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It seems as if my AWR[Technology]UK drive system is not long for this world. It has been a total pain getting it to perform as expected from day one. It couldn't ever manage to remember LST and CET until I changed it manually. Even after that it is rare for it to find any object in a C-Du-C [Skychart] Goto.
AWR has has to be reminded of the parking position every time it is switched on. Surely this should be completely unnecessary in a fixed observatory drive system? Every single time I remind it of the parking position it responds with "Outside perimeter." Whatever that means. The parking position is horizontal and facing east. As recommended in the 70 page manual.
This position can be set extremely accurately and I even use an accurate digital clinometer to confirm the horizontal. The axes are then at a right angle to each other. I also have to Set Parking Position otherwise AWR doesn't understand why I just entered the parking coordinates for the 365th time this year. It requires the extra step or it will never ever return to the Parking Position when you press HOME.
C-Du-C [Skychart] keeps crashing now. I start up AWR then Skychart. The cursor goes to the Eastern horizon exactly as expected when I "Connect Telescope." This should be a nice safe start to my habit of sending it straight to the low Sun in the East as I start my imaging session, but no. It always overshoots in RA and must be brought back with the paddle.
Now the AWR IH2 has taken to bleeping loudly and repeatedly and telling me that "U-step timed out" every single time I turn the system on. To remind it yet again of the same parking position it has enjoyed since day one. And, no, I have no idea what U-step Timed Out means.
Goto slews are now never finished. The Declination motor continues to run at medium speed until something breaks. Or I literally pull the plug out. The IH2 handset proves completely unresponsive to any button pushes during this potentially damaging crisis. Yet it should stop instantly on pressing any direction button on the IH2 handset. Well, it says so in the manual. So it must be true!
It has a habit of losing track these days. For some reason it goes from tracking to not tracking and the handset becomes completely unresponsive until the power is isolated and the whole system restarted from scratch. Of course that means the telescopes MUST be returned to the parking position and the whole palaver started all over again. Only for C-Du-C [Skychart] to crash, yet again and keep repeating error messages but completely refusing to shut down.
The system has become wayward at tracking too. I have to constantly manage the tracking using the Simple Handset every few seconds. Otherwise the sun sinks out of sight! The mounting hasn't moved since it was installed.
I use a commercial ASCOM-AWR driver which allows computer connection via an AWR supplied serial cable. Allowing me [theoretically] to enjoy planetarium facilities with Gotos to cursor positions. This system has never worked with Stellarium.
What are my options? Paying another £50 for the driver author [Tigra ASTRONOMY] to provide remote support? What if it isn't the driver at fault? ASCOM support forum constantly falls over itself to tell the world its [highly intelligent and competent users] are complete idiots and losers. While THEY [ASCOM] aren't there for supporting anything but ASCOM. And god help you if you can't get ASCOM to play nice with your kit! Because it is ALWAYS your expensive kit which is at fault. It is always the manufacturer who didn't do a proper job in getting their drivers to work with ASCOM.
Obviously I have no desire to start looking for another drive system at this stage. I am too old to start learning how to use Arduino, all its extras and its programming language. I have seen the misery of those who have tried this using far more experience than I could possibly manage.
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