iOptron commander 9.20.1

Rainer Ehlert · Jan 29, 2026, 05:03 PM

Hi iOptronerds,

Anybody else having or had this problem, not possible to slew “Counterweight Up Pointing” as Pointing state is greyed out, with commander 9.20.1 and how did you solve it. I have CEM 120EC2 mounts and before upgrading to 9.20.1 I had 9.13 and it was working. Downgrading to 9.13 again does not solve the problem.

I wrote two days ago to iOptron suppoert and no answer at all.

Thanks

📷 image.png

I was trying to figure it out but I though I might ask ChatGPT… Here is the answer… It makes sense, perhaps you can try it? I have a CEM70 but never slew it from Commander, but either from Nina or Stellarium.

ChatGPT’s rationale:

The Counterweight Up Pointing option is grayed out because it is not applicable to the current slew mode / target type, so iOptron Commander disables it on purpose.

What’s really going on

That checkbox is not a global mount setting. In that dialog it is context-sensitive and only becomes editable when pier-side ambiguity exists.

In your screenshot:

• Catalog Name: Solar System

• Object: Mercury

• Commander is computing:

  • RA/Dec

  • Alt/Az

  • Distance

  • Time-dependent ephemerides

For Solar System objects, the driver already knows:

• The object’s current position

• The only valid pointing solution that avoids illegal pier states

So Commander says, effectively:

“There is no alternate pier-side solution here. You don’t get a choice.”

Hence: option disabled.

When that option becomes enabled

You’ll see Counterweight Up Pointing become selectable when both of these are true:

• You are slewing to a fixed RA/Dec target
  (Star Catalog or Custom Coordinates, not Solar System)

• The target can be reached from either side of the mount without violating limits

In that case, the checkbox means:

“Force the non-default pier side.”