michael8554

Wiggle the plug on the mount to see if the connection is poor. How are you connecting the battery plug to the Ultracell, which appears to have lug connections ? Wiggle those connections too. Does the power led or the handbox display flicker ? Michael

That's where you should check, "pretty sure" isn't good enough. Filter wheel stuck on your opaque "Darks" Filter ? Michael

Hi Grant I suggest you read how to use PHD2: https://openphdguiding.org/PHD2_User_Guide.pdf And these : https://openphdguiding.org/phd2-best-practices/ Michael

SharpCap is probably using the camera in video mode, whereas PHD2 uses the camera in Long Exposure mode. And the PHD2 display isn't optimised for imaging, it only needs to show whether there are any useable stars, in mono only. Michael

It still sounds like a power problem. I believe the mount has a 5.5mm power socket with a 2.1mm centre pin ? If you have a power supply with a 5.5 x 2.5mm plug, the connection will be loose and can cause uncontrolled "runaways" when high current is required eg slews Michael

Still see used SPC900 / Toucams advertised for sale. Like here on SGL: Michael

Need more info Tony. The images from the ZWO will look mono if they aren't DeBayered , did you miss that step with the LX images ? Post a jpeg sub of each session. Michael

Image with the 1100D in 5x LiveView mode 848 x 568, to give non-compressed non-interpolated video. https://www.astropix.com/html/equipment/canon_one_to_one_pixel_resolution.html Michael

Some brands have the same handset for a range of mounts and OTA's, if so, have you selected the correct mount in the menus, and the OTA focal length if required ? I assume the two cables, from the RA and Dec drives, are attached ? What kind of power supply are you using ? Or maybe the super low price was because the mount is faulty ? Michael

If If you start with a location from the City List, up to 50 miles away is still okay, you can't be wrong. Michael

Random runaway of mounts is often caused by poor power supply, so check the supply and the connections When the Star Alignment offers a star that can't be seen, that often means your Location, Date , or Time setting is wrong. To get going, enter the closest city from the choices, and make a note of the figures. Later you can Edit that to your accurate location, using the same format. Date is entered mm/dd/yy, American format. Time and Time Zone look right to me. Michael

The Raw images will have a red caste. You can use a Custom WB, or just correct in image software after Stacking You can decide whether or not to apply a Custom WB when the Raw is loaded into DSS etc. Michael

For cameras with shutters, such as DSLRs, too fast an exposure can show shutter artefacts. Michael

Interesting you found your panel too dim. I had to add many layers of ND Filter Gel to get my Flat Panel exposure to around 1 second. I tried a PWM dimmer, but that flickered at the low setting that was required. I've gone through my archive, and about a year ago my were almost monochrome. The next session they were cyan. I haven't found out why yet but I'll keep trying Michael

Hi Lars You're saying that when pointed at a "white" display, one of the colours will saturate while the others are low ? What are the values for each colour ? Which camera ? I've had a look at my Modded 6D Flats shot in AV Mode, which takes about 1 second exposures, displayed "As Shot", rather than "Auto" or "Custom White Balance". My Flats are very cyan in colour (opposite colour to red), but I'd not noticed before how low the Red value is. Which makes me feel the camera in AV Mode is overcompensating for the extra Red that the Mod gives. I will have to investigate that. I don't believe the Flats have to be perfectly monochrome, so the simplest solution could be to add the appropriate colour gel filter to your display. Michael

Hi Mark You can't screw anything into the Diagonal, as the chrome part is Push Fit only. So push the diagonal into that 2"-1.25" adaptor and lock with the side screw. Then push all that into the Power Switch, only far enough to not foul the glass bits, and lock with the side screw. Michael

Hi Andrew To my eyes there are hints of elongation all over the image. Best to examine a single short exposure sub, stretched if necessary, to eliminate any guiding errors. Michael

Yes, but a new Cal doesn't reset your HEQ5 Equipment Profile. You should start over with a new Equipment Profile with the correct focal lengths etc, call it AZGTI if you like. PHD2 will save and reuse any Cal until you shft/clk to start a new one. Which you should do once a night if your setup isn't permanent. Ideally that should be an adjustment of the AZGTI Dec worm, but I'm not sure if that's possible with the AZGTI. Polar Alignment Error. As I suggested, if Dec Backlash can't be improved, run with a higher than usual 5 to 10 arcmins drift, to allow guiding to negate the Dec Backlash. Michael

Looking good. Happy Christmas, Michael P.S. Go easy on the Sweet & Spicy Texas Pecans.........

Good point bobro. The 50ED imaging scope is 242mm focal length , and the guidescope looks significantly shorter. That error would explain the guide rates and much more. Michael

Hi David From the 15th Dec GuideLog: There's no Calibration in the log, the last Cal was 10th Dec - is this a permanent setup ? Doesn't look like it from the images, so you should take a few minutes each night to re-Calibrate. PHD2 detects a mount setting of RA Guide Speed = 7.5 a-s/s, Dec Guide Speed = 7.5 a-s/s, But the Calculated rates from Cal were only Norm rates RA = 3.9"/s Dec = 4.3"/s; almost half the mount setting. I suspect you have too low a PulseGuide Setting in EQMOD. And Cal is best near Dec = 0 and near south, not at Dec 35.6,. Your DSLR / 50ED image scale is about 4arcsecs/pixel, which some might consider to be Under Sampling. But it also means huge moves are required of the mount to get a typical 12 pixel Dither, about 4 x 12 = 48 arcsecs ! At 21:27 there was a 35 arcsec RA Dither, PHD2 made three huge corrections that Settled the Dither, but RA overshot 10arcsecs, and it took three more corrections to finally Settle. Total Settle time was about 90 seconds. You have MultiStar Guiding selected, that means you can speed up exposures from 2.5 secs to as fast as 1 sec max, MultiStar will compensate for "Chasing the Seeing". That together with higher Guide Rate would mean faster PHD2 corrections, which could improve the Settle times. But a smaller pixel imaging camera would help 😆 Dec Backlash was measures at 16.5 secs, you might want to adjust that ! PA error at up to 9arcmins was always over the 5 arcmins max that PHD2 considers to be guideable. But if you can't improve Dec, run with that order of PAE. Start guiding, let it settle down, then switch Dec to OFF, and note the direction of Dec drift due to the PAE. Then set Dec to correct in the opposite direction. With luck Dec may never be pushed over the line, where corrections would first have to overcome all that Backlash. If you want Dithers, then leave Dec on Auto, but some Dithers may take a while to Settle :-< There was a focus warning in the GA run, it changed from HFD =4.3 to HFD = 7.2 on your last run, something loose ? Michael

This one has 3mm of thread each side and is 8mm thick: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203704551826?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1COiqsyB6R6aekIraaZtsgQ0&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=203704551826&targetid=1394639519947&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=1006463&poi=&campaignid=15278604175&mkgroupid=135429446288&rlsatarget=pla-1394639519947&abcId=9300698&merchantid=6995734&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5OuNBhCRARIsACgaiqV_CCkBTBv3X1OYfD1BFg4CNG66a-uXj_gB3Kv2OVGWxwUv2YnT7kQaAi2aEALw_wcB

Not enough of the graph to see the whole story, but after 15 steps every 2.5 secs = 37.5 seconds, Dec and RA do return to the zero position. Then the problem you are asking about: RA and Dec overshoot, but then the graph runs out. Post a PHD2 GuideLog, screenshots just frustrate. Michael

The T2 Adapter Spec is for 55mm Back Spacing for all brands of DSLR. So a Nikon has a longer Flange Distance (46.5mm) than a Canon (44mm), so has a thinner T2 Adapter. If yours is for a Canon and is not 11mm, it's non-standard. Michael

Mike doesn't seem to have a Focal Reducer or Field Flattener in his setup. You only need 55mm spacing if you have a FR or FF that has a 55mm Back Spacing requirement. Michael