it must have confused the Gemini, causing that trial to not work. Then after setting everything correct, I had to unload both the Safari browser and Sky Safari from memory and reload them with the new parameters set, and now it connects. I don't think I unloaded the software when I tried that value before posting this note. I have not seen where I had to restart iPad software for it to pick up configuration changes, but that seems to be what got me.
Anyway, I am now able to attach the Sky Safari to the mount and move it through that program. I am still going to evaluate the Cartes du Ciel operation and probably use that for AP work, but it is nice to be able to just use the iPad if I am using it with eyepieces and don't need guiding.Thanks again for the help!
John
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John Petterson Tim,
One other interesting comment after re-reading your last note. In fact, the mount can have both a UDP connection and a TCP connection open at the same time and service each of them. Right now, I have CdC connected to the mount over the ASCOM software from my notebook on the UDP port, and Sky Safari on the iPad connected to the mount over the TCP port. I have selected Kochab in CdC and Polaris on Sky Safari, and I can have the scope slew back and forth by commanding a slew from one or the other. So there is no issue with both being connected. Both displays show the scope position moving back and forth between the two stars. It would just be a problem if one of them (the PC) had PHD running, and the other tried to have the scope slew to another target. I am not sure how PHD would react to that, it might be fun. Or a disaster. I am also not sure how the Gemini would react to IP links simultaneously with either serial or USB links. I will leave that investigation to others as I have no hardware/software to use either of those links.
John
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Tim Campbell If PHD is guiding and a slew is order, you'll probably get a "Star Lost" error in PHD and it will give up. PHD normally only tries to correct the mount if the star being tracked has moved by a very tiny amount because it can measure that the star is too far east/west/north/south of the desired position. But when the star completely leaves the field, it has nothing to go on and has to give up.
I have not tried to control my mount via UDP, but René (the developer of the Gemini firmware) seems to prefer it. I think this is because the protocol doesn't have the connection setup/tear-down overhead.
TCP is more robust... but has higher overhead.
I have not tested this... but you might be allowed to have multiple UDP or TCP devices connected (due to the nature of the way these protocols work). But this assumes the Gemini has the resources (and is coded) to manage multiple connections. The protocols themselves do support multiple concurrent clients ... so it's really a question of whether the Gemini is coded to support it.
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