WalterT I run into this issue more than half of the time when there is a meridian flip
Walter, in general, the reason a flip does not end up at the same place is that the mount's motors are not east-west leveled. Assuming that your mount is well constructed with no deviation from its motor and the baseplate, you need to level the tripod base (where the mount attaches) before placing the mount on it.
Each degree of non-level in the east-west direction, for example, can cause a mechanical meridian flip to be off by 2 degrees, since you would initially be synced to one side of the pier, and after flipping, your instrument is on the opposite side of the pier.
I assume that your camera angle is set up so that the long axis of the camera corresponds to the RA axis of the mount. If so, the images you posted is very likely the problem of the mount being non-level in the East-West direction, and it looks like your mount is off level by just about the angular width of your plate (the Dumbbell moved by half of your plate width). If you are curious, you can check your sensor scale after a plate solve to get an idea how much the level was off.
For convenience, I use one of the digital inclinometers instead of a good old carpenter's bubble nowadays:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077T7XW7X
There are cheaper digital inclinometers that is one-axis only (you need to reorient it when you east-west level and then change to north-south level) that go for less than U$16 at Amazon, but with less precise readout (0.1º instead of 0.01º), but still perfectly adequate for leveling a mount, and without rechargeable battery or backlight, for example. All of them are more convenient than a bubble level, especially in the dark.
All that said, the GOTO Auto Center switch in ASIAIR should force it recenter after its auto Meridian Flip. But if there is a bug that prevents it from doing so, leveling your mount should help. I do not use Auto Meridian flips, I do it myself (as an old time type of person).
Ignore lazy people who tell you that your mount need not be level and plate solve will cure everything. In fact, if both east-west and north-south of your mount are perfectly level, Polar Alignment itself becomes easier because the altitude and azimuth adjustments become independent of one another (if not, adjusting one will after the error in the other).
The amount a mount (that is a mouthful) is level will also determine the time of the auto Meridian flip. A mount that is off level by 1 degree in the east-west direction will cause the mount to think the target crosses the Meridian either 4 minutes (of time) earlier or later. The late transits are what causes the ASIAIR to issue repeated GOTO commands (once every minute of time) until the mount itself thinks the target has finally crossed the Meridian, and finally execute a meridian flip. The ASIAIR does not do Meridian Flips, the mount does it; the ASIAIR simply choreograph the time to try issuing an extra GOTO (or multiple ones if the mount is not level) to cause a flip. This alone, is worth leveling your mount.
By the way Walter, are you using an OAG? If so, I notice some shadow of the prism. If not OAG, then something else is vignetting your sensor.
Chen
