Using AllSky search from Model Creator

Often, when I setup my scope in a new location, plate solving with TSX fails because the alignment is too far off. I always wished for an option in ModelCreator to use AllSky search (similar to how ModelCreator allows to select "Blind" search in SGP).

... and in one of my recent frustrating nights where I couldn't get plate solving to work, I found this option:

It's kind of backwards that I will have to select it in TSX. But it totally works - yei!!!

... I just have to remember to switch it back once my scope is aligned fairly well - Regular Plate solving is MUCH faster!!!

RigRunner woes

A few weeks ago, one of my 10Micron mounts started to experience short outages. I suspected that it was the 12V power supply and started using the 110V power supply. Everything worked fine ...

Then, when I was at Richard's ranch, the NUC on the same mount didn't turn on (or briefly turned on and turned off right away again). When I measured the voltage, it was well below 12V. I suspected that the DC/DC converter has some issues. Luckily, I could power it from the other mount.

Back home, I ordered a new DC/DC converter. It came a few days later, I installed it ...
... and the same problems.

Now, I did some more intensive measures and realized that the DC/DC converter was fine, but for some reasons, the RigRunner would output lower voltage. And I remembered that the RigRunner got soaked a few months back when it was raining ...

So, I ordered a new RigRunner. In the meantime, I just used a simple power distributor between the DC/DC converter and all the equipment (mount, NUC, camera, filter wheel...).

And suddenly the almost brand new FLI ML16200 camera acted up. Every now and then, it would stop working. Sometimes I could reconnect it and it worked, sometimes I had to restart the camera, sometimes reboot the computer to make it work. I was almost ready to contact FLI ...

... but then the new RigRunner arrived and I wondered if it provides a more stable output to all cables. When the camera downloads the image, the computer needs more power at the same time to store the image.

And, yes, that was it. With the RigRunner in place, all components now work smoothly again. Yei!