ASIAIR GoTo malfunction; AP900GTO CP4

houmi

I am controlling the Astro-Physics 900GTO with an ASIAIR Plus. The control box of the 900GTO is a CP4. In March of this year, the CP4 firmware was updated to version p02-16 by Astro-Physics, and since then, the GoTo command has not worked properly with the ASIAIR. It worked fine with the previous firmware version.

Here is the current behavior:
When sending a GoTo command to stars west of the Meridian, regardless of the 900GTO’s orientation, it always moves east and appears to perform an almost full circle. However, for stars east of the Meridian, the telescope correctly moves into view regardless of the 900GTO's initial orientation.

When the ASIAIR Plus is disconnected, and the 900GTO is controlled via its hand controller, the GoTo command works perfectly in all situations.

The ASIAIR firmware version is 2.2.2 (11.30).
The location and time information stored in the CP4, including the local sidereal time, are correct both before and after the malfunction occurs. Additionally, I have confirmed that the location and time information in the ASIAIR are also correct.

I suspect the ASIAIR driver for the AP900GTO CP4 is not compatible with the new CP4 firmware.

I would like to ask ZWO for support regarding this issue. Is it sufficient to just report the problem here?

PMTeam@ZWO

houmi Hello. Please help to do the following:

Check the location and time information in CP4, and make sure the time and location information of ASIAIR is also correct;
In preview mode, execute: 1) Control CP4 GoTo to a sky area; 2) Take a picture; 3) Click solve in the toolbar; 4) Click Sync after successful solve
Check whether the problem you mentioned still occurs after Sync
Please share any follow-up, thank you.

houmi

PMTeam@ZWO Thank you for your reply. Ok, I will try what you suggested, but it has been cloudy, unfortunately.

houmi

Hi, PMTeam@ZWO.

This evening, we have a clear sky.
I have just tried what you suggested.

1.
I confirmed that the location and time information stored in the CP4, including the local sidereal time, are correct both before and after the malfunction occurs. Additionally, I have confirmed that the location and time information in the ASIAIR are also correct.

2.
In preview mode, execute: 1) I control CP4 GoTo to a west side of sky area (Vega); 2) Take a picture; 3) Click solve in the toolbar; 4) Click Sync after successful solve.

3.
I set M57 that is just west side of Vega as a target and press GoTo. Then, unfortunately,
the mount moved to east and appears to perform an almost full circle.

As suspected, I think that the ASIAIR driver for the AP900GTO CP4 is not compatible with the new CP4 firmware.

I hope you will address this issue.