michael8554
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Everything posted by michael8554
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No surprise. A Flip Mirror is often used in these circumstances. For example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255067071462?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338353466&toolid=20006&4236=%26customid%3Ds%3AGS%3Bgc%3ACj0KCQjw-NaJBhDsARIsAAja6dOUahQa6nwbhmox8fooZLnuvXSRl8BkQYgdZ83eCZVTYavZ0VBPgCoaAiKWEALw_wcB%3Bpt%3A1%3Bchoc%3A2&customid=s%3AGS%3Bgc%3ACj0KCQjw-NaJBhDsARIsAAja6dOUahQa6nwbhmox8fooZLnuvXSRl8BkQYgdZ83eCZVTYavZ0VBPgCoaAiKWEALw_wcB%3Bpt%3A1%3Bchoc%3A1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-NaJBhDsARIsAAja6dOUahQa6nwbhmox8fooZLnuvXSRl8BkQYgdZ83eCZVTYavZ0VBPgCoaAiKWEALw_wcB This allows the target to be framed with an eyepiece, then flipping the 45 degree mirror out of the light path reveals the imaging sensor. Michael
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Probably one for vlaiv to answer, but here goes: A RA guide error of 1 arcsec at Dec = 0, and a guide error of 1 arcsec at Dec = 70, will have the same magnitude of effect on star shape. Are you asking whether guiding is EASIER at higher Dec ? Probably, as the stars appear to "move more slowly" in RA as Dec increases. Michael
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Strange bahtinov mask pattern
michael8554 replied to Mushroomrice's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
Maybe tilted sensor ? Is the camera sealed by a clear glass slip that has become dislodged ? No expert on collimation, but shouldn't all the Airy Rings be offset, not just the inner rings ? Michael -
Strange bahtinov mask pattern
michael8554 replied to Mushroomrice's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
Then it's a camera problem, not scope collimation ? Michael -
I would use SharpCap to capture the video. Focus on a star. For the short duration of the video I don't think you need more than a rough PA. Pointing the scope to get the planet onto a tiny sensor at high FL is the hardest part. Michael
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It's really not clear whether the OP want's to do Planetary - "4000mm with Barlow" ?? Or DSO's ? Or both ? ASI1600 plus Filters and ASI533mc suggests it's DSO's. The 4/3rds ASI 1600 probably uses more than the coma-free area of the C8's imaging circle. So I expect a Celestron C8 Edge HD, a Meade 8" ACF, or an 8" Ritchie-Chretien should do the job. Michael
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Pretty basic PHD2 questions, sounds like you've not read any of the PHD2 Help and How To guides available via the PHD2 Help menu. Such as https://openphdguiding.org/phd2-best-practices/ Also if you start using EQMOD, don't get caught out by the default ASCOM PulseGuide Setting of 0.1, up that to 0.5 or more:
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You can test the Home position suggestion anytime, even indoors Then pretend to do a Star Alignment, you don't need stars. Michael
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Hi Sean Not a CGX owner, but as I understand it: You position the mount into the Home position. And since you have changed so many parts, I believe you will need to set this as the Home position in the handbox. Then carry out a Star Alignment. If the mount will then not return to the Home position when commanded, and carries on past in RA, then there is a RA encoder problem. But I would have thought that should have prevented a successful Star Alignment. Michael
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Thanks newbie, so 10 mins 38secs points to grit or a damaged spot on the worm. Definitely not PE, that is a 10 min 38sec cyclic drift in RA, not sudden spikes. Michael
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From your GuideLog: In run 7 at 01:40am the RA spikes appear to be fairly regular at 10min 40 to 10 min 50 sec intervals. But more irregular in run 9 at 02:26am I can confirm they are not due to PHD2, they are due to the mount drive, you'll need to read posts concerning belt drive problems. I see as I write this that Steve has some suggestions 😆 Some settings you could improve: With ASCOM guiding you always Cal at Dec = 0, not Dec = 38, and use that for all targets that night. Your Cal had 5 steps of Dec Backlash before North Cal started to move the mount, which causes PHD2 to miscalculate the actual Dec guide speed. You must clear that Backlash by pulsing north until the guidestar moves, before Calibrating. Backlash Comp in PHD2 is disabled ? Run the PHD2 Guide Assistant to get a setting, and for recommended Minimum Move settings. Michael
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Need to see your GuideLogs, but I can see from your screenshots: Dec Minimum Move is only correcting spikes bigger than about 2 arcsecs, much too high ! And the really large Dec excursion of 8 arcsecs is taking 12 x 6sec exposure = 24 seconds to correct. That large excursion is the result of Dec Backlash, the 24 secs to correct could be due to too-low guiderate and/or Dec Stiction. And corrections only every 6 secs doesn't help, try 2 second exposures. But it all starts with the PHD2 Calibration, if that isn't good, guiding will suffer. Seems to me you're focusing on the fine detail when your basics aren't right. Read the Help and How To guides via the PHD2 Help menu, start here: https://openphdguiding.org/phd2-best-practices/ Michael
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bargain on ebay for anyone in warwick area ?
michael8554 replied to powerlord's topic in The Astro Lounge
Yes it has a wooden tripod. Maybe a poor description of the mount by a non-astro seller. But says "too big for me", suspicious. Michael -
bargain on ebay for anyone in warwick area ?
michael8554 replied to powerlord's topic in The Astro Lounge
£475 including the mount is not bad, but there's no mention of the mount in the items for sale. Michael -
Celestron image5 and sharpcap
michael8554 replied to Happysolderer's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
The spec for the Neximage 5 is not very good for a dedicated Planetary Camera: "FPS - 6.23 to 52.37 at the lowest resolution, 0.71 to 5.99 at the highest resolution" But looks like you should be able to get at least 6fps with the right settings, which is fast enough to focus. What software are you using to drive the camera ? Michael -
Hi Dean Dec = 90 is where the North Celestial Pole is, Polaris is located within 1 degree of the NCP. Dec = 0 is 90 degrees down from that, roughly where the moon is when it's south, not your local horizon. That's a good place, pointing south, to Calibrate for test purposes. But for all normal guiding you should calibrate "On Target" every time. Focus won't be the cause of your problem, it's just something else you need to refine. Michael
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Hi Dean You are ST-4 guiding, which means a lot of important settings don't show in the Log. For instance, what Dec were you Calibrating at ? How good is your Polar Alignment ? The Guide Rate is unknown. Focus is poor, use the PHD2 Star Profile window to get the lowest HFD reading. Although you had a large Calibration Step = 1750 ms, PHD2 tried 61 Calibration steps, at 61 steps it gives up and shows the "not enough movement" error message. Cal should normally take 12 steps. A Calibration Step of 3000ms should give more movement, but will be longer than your average exposure of 2000 ms, so is not a sensible setting to use in practise. Hopefully an iOptron SkyGuider Pro user will have more experience of the Guide Rate and Cal Step settings. Michael
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Problem with PHD2 Guiding Assistant
michael8554 replied to A320Flyer's topic in Discussions - Software
You should expect RA and Dec to drift during the Guide Assistant run, because guiding of both axis is turned off. The Dec drift is due to PA error, 5arcmins is fine, 5.1 has just gone over the PHD2 threshold of acceptable. RA drift is due to Periodic Error, every mount has some, even with PEC. A smooth line is good, variance would indicate the mount is wobbling on its own with the drives off. Michael -
LX200GPS and Hotech CT Collimator
michael8554 replied to symmetal's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Given the amount of mirror flop in the average SCT, how consistent were the dot positions as you altered focus and then refocused ? Michael -
Coma along diagonal with APO refractor
michael8554 replied to inFINNity Deck's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Is that a single sub or a stack ? I see elongation in the same direction everywhere in your image. Guide Error ? Take a single short exposure to eliminate this, and stretch it to brighten the stars. Michael -
SharpCap can't see my camera!
michael8554 replied to StuartT's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
You installed the ASCOM 6.5 Platform, but did you go on to install the ASCOM driver? From the Meade LPI-G "Quick Start Guide: "To install the ASCOM drivers, first install the "ASCOM Platform" by clicking on the "ASCOM Platform" button found on the CD-ROM startup screen and follow the on-screen instructions. After the ASCOM platform is installed, install the ASCOM Camera Drivers by clicking on the "ASCOM Camera Driver" button found on the CD-ROM startup screen. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation" Michael -
SharpCap can't see my camera!
michael8554 replied to StuartT's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
So why don't you try copying those SkyCapture > X64 > Meadecam files into Program Files (X86) > SharpCap 3.2 ? Michael -
SharpCap can't see my camera!
michael8554 replied to StuartT's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
You might need to move the LPI-G ASCOM driver into one of the SharpCap folders - read the help files. Michael -
Without even looking at your GuideLog, I know realise the huge blob in your Saturday image is not a globular cluster, but an out-of-focus star, and what I thought were the stars are hot pixels. So you have not "fixed the problem", the focus is still way out. Take off the guidecam and focus the sun onto a flat surface. Roughly measure from the back of the scope to that point. That's where the ZWO sensor has to be located, it's 8.5mm inside the front of the camera with no adapters mounted, Michael