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[paul_astrix]

I can run the AstroEQ Update Utility and it finds the V4.6 Controller (I bought the PCB and pre-programmed chips, the rest from Farnell).
I can upload the V4-DIY kit firmware and read/write to the Eprom, on the COM4 port on Windows 10. The device manager shows a SD Microchip Device on USB Serial Port COM4.

But EQMOD will not find a mount on COM4.

Any suggestions?

cheers
Paul

BTW: I'm a developer and I think a magic command "!!test!!" to run self-test routines on the AstroEQ would be good. Loop through stepping each motor for 5 seconds forwards, then backwards. That would verify the motor drivers, cables and steppers, as well as partly test the Astro EQ. I'll take a look at the code later.

[paul_astrix]

When I click on the Port button on EQMOD ASCOM SETUP, it briefly moves to COM4 (where AstroEQ is) and I can see the STAT light blink on my AstroEQ.
But then the setup says "Not Found" and reverts back to COM16.

I have set the 2 pcb links for the 8255 motor drivers...so I can't think why AstroEQ should reply with a "valid mount" reply or similar problem.

cheers
Paul

[paul_astrix]

Sorted:

I assumed that the PCB + pre-programmed chips I bought needed the "ASTROEQ V4-DIY BOARD (INCLUDING KITS)" firmware. That did not work.

But when I used the "ASTROEQ V4-EQ5 BOARD" firmware, the board was recognised.

I'm getting all sorts of tunes out of an old Vexta 4V 1.1A stepper (the only one I have to test).....which in PARK mode was getting rather hot.

So its working....I now need to order the 2 steppers that Tom recommended.

cheers
Paul

[TCWORLD]

There isn't actually any difference between the V4-EQ5 and the V4-DIY options in the config utility. There are two different entries because I wanted to keep options open for a customised version I have just in case I changed things along the way.

I'm not at all sure what the problem was. Reprogramming the chip in general probably fixed something somehow, I don't know.

[TCWORLD]

Also, you probably need to adjust the current limit on the driver boards if the motors are getting hot.

[Victor_M]

Hi,
try to connect first the 12V power supply of your AstroEQ and after that, the USB to your computer. I had the same problem and I've solved it just like this

cheers and good luck
Víctor

[paul_astrix]

I now have two of the steppers of the type Tom suggested: Nema 14 Bipolar Stepper 5.4V 0.8A 18Ncm(25.5oz.in) 14HS13-0804S with 10mh of inductance. These are popular in 3D Printers apparently.

I connected one and even with the current limit set really low (by trial and error) it gets too hot to touch. I wondering if I could have wired it incorrectly. I can spin the RA motor at 64x, at 800x it did accelerate to a fast speed but the motor stalls after 2 seconds, whining at a higher pitch. That was x16/x16 microstepping

With 16/2 the performance is poor
With 16/16 the performance is better, but x800 stalls
With 32/4 the x800 slew is slower than 16/16 but keeps going

Then
With 16/16 set for EQ5 with custom belts the high speed got further before it stalled. I can't remember the previous gear settings.

Tom - I think more combinations of speeds might help. Although I'm a little confused why 16/16 appears faster before it stalls. That also makes me think the x800 speed is not consistent.

Also with the motor current pot as low as possible the motor feels too hot when not tracking. Surely the motor can be off when not tracking?

-Paul

[TCWORLD]

With regards to the speed difference, that is a mistake in the config utility that I am working on fixing. There is a patched testing version here.

Were the driver boards the Pololu ones, or clones? If Pololu ones and you have a multimeter, check the voltage at the voltage reference via. For the clones you will need to find the correct place on the pot to measure (the via in the clones is 12V for some reason). It is sometimes possible for the potentiometer screw to come lose and not make contact with the wiper resulting in no current limiting at all, a voltage measurement would check this.

The motors can't be turned off during a session, even when they are not moving. If you remove power from the motors, they lose all torque and so can easily be moved accidentally.

[paul_astrix]

Thanks Tom,

They were Pololu, allegedly, but there is a contact point to measure the voltage. I'll check it later. The motor was just lying on a piece of paper on the edge of our sofa.

I bought Nema 14 metal brackets from here: http://www.robotshop.com/uk/aluminum-l-bracket-nema-14-stepper-motors.html
For the price and accuracy its not worth making your own, although I'll need some flat bar to fix the brackets to the mount.
They will absorb a lot of heat and transmit it to the mount, so I was testing in the absolute worst case of a warm living room!

Thanks for the Beta config utility, I'll give you some feedback after using it for a while.

-Paul

[paul_astrix]

Tom,

32/4 seems a bit better, 16/16 still stalls. Best GOTO rate I could get is x256. x300 stalls after 2 seconds which is a bit dissappointing.
Don't understand why 16/16 is ok, but 8/8 gives an Ival error. The CPU can cope with that; it is the user responsibility to set a sensible GOTO rate in EQMOD.

Some GUI suggestions for a new user, unfamiliar with Config:

1) No version number on Config GUI. This becomes confusing for Beta testers. A simple About box would be fine, or just add the version number to the Window title string e.g. "AstroEQ Firmware Update Utility " + version_number; Simples!

2) Can we have the Max / Min rates permanently summarised in the GUI e.g [32 / 4]  Then also a multiplier pulldown X16 X8 X4 etc for [32 / 2], [32 / 4], [32 / 8], [32 / 16].  Display [??/??] if unknown.
Alternatively two pulldowns for Hi and Lo rates.  It's very confusing during testing, not to know the last hi/lo rates that were uploaded to the EEPROM.

4) Make the command output window larger, option for a larger font (I can't read it) and white on black for daytime use. Also wider scroll bar.

5) Third option after Finished | Back to Start | Run EQMOD again   This allows changing EQMOD settings with the Toolbox | Driver Setup, goto from x800 down to x600 for example, then quickly testing again.

cheers
Paul

[TCWORLD]

Hi Paul,

The config utility was originally just an excel spreadsheet. I've been improving it over the years, and while I accept it is not a brilliant piece of software, it gets the job done. It's written in Java using Processing and ControlP5 as a back end. They are good for quickly throwing together a program, but not great for well engineered software. In any case, in response to your points:

(1) Is no problem. Will add that
(5) I'm not sure why it is needed, but I can add that relatively easily. The go-to rate is changed via the AstroEQ config, not via EQMOD, so in order to change it and test again you'd need to go back to the start. I suppose I could have it go back to the config page again, but the whole EEPROM programming step needs to be done to make sure everything is uploaded, and at that point it makes sense to read the EEPROM again to be sure that what is in there is what you expect.
(3) Appears to be missing, so another one ticked off
(4) I'd made it smaller in this one because some people wanted the utility to fit on a 600px screen resolution. Making it expandable is an absolute pain in Processing, it really doesn't like resizing, but I seem to have got it doing it (albeit in a hacky way). Font size has been increased too.
(2) I'd rather not complicate things. When gear changing is enabled, the uStep mode for fast movements is always 1/8th of the number of usteps than the slow movements.

With regards to your other issues. When the IVal is reported as being too large, it is not that the CPU can't handle it (in fact at that point the step rate is very slow), but rather that the resolution is going to be so low that it is really not worth bothering. There are other technical reasons too - one of which is that with IVals much larger you end up very limited in what <1x speeds that can be done. For example if you try to do 0.1x (the slowest EQMOD will do), that ends up being a 10 times larger value - for an IVal of 1200, the speed value would be 12000 (but ends up being 24000 in some calculations). At 0.05x speed (the slowest AstroEQ guiding will do), the speed value is 24000 (48000 in some calculations), closing in on the maximum value an uint16_t can hold.

I haven't yet had a chance to properly look at why the goto speeds are not being picked up correctly. I will hopefully get a chance soon.

[paul_astrix]

Tom,

You deserve a medal for using Java! I'm a died-in-the-wool C++ man (Fortran if you want) and I like the compiler to find syntax errors and not the Customer!

We use a lot of Javascript in ArtCAM - www.artcam.com, but on the plus side the new one pound coin was designed with it.

Understood on all points. Regarding 2) I wanted to double check the correct uStep settings were uploaded, because after trying half a dozen combinations you can't see the wood for the trees. Maybe a simple text log is worth the effort, if other customers have asked for a log of some sorts. A human readable version of the .conf perhaps, saved as text with date+time. Just a thought. Bigger fish to fry.

regards
Paul