Meridian Flip using slew commands?

Sequence Generator
1

Hi,

I’m currently using a trial license of SGPro with my Mesu 200 (ServoCat / ArgoNavis version) and am hugely impressed - autofocus and plate solving / targeted slews are working beautifully.

This evening I tried to set up the Meridian Flip feature, but while I was able to select that in the Equipment Profile, as soon as I start a sequence I receive the message “This telescope is not capable of performing a meridian flip! Proceeding will ignore this command.”

Now, I’m aware that the ServoCat driver is very limited and doesn’t support parking or meridian flip. But something I read in another post caught my eye. From Ken’s response in Mesu 200 and Meridian Flip - Sequence Generator - Main Sequence Software :

> For pier flips, SGPro supports two different kinds of mounts… those that allow us to send a command to flip and those that don’t (then we use normal slew commands in lieu of this).

So I expected that though the ServoCat driver doesn’t have a meridian flip command, SGPro would recognise this and instead send a set of slews that would achieve the flip. But it doesn’t seem to be the case, and I can’t see any other settings that might change this.

Am I mis-interpreting Ken’s comment?

Thanks

Nigel

2

@NigeB

Thanks for the report… this definitely, at first glance, seems like a regression in functionality. I have modified the check to be a little more discerning. You should only see this now if you attempt to flip prior to passing the meridian (which your mount truly is not capable of)… That said, your mount / driver is still responsible for performing a flip when we ask it to go to its current position, but the meridian has passed.

This will be out in the 2.6.0.8 beta.

3

Hi Ken,

Many thanks for your fast reply - much appreciated.

A quick question regarding the beta release - can this simply be installed “on top” of the current version, or should I install it as a separate instance? And is it the case that all of the hardware settings are in the equipment profile of my current version and this can be loaded into 2.6.0.8 beta?

Thanks again

Nigel

4

@Nigel

Um… We originally devised the install process to support many side-by-side installs, but have not tested this in a while to see if we have broken it. You can certainly install it over your 2.5.1 install without issue.

2.5.1 has a pretty nasty auto center bug in it right now that might cause your sequence to hang. 2.6, even in beta, is probably more stable.

5

Thank you! OK, if these clouds ever clear I will try that out and report back.

Best Regards

Nigel