ASIAIR V3.0 Public Beta Released！: Page 14

ASIAIR V3.0 Public Beta Released！

elakrab

It happened to me maybe 3 nights out of 2 weeks I was testing it. If I manage to reproduce it I will send you the logs.

I think the cause is that it slews close to the meridian, and maybe because of some mispointing, it accidentally crosses the meridian and triggers the flip. If this is a possibility, I would suggest you to only trigger the flip if the final pointing (not the plate solved one) is past the meridian.

PMTeam@ZWO

elakrab Thank you for your feedback. If you’ve already submitted a bug report, could you please let me know the Bug Report ID? I’ll ask our developers to prioritize analyzing the issue.

PMTeam@ZWO

Janko Hi, Could you please describe the issue in more detail? If possible, could you also send us a screenshot? It will help us better understand the issue and identify the cause.

Janko

PMTeam@ZWO I was able to download data from the ASIAIR internal eMMC memory on the internal network at Gigabit speeds. Now at a speed of just over 100Mb/s.

elakrab

PMTeam@ZWO

I haven't yet, sorry. I am waiting for clear skies.

PS. I mounted the asiair on another rig with a CAA rotator and I see that still the limits for the 180 deg and/or zeropoint are not editable, and they seem to be pretty random because I remember correctly I 'set them' by hand by unscrewing and screwing the back plate of the rotator so that the filterwheel is facing up when the rotator is in the middle point of the 180 deg. It seems that this range got lost and now I am back with the situation of asiair allowing the CAA to move the filterwheel all the way to point down and clash the dovetail. I think you should really fix this and allow the middle point (zero point) of the 180 deg to be seteable. Without this the CAA is dangerous to use.

heyjp

Moontanner elakrab PMTeam@ZWO

Hi guys,

I bought and installed a CAA for my remote 9.25” EdgeHD at Starfront Observatories and assumed it would be easy to use. But it has been totally unpredictable. And I can’t see it at the remote location. Initially I left it at 0 degrees for a few images and pretty soon I got an error that it was completely bound up and couldn’t turn. What I found was that in 360 mode, it automatically does a 180 after a meridian flip. I also found that if I wanted to go fro 3 degrees to 0, it invariably tried to “the hard way” 357 degrrees around.

By switching to 180 mode, that stops the rotation after flips. Then I started setting my rotation angle for the night and turning it off so it didn’t do anything unexpected.

With version 3, the first thing I noticed is that when sitting at 180, it marks off 175 to 355 as “available”, which is better. I think. But I’m afraid to leave it turned on while it’s remote. I need someone to explain how it’s supposed to work now so I have confidence.

Jim in Boulder

Moontanner

elakrab

elakrab It seems that this range got lost and now I am back with the situation of asiair allowing the CAA to move the filterwheel all the way to point down and clash the dovetail

I've had a CAA on my main scope for ages now and was also very interested to see this "new" feature in action. From what I can tell, the CAA still gets lost if it isn't in the same spot everytime you fire up the ASIAIR. Something similar to the way my AZEQ6 behaves if it's not in the correct home position when fired up.
Simply shutting down a session before it's ended leaves the CAA in the last position used and needs a manual reset prior to the next session. Although I wouldn't trust that method to stop a filterwheel hitting a dovetail/pier/mount. Not yet at least.

I'm all ears too if there's something I missed in the new CAA settings that allows us to lock in that starting position and range from there.

Moontanner

heyjp

Thanks for sharing your findings. I was mainly focused on dealing with different bugs the other night, so the CAA didn't get much attention. As soon as I get a break in the clouds I'll try the latest beta version and focus on the CAA.
I'm not using mine remotely and it should be easy enough to figure out the new feature while hovering over the scope.

My rules for success with the CAA so far:
-Only use the 180 range setting
-Lots of cable slack
-Always turn on the ASIAIR with the CAA in the same orientation
-7 minutes either side of the meridian stops any impacts with the pier at any position (YMMV)
-Scope end of cable has a reef knot around the focuser tube that locks up to protect the ASIAIR ports
-Double sided Velcro straps out the wahzoo to lock down cables at the camera and prevent damage to usb ports

Given the above, yeah, it would be nice to figure out how to be confident enough to run the CAA remotely.

Luxo

heyjp

Hi Jim, As long as ZWO continue to make the CAA do 180 rotations after a meridian flip IMHO the CAA is totally unfit for use.

If you really are determined to have it on your rig, enable it only for manual rotation, then disable it so it won't rotate automatically.

@ZWO: The 180 rotation after a Meridian Flip was never needed - all the stacking software will handle rotations perfectly well without it, and we would all be better off if you delete that function, PLEASE.

Until then I will never put the CAA back on my rig, its just too risky.

Moontanner

PMTeam@ZWO

I just downloaded the latest build. The second CAA tab is interesting 😃. New product release?

PS. The pressure just shot up here and cleared the clouds unexpectedly. Tonight is looking like it's on for testing. If there's any suggestion for how to make use of the new CAA feature, now's the time to speak up.

Moontanner

Luxo
It's not really unfit for use when you can opt for the 180 deg range option. Mine has never switched back to the 360 range setting by itself.
The CAA is pretty nice when you want to shoot a few targets with different framing angles.

Luxo The 180 rotation after a Meridian Flip was never needed

No argument there. It's asking for trouble and I'm stuffed if I know why you'd want it turned on.

Did you notice the extra CAA tab in the latest release? When you go into it there's an option for a Flat.

elakrab

In my case I also took the CAA out. The idea of it is really nice and that is why I got mine, but it comes with just too many drawbacks:

you cannot use an oag unless you have 80+ mm backfocus.
adds a lot of weight.
it has some angular play.
shooting different targets in one night... Sure, but what about flats? I lime my flats to be at exactly the same spot. And if you want to take flats for different filters and different rotations, that easily builds up in required time.
weird unexpected rotations on meridian flips.
asiair implementation is really bad, with not setteable limits and settings that tend to be lost.

I think the product is not ready to be used as it is.

Interesting what you say about the new CAA tab. Can you upload a screenshot? I haven't updated yet.

Moontanner

elakrab
I can't say I really disagree with any of your points. Much the same as Luxo being pissed about his usb ports being damaged has given him good reason to avoid the CAA.

One point worth making is that I'm yet to notice a bad shot that shows angular play as the cause. The play is there and I notice it when I crop the final image, similar to the less than 1% off of centre thing that costs precious pixels.

Screen shots will have to wait as I'm currently testing the latest build. Seeing is terrible and the moon is bright enough to get a tan.

It's just an extra CAA tab that has a Flat Panel heading when you click on it. There's also an extra option for the end of plan. Close EFP.

No bugs yet.

Moontanner

All good last night aside from an issue with guide calibration. BT2026073019149

I'm still not really sure what the difference is with the new CAA feature mentioned above?

I'll swap over to the new 3.0 release thread. Thanks.

k6J471H7

Hello. I have been testing the latest build of v3.0. I have inadvertently downloaded v2.6 to my two devices on TestFlight which means I am locked out of my ASI Air Plus. When I use the TestFlight link to download v3.0 again it says beta is not accepting any new testers right now. My scope is out right now ready to test. Can you open access for me please.

minimoto71

k6J471H7 Hi. Version 3 is now officially released, so you have to download it from the App Store, not from TestFlight. Beta from there have been erased. Best.

k6J471H7

minimoto71 Thank you. I spotted the new release thread and downloaded v3.0 from the App Store almost immediately after posting my question and did some imaging. Weather was windy and turned cloudy so had to abort after an hour, but was good to get the scope out. Learned something about ASI and TestFlight so that was useful.

V3.0 was snappy across the board - focus, PA, plate solving - so seems optimised, but will test more when the skies clear.

qg8hzf66

new install of ASIAIR Plus 256GB
firmware: latest, applied by the mandatory V3.0 update
triggered on first power-up
ASIAIR app: V3.0
Nikon Z6II - firmware 1.70
Mount: ZWO AM3N (connects and slews normally)
Every capture attempt returns "exposure failure." No image file is produced -
nothing transferred to the app, nothing written to the camera's memory card.

WHAT WORKS

Camera is detected and appears in the device list
Exposure settings changed in the app propagate to the camera body correctly
(set 1s in app, camera display updated to 1s)
N3 shutter cable fires the shutter audibly on command
Camera writes files normally on manual shutter release
USB cable verified data-capable: same cable transfers photos to a PC

WHAT FAILS

Exposure fails identically whether timed over USB (expose-via-shutter-release
OFF, real shutter speed) or via the N3 cable (ON, Bulb). Both paths produce
"exposure failure" with no file written to card or app.

CAMERA CONFIGURATION

Mode M, Bulb, single frame, RAW (14-bit lossless compressed)
Long Exposure NR OFF, Vibration Reduction OFF
Setup menu: Airplane Mode ON, USB Power Delivery OFF, USB set to MTP/PTP
Memory card present

ASIAIR CONFIGURATION

Expose via shutter release - tested both ON and OFF
Save image to camera - tested both ON and OFF
Tested in AP mode and Station mode; device activated

ELIMINATED BY TESTING

Power: dedicated regulated Mean Well 5A supply, no other load
USB cable: verified transferring photos on a PC
USB ports: tested on both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports - identical failure
Camera hardware: manual shutter produces files normally
Boot order: camera-first-then-ASIAIR, and ASIAIR-first-then-camera
Trigger method: both USB-timed and cable-timed fail identically

LOGS

Log upload from the shooting page shows no entries to upload, with the ASIAIR
connected to the network and after reproducing the failure.

TIMELINE

This is a new installation. The mandatory V3.0 firmware update was triggered on
first entering the shooting page. I have never had a successful capture with
this device.

QUESTIONS

ASIAIR V3.0 is documented as involving "major underlying firmware upgrades"

with a mandatory update. The V3.0 release notes make no mention of
DSLR/mirrorless capture handling. Was external camera capture affected by
the V3.0 firmware changes, and are there known Nikon Z6II regressions?
Is the Nikon Z6II fully supported on the ASIAIR Plus 256GB, and at what
minimum firmware version?
Why does log upload show no entries after a failed capture?
If this is a V3.0 regression, is a downgrade available, and is there a
supported procedure for the Plus 256GB (eMMC, no removable card)?

any Ideas?

Luxo

qg8hzf66

If you don't want the update you must switch "automatic updates" OFF on your device. For iOS this can be awkward because it means disabling ALL updates on the device. For this reason I have an iPad dedicated to astro, and prefer not to use my iPhone.
no idea. It wasn't, previously.
no idea, sorry. Probably yet another bug on ZWO's part.
Yes, you can downgrade. See the missing manual for instructions.

Please note ASIAir is the buggiest app in Apple's App Store. It is also the only app I have ever had to downgrade in the entire history of the App Store (I'm an Apple user from 1984).

elakrab

qg8hzf66

Now that you mention it, I tried also my Canon 6D and couldn't take pics either with this capture failed error, but I assumed the cable went bad.

R0k9pZfT

Beta is dead, but why do you keep saying mandatory update? Is that an IOS thing? I'm ignorant there.

Luxo

R0k9pZfT
@qg8hzf66 has auto update enabled, and doesn't realize he should turn that off.

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