That makes sense. Thanks for the timely and incredibly helpful assistance!!

Jake
--
Wes, Southport NC
EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100
ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL
Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified
Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC
110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power
Electrical Engineer, Retired

Wes, 

Jake
--
Wes, Southport NC
EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100
ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL
Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified
Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC
110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power
Electrical Engineer, Retired

--
Wes, Southport NC
EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100
ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL
Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified
Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC
110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power
Electrical Engineer, Retired

I am using a generic 12v wired power supply, which has always worked fine before testing goto before this firmware update. 

You can see what is happening here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e4edyq5c7j66syj/Video%20Apr%2023%2C%207%2035%2001%20AM.mov?dl=0

Jake what are u using to power the mount?
--
Wes, Southport NC
EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100
ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL
Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified
Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC
110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power
Electrical Engineer, Retired

No, it is not disabled, as far as I can tell. I wouldn't even know how to disable it, let alone disable it on both the tablets I tried it on. Nonetheless after pushing slew to object it completely drops the connection and I have to restart, so I can't just press go-to on the main page after that. 

Below is the text from my reboot-show splash screen. 

My location is the same, no change to Wifi traffic. On Channel 11. 

I tried several more times this morning, same result. It starts to slew the mount, then stops after 1/2 second and my connection drops. 

Jake
--
Wes, Southport NC
EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100
ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL
Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified
Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC
110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power
Electrical Engineer, Retired

On Thu, Apr 22, 2021 at 10:10 PM, Jake Carroll wrote:

I have tried this with both the Explore Stars iPad and Android (Fire) apps. Same result. 

This worked fine on the old firmware. 

Looking for some help so my mount has goto functionality as expected and as it did before this upgrade. 

Hi Jake,

I am sorry you are having this problem. There are a couple of things you can try to figure out what is going on. First if you could to help me understand your configuration, please use the Universal Firmware Configuration Tool (UFCT) to Reboot and Show the Splash Screen and copy the text from the terminal window and post it here on this thread. Typically if the ExploreStars is having problems maintaining connectivity it is directly related to the amount of WiFi traffic in the local area and the first possible remedy is to change the WiFi channel. Usually channels 1, 6, and 11 are the best channels to use, but they may also have the most traffic. The default channel when the firmware is first started is channel 11. I assume your location has not changed where you are using ExploreStars so the local traffic may be the same as before. 

Just to clarify, we did not make any changes to the firmware that changed the WiFi module configuration. The configuration is the same as in the previous versions of the firmware. The only change is that we now control communication using the serial port at the same time we control the WiFi communications. This is through 2 separate communications drivers so they are independent. The simplest configuration to test to see if the WiFi works with ExploreStars is to make sure you are not connected to the serial port at all to ensure that there is nothing coming in there that might interrupt the WiFi. So make sure you are not connected with the serial cable while you are trying to use ExploreStars.

That is all I can suggest right now. Report back with your configuration data and you\r test results when you get a chance.

Thanks
--
Jerry Hubbell
Vice President of Engineering
Explore Scientific, LLC.
jrh at explorescientific.com
www.explorescientificusa.com
1010 S. 48th Street
Springdale, AR 72762
1-866-252-3811

Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data
             Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home


Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment
Wilderness, VA
Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM)
Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF
Cameras:  QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C
Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance,
Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating
Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!

After many hours, I was finally able to figure out how to update my iexos 100 mount firmware on my MacBook running bootcamp....


Great. I used the universal configuration manager as well, set my hemisphere and to track if comm is lost. 

Now, I tried to run some tests with Explore Stars. It connects and I can slew the mount using the controls, but any/all attempts to use Goto fail. 

When I select any object from the catalog and press the "Slew to object" button, the mount begins to slew, then stops, and I lose all function/connection with the app. 

I have to restart the explore stars app and reconnect to the mounts wifi to start over. 

I have tried this with both the Explore Stars iPad and Android (Fire) apps. Same result. 

This worked fine on the old firmware. 

Looking for some help so my mount has goto functionality as expected and as it did before this upgrade. 

More testing.....

Currently Imaging the Blow Dryer galaxy.
This time I have installed a 2X barlow lens on the 275mm guide scope
Quite frankly,  I'm am amazed by the tracking accuracy of the Pmc mount
The main tube is 200mm PDS Newt  with 2.5X Barlow lens (2.5M focal length)

Hard target
Doing ok so far 
Well done guys with the latest firmware, it def' working for me!.

Dave C









--
Scopes: Sky Watcher 200PDS, Skywatcher 72ED
Mount: Explore Scientific PMC8 EXO2
Cameras: ASI 294MCPRO Coooled, Altair guide cam + 50mm scope
Software: Sharpcap Pro ,PH2, Stelarium Startools

The following files have been updated in the Files area of the MAIN@ESPMC-Eight.groups.io group.

• /PMC-Eight 20A01 Firmware Installation Kit 2021-04-12.zip

By: Jerry Hubbell - Explore Scientific VP Engineering <jrh@...>

Description:
PMC-Eight Universal Firmware 20A01 RELEASE 2021-04-12 Software Files - Updated UFCT and Instruction Document

---

The following files have been uploaded to the Files area of the MAIN@ESPMC-Eight.groups.io group.

• /PMC-Eight 20A01 Firmware Features 1.0.pdf

By: Jerry Hubbell - Explore Scientific VP Engineering <jrh@...>

Description:
Updated PMC-Eight 20A01 Firmware Features Document - Updated instructions document

On Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 11:09 PM, wayne archard wrote:

Please let me know how to get it back to use it. 

Hi Wayne, thanks for your feedback to the forum.  In the latest ASCOM Platform 6.5, during the install, you have to explicitly select the installation item POTH from the list of items to install as it is no longer defaulted to install automatically. You simply have to run the platform installation program again and select MODIFY and then make sure you select POTH in the items to install to update your configuration.


 

--
Jerry Hubbell
Vice President of Engineering
Explore Scientific, LLC.
jrh at explorescientific.com
www.explorescientificusa.com
1010 S. 48th Street
Springdale, AR 72762
1-866-252-3811

Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data
             Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home


Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment
Wilderness, VA
Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM)
Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF
Cameras:  QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C
Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance,
Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating
Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!

Wayne
--
Wes, Southport NC
EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100
ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL
Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified
Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC
110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power
Electrical Engineer, Retired

I have been using the EXOS2 and 100 pmc-8 systems and can say because of this forum and the helpfulness of its contents I have had little in the way of frustration and much time checking results of my astronomy/imaging. Thanks for making this possible!

If Asiair Pro can connect to the new firmware, then they're either using my update to the INDI driver, or doing their own improvements behind the scene.  My update should have made it into the INDI nightly builds by now, but there's a lot of different release channels, and I'm not sure who uses what.  The stable version of INDI won't have my updated driver until the 1.9.0 release, I believe.  I wouldn't be surprised if INDI on the Mac lags behind significantly, so your best bet would be to compile it yourself.

There shouldn't be anything broken with the updated INDI driver.  Users *may* see slightly more accurate gotos and guiding on account of the new firmware.  One of the biggest changes was eliminating the need for an inverted cable (though the inverted cable is probably still preferred).

That said, I just pushed a second update to my fork that overhauls pulse guiding, supports different SRF rates for RA/DEC, *may* support southern hemisphere (need a tester), fixes some obscure tracking issues, and a few other things.  I had some clear skies tonight and it hasn't blown anything up yet.  I'm not sure what the real world impact will be, but just to give an idea--I cut out at least 80-100ms of delay each time a pulse is issued (by making some pretty reasonable assumptions such as that another client won't be messing with the tracking rate and that the mount won't be tracking in Dec).

It's a big enough change, that I'm going to wait a while before I do a pull request, but I would welcome testing by anyone who wants to build my fork.

--
Karl
Austin, Texas

Mount: PMC-8 EXOS2
Scope: ES N208CF Astrograph
Camera: Pentax K-70
Guider: SX Ultrastar C, ZWO ASI120MC

Focuser: MyFocuserPro2
Software: Indi on Raspberry Pi 4