Question about Polar Align function

[Keith Hoard]

Hy,

Thank you for the reply. Luckily I wasn't wearing gloves and was able to get to the OFF switch quickly.

-Keith Hoard
-klhoard at proton.me

Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/) secure email.

On Friday, December 15th, 2023 at 15:31, Hy Murveit <murveit at gmail.com> wrote:

> Keith,
>
> Thanks for trying KStars out.
>
> How to use the system
> After your two slews and 3 captures, the system likely displayed some information
> (the measured polar alignment error) and instructions (to press 'Refresh' to begin the correction cycle).
> Below is a screenshot of a recent KStars/Ekos build and you can see that on the screenshot.
>
> [Screenshot 2023-12-15 at 1.14.15 PM.png]
>
> I recommend you choose 2 or 3 seconds for the refresh, and the Plate Solve method.
> Once you click Refresh, the system will continuously capture images every 2 or 3 seconds, plate-solve those images,
> and update the estimated polar-alignment error. You would adjust your altitude and azimuth knobs to improve
> the polar alignment and reduce the error. When you're done, click stop.
>
> Protecting the system
> As designed, the system does not protect against crashing your mount during polar alignment.
> When you start polar alignment, you input a rotation direction and a direction and it will slew twice in the direction
> you selected by the number of degrees you selected. It is up to the user to make sure these slews are safe.
>
> BTW, there actually is a check for crossing the meridian if the mount is pointed away from the pole, and so it actually
> protects in this way, but it does not protect against the rotations you described. I guess it is assumed that when you do
> polar alignment, you're near the mount and are supervising it. See the screenshot below.
>
> [Screenshot 2023-12-15 at 1.26.29 PM.png]
>
> There is some online documentation about all this, e.g. see the KStars Handbook
> https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/kstars/kstars/kstars.pdf and you can also find some YouTube videos online, e.g.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOp7hrxw0oU
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KawYjSyesq4&t=1s
>
> If you find some doc is out-of-date, please let us know.
> Hy
>
> On Fri, Dec 15, 2023 at 11:58 AM Keith Hoard <klhoard at proton.me> wrote:
>
>> Last night was my first night I got out with kstars/ekos. I'm using the Stellarmate image on an Rpi-4. My mount is a HEM27EC.
>>
>> When I was using the Polar Alignment function of ekos, it went thru its normal 2 RA rotations and 3 exposures. After the last one, the system seemed to halt and I didn't know if it was my VNC connection or the Rpi since I was in backyard using home wifi. The mount RA axis was rotated approximately 80 degrees westward.
>>
>> I clicked "Start" button again and the PA routine began to rotate the RA axis more westward and I was able to turn off the mount power when the axis got to about 100 degrees rotation. Luckily I was right there to do that since the iOptron HEM mount will damage itself internally (and very expensively) if it is rotated past 120 degrees or so.
>>
>> Of course I'm checking if there is a setting inside the mount to prevent this from happening in the future. However I am also curious if there is a setting in the Polar Alignment function that checks where the RA axis is before it begins slewing? Perhaps it may be as simple as having the PA function begin with a "Find Home" command before commencing the RA slew commands?
>>
>> So far I am really liking kstars/ekos for control of my setup. I started with ASIAir, then went to NINA/Intel NUC, and am now on ekos/Rpi-4 and learning the operation of the system.
>>
>> -Keith Hoard
>> -klhoard at proton.me
>>
>> Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/) secure email.
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