Strange problem with NINA and Falcon

[ispybadguys]

I have encountered a strange problem with the rotator. I noticed that in NINA within an Advanced Script that the CenterAndRotate is commanding the rotator to move and the rotator is not moving so the script stalls forever. This AM I see that it stalled waiting for a move to complete so I entered the angle in the Equipment page under the mechanical angle and the rotator started moving and then the script continued. I looked in the NINA log and I didn't see anything strange. The first time this happened I entered the angle into the Unity Platform and this also caused the rotator to move. So it is like maybe the driver dropped the rotate command.

Thanks

Kurt

[mhnudi]

For me, I ended up having to use the “reverse rotator direction” option in NINA to get it working as expected. Also, verify that you have your range (90, 180, etc.) adequately specified in NINA. Mine works fine in NINA now.

[ispybadguys]

It happened again last night and has happened a few more time since this post. This time I see this error in the log: I can't trust the Falcon to work

at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at NINA.Sequencer.Conditions.ConditionWatchdog.<>c__DisplayClass13_0.<<Start>b__0>d.MoveNext() in E:\Projects\nina\NINA.Sequencer\Conditions\ConditionWatchdog.cs:line 52
2022-11-27T16:54:30.5106|ERROR|AscomDevice.cs|GetProperty|353|An unexpected exception occurred during GET of IRotatorFacadeProxy.Reverse:
ASCOM.DriverException: CheckDotNetExceptions ASCOM.PegasusAstroFalcon.Rotator Reverse Get System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. (See Inner Exception for details) ---> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at ASCOM.DriverAccess.MemberFactory.CheckDotNetExceptions(String memberName, Exception e) in C:\ASCOM Build\Export\ASCOM.DriverAccess\MemberFactory.cs:line 629
at ASCOM.DriverAccess.MemberFactory.GetTargetInvocationExceptionHandler(String memberName, Exception e) in C:\ASCOM Build\Export\ASCOM.DriverAccess\MemberFactory.cs:line 664
at ASCOM.DriverAccess.MemberFactory.CallMember(Int32 memberCode, String memberName, Type[] parameterTypes, Object[] parms) in C:\ASCOM Build\Export\ASCOM.DriverAccess\MemberFactory.cs:line 287
at ASCOM.DriverAccess.Rotator.get_Reverse() in C:\ASCOM Build\Export\ASCOM.DriverAccess\Rotator.cs:line 186
at Castle.Proxies.Invocations.IRotatorFacade_get_Reverse.InvokeMethodOnTarget()
at Castle.DynamicProxy.AbstractInvocation.Proceed()
at Castle.DynamicProxy.AbstractInvocation.Proceed()
at Castle.Proxies.IRotatorFacadeProxy.get_Reverse()
2022-11-27T16:54:30.6246|INFO|AscomDevice.cs|GetProperty|327|Retrying to GET IRotatorFacadeProxy.Reverse - Attempt 2 / 3

[Hindsight]

I am having the same issue. I know this is a two year old post but figured I'd see if you ever found a solution?

The issue appears to be the Unity Platform and or Rotator becoming non-responsive. In my case, when I checked this morning, the rotator was completely unresponsive and did not show up in Unity software. Re-starting unity software resulted in the rotator not displaying on the menu so couldn't even connect to it. I had to power cycle the rotator and computer (the whole pier) and then it came back online.

I get the same error in NINA. It solved/centered/rotated properly, then immediately after the meridian flip, NINA began the task of preparing to check and adjust the rotation of the image post-flip. The first thing it does is call the rotator over ASCOM to get it's current mechanical rotation angle. That call fails because the rotator has gone offline or is locked up or otherwise non-responsive so nothing else with the rotator will work from that point forward.