I wanted to share a persistent issue I've been having with my AM5 mount and NINA, and the final solution that has completely fixed it for me. I also have some questions for the community about custom park positions and general slew reliability. I hope this helps others who are experiencing the same problems.
The Problem: Unreliable Park and Slew Commands in NINA
Like many others, I've struggled with the "Park" command for my AM5 when using it in a NINA sequence. My mount is connected via USB, and I am running the latest firmware (v1.7.7) and the latest ZWO ASCOM drivers (v6.5.23).
The main issue I faced was that the park command would hang my NINA sequence. The mount would physically move to the correct park position, but NINA would never get a confirmation that the operation was complete. This would cause my sequence to time out. I also experienced inconsistent behavior where the park command would sometimes not move the mount at all.
Beyond parking, I've had similar problems trying to use a "Slew to Alt/Az" command as a workaround for a custom park position. The behavior is totally unreliable: sometimes it triggers movement, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes NINA gets a confirmation, sometimes it doesn't. Occasionally, the sequence log will report that the slew was a success, but the mount hasn't moved an inch.
After analyzing the logs from the official ASI Mount application (which always works perfectly for me), I found that it communicates with my mount directly over the COM port using raw LX200 commands. It bypasses the standard ASCOM driver's AtPark property, which I believe is the source of the issue.
The key steps the app takes are:
- It sends the :hP# command to initiate parking.
- It then repeatedly polls the mount's status with the :GU# command.
- It waits for the status response to change from nGM... (indicating movement) to nNG... (indicating the mount has stopped).
This confirmation method is what makes it reliable.
Based on this, I've created a PowerShell script that does exactly the same thing. It connects to my mount via the COM port, sends the park command, and then waits for confirmation that the movement has finished before exiting.
I am now using this script in NINA with the "External Script" instruction, and it works flawlessly every single time. My end-of-sequence routine is now:
- Telescope - Disconnect (to free up the COM port).
- External Script (to run my parking script).
This has made my end-of-night shutdown sequence completely automated and 100% reliable. I'll attach the script to this post for anyone who needs it.
While my script solves the standard park command, I'm still wondering how others have handled the broader issues.
How have you dealt with the unreliable "Slew to Alt/Az" command?
Has anyone found a reliable way to set and use a custom park position from within NINA or other sequencing software? The default park position is not always ideal for every setup.
I'm very interested to hear your experiences and any other workarounds you've discovered.
Script is here
