SGP won't slew to target

Sequence Generator
1

Last night SGP refused to slew to M100 because it said it was below the horizon. For reasons that are not clear to me it thought the altitude of M100 was -36 degrees when, in fact, it was actually +45 degrees.

This has happened occasionally in the past and my work around has been to go into the target settings and change SLEW and CENTER to “do not move to location.” I then ask TheSkyX to slew to the object and, after it has done so, I resume the revised (do not move to location) sequence. While this produces a message about having RA/Dec info for the target which is not being used, it permits the sequence to execute.

This time I thought it would be useful to troubleshoot the issue. My thought was that SGP must betaking an incorrect view as to the Target location although I cannot imagine why that would be so. The sequence uses my home User Profile (called Driveway) which has the correct Lat Long and elevation (and has worked properly on many prior occasions). My PC is connected to wifi and has the correct time.

I have excerpted below the portion of the log file where I get the below the horizon failure. I am happy to excerpt other portions that might be helpful though, at this point, I do not know what those portions might be.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Regards, George Pappayliou

[06/21/20 22:28:50.357][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] PHD2 GetPhdStatus - Post-Wait: Stopped
[06/21/20 22:28:50.372][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] DoEventGroupChange: Slewing to target
[06/21/20 22:28:50.380][DEBUG][Main Thread][SQ;] Adding sequence level notification: Slewing to target “M100”…
[06/21/20 22:28:50.381][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Sending Notification: Status - Slewing to target “M100”…
[06/21/20 22:28:50.383][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Error slewing telescope: Cannot complete slew! The requested position RA: 12.40; DEC: 15.71 is currently at altitude -36.46. Horizon for this user profile is 0.00.
[06/21/20 22:28:50.384][DEBUG][Main Thread][SQ;] Adding sequence level notification: Failed to slew to target! Cannot complete slew! The requested position RA: 12.40; DEC: 15.71 is currently at altitude -36.46. Horizon for this user profile is 0.00.
[06/21/20 22:28:50.411][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Sending Notification: Warning - Failed to slew to target! Cannot complete slew! The requested position RA: 12.40; DEC: 15.71 is currently at altitude -36.46. Horizon for this user profile is 0.00.
[06/21/20 22:28:50.411][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Failed to slew to target! Cannot complete slew! The requested position RA: 12.40; DEC: 15.71 is currently at altitude -36.46. Horizon for this user profile is 0.00.
[06/21/20 22:28:50.411][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Aborting sequence: Slew to target failed
[06/21/20 22:28:50.411][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Set sequence abort
[06/21/20 22:28:50.537][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] DoEventGroupChange: Complete
[06/21/20 22:28:50.544][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Cannot start seqeunce. EventGroupChange failed.
[06/21/20 22:28:50.544][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] Set sequence abort

2

Having received no response to my inquiry I thought that I would ask a series of follow up questions that might help me self-diagnose my issue:

  1. HOW DOES SGP DETERMINE THE ALTITUDE OF A TARGET (That is, of a given RA/Dec value)?
  2. IF IT DOES SO INTERNALLY, DOESN’T THAT ONLY DEPEND UPON THE DATE AND TIME?
  3. WHERE DOES SGP GET ITS DATE/TIME FROM?

If SGP incorrectly thinks a target is well below the horizon it would seem the only possibilities are:
(A) incorrect RA/Dec entries (which I’ve triple checked), or
(B) an incorrect view as to where the earth is in its rotation (presumably because of an incorrect lat/long Or date/time at that location).

Am I missing something here?

Regards, George

3

We use the current local time as well as your location (as set in the user profile) to determine the altitude.

No, location is also needed.

From windows.

I would double check your Lat/Lon in your user profile and make sure a sign or something isn’t flipped and the values are valid.

Jared

4

I had that happen once and it was because the RA and Dec in the sequence were both set to zero.