Mount and SC Time Sync

[kaymann]

When SC connects to my mount occasionally I will get a yellow warning that the mount time and SC are not in sync by XX minutes/seconds (thankfully never by hours ). I really like this feature and appreciate the heads-up.

However, I do own a Celestron CGEM DX mount and use a Celestron Telescope Driver. So when SC asks if I want to sync the time I click yes and get an error message that it failed (not a SC issue instead a Celestron issue).

Beyond CWPI (which I do not like because of the Handheld "Bootloader" lockout) is there a Celestron Telescope Driver that you know of that will allow the syncing of the time either manually or by SC? I know this is more of a Celestron question and not a SC bug or problem, but I thought you might know.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

[admin]

Hi,

I suppose there might be third party (open source?) drivers for the Celestron mounts in the same way that EQMOD on GreenSwampServer are third part drivers for the Skywatcher mounts that are often better than the manufacturer provided ones. I can't say that I've ever noticed coming across such a thing though... Maybe they exist?

Looking at the Celestron Telescope Driver, I can see that there is an ASCOM setting visible in ASCOM Profile Explorer of 'SetTimeWhenAligned' which defaults to false - there is no way to change this in the setup UI for the Celestron driver, but I suppose you could in theory edit it in ASCOM Profile Explorer. I am guessing though that it is set to false for a good reason - probably changing the mount time when alignment is already present will spoil the alignment? It might be that you can set the time by connecting from SharpCap before aligning the mount? It also looks as though the ability to set the time depends on the handset model and (in some cases) firmware version.

cheers,

Robin

[kaymann]

I tell you what I will edit the ASCOM profile and let you know what happens - I will play with it during full moon

[kaymann]

Hi,
...

Looking at the Celestron Telescope Driver, I can see that there is an ASCOM setting visible in ASCOM Profile Explorer of 'SetTimeWhenAligned' which defaults to false - there is no way to change this in the setup UI for the Celestron driver, but I suppose you could in theory edit it in ASCOM Profile Explorer.
...
cheers,

Robin

So I have done some experimenting with the Profile Explorer 7.0 with the following results:

UsePCTime = True
Results in total crash of the ASCOM controller

SetTimeWhenAligned = True
I believe the time did get synced with the PC and Alignment was shoved over in the same amount of time but a new plate solve solved the misalignment as the there was no time change so two plate solves and success. However I really want to put this through the ringer with some large time errors like moving to a new location could do. This would show me if it went crazy some how with a bad or failed PS I will let you know.

I am curious to see how UseDriverSync = True affects time and other aspects.

I know this solution is only for geeky astro photographers but for those of us who hate setting the time on the HC will at least get an alternative that Celestron did not make easy to get to.

[kaymann]

Hi,
...

...
SetTimeWhenAligned = True
I believe the time did get synced with the PC and Alignment was shoved over in the same amount of time but a new plate solve solved the misalignment as the there was no time change so two plate solves and success. However I really want to put this through the ringer with some large time errors like moving to a new location could do. This would show me if it went crazy some how with a bad or failed PS I will let you know.

I am curious to see how UseDriverSync = True affects time and other aspects.

I know this solution is only for geeky astro photographers but for those of us who hate setting the time on the HC will at least get an alternative that Celestron did not make easy to get to.

Well I am finding with the above set to true I am finding my time is now getting to no more than a second or two and never needs intervention on my part as plate solving takes care of any adjustments in time.

IOW - as long as I am close enough when turning the mount on the a plate solve will take care syncing alignment and the time!

[kaymann]

Well here is the latest up date... With the above profile adjustments:
When I purposely set the time way off at the hand controller SC tells me the mount time is off. This time I get no error message leading me to believe time was correct. So last night with a lot of clouds I was able to play around and I went to the hand controller and determined the Hand Controller time was still in accurate. It was just plate solving that had compensated for time error.

TBL there is no way other than CPWI and the hand controller to adjust the time in a Celestron mount.

To reiterate this is a Celestron issue not a SC issue

[admin]

Hi,

isn't there a GPS add-on for the Celestron mounts that you plug in and it will then set the time/date/position from GPS? Mind you, it's probably not cheap, and if it is doing a GPS fix from no previous data available it will take about 5 minutes or so (fast GPS fix times that we are used to with phones require the almanac and ephemeris to either be cached or be fetched over a fast network link, rather than waiting for them to arrive slowly in the GPS signal).

I guess there is also the older Celestron ASCOM driver (pre CPWI) - no idea if this behaves differently or even if it will work with a newer handset, but might be worth a try.

cheers,

Robin