michael8554

Come on you PixInsight users, give the guy a hand ! Wael, add PixInsight to the title if you can, to attract the right people. Michael

I agree that zero is totally wrong, and that 23 is more like it, but so much depends on monitor settings. I use 30 to 35. Michael

Tiny Alt and Az pulses might work. I would expect how to dither without guiding has been covered in other posts. Michael

Wow, that's tricky, I'd expect a GoTo close to a big bright star for a beginner to centre. My mistake. Michael

Well done Malcolm, a concise, non-rambling account of how to set up guiding. I think you forgot to list that EQMOD default guide rate is only 0.1 Michael

The scope was originally set up for a DSLR with a 44 mm lens-flange-to-sensor spacing, or 55mm with the T2 Adapter. On the 314L that spacing is only 13mm. So 55 - 13 = 42mm is the amount of spacing you need to add, to place the 314L sensor where the DSLR sensor was. Michael

A combination of Walking Noise, and Field Rotation due to AltAz mount. Dither. Michael

Imagine a playground see-saw. With nobody on, the load on the pivot is the weight of the plank. With two children on it, the load on the pivot is the weight of the plank plus two children. Scope balance is good, but weight on the bearings has increased. A necessary evil, as balance is more important. Michael

The fact that it was last used in Australia, and that the SkyPortal app improved matters, suggests to me that you had the location data incorrect, and SkyPortal corrected that. Make a note of the format of the location settings in the handset for future reference. The first Alignment Star will usually not be central in the eyepiece, maybe not even in the eyepiece field of view. So centre it with the handset controls and ENTER to confirm it is Aligned. The skymap in the mount will now have been dragged into synch with reality, that's the purpose of the Alignment. To improve that synch, another Alignment Star is usually offered in a sky location far from the first star. When that has been centred and accepted then GoTos should be thereabouts. The 9.25 has a small field of view, so targets may still be slightly out, but gross errors are something else. Michael

Appears to multiple pasted Clones of the same small circular Selection of part of the image. Michael

Just a guess, a rooftop or trees were encroaching into your image. Michael

Sounds like the Windows USB power settings, untick something like "Allow Windows to turn off to save power" in Device Manager. Michael

PHD2 deletes oldest GuideLogs and DebugLogs after 30 days. Michael

Very nice ! Definitely not "my images are Cak....." Michael

Post your latest GuideLog so we can advise.# Michael

Earlier you said "I came back out and swopped over the SD card" Did you stop guiding to do that, then reselect Tracking ? Michael

You've probably read about setting focus during the day with SharpCap on Auto Exposure, and a pinhole in ally foil over the objective. Focus on a mid-distant landmark, then notice which way you turn the focuser to focus a really distant landmark. Then on a star only turn focus in that same direction. Are you saying you changed the SD card without stopping guiding ? And you had to reselect Tracking in the app ? Had the device gone to sleep during the hour of exposures ? Michael

Correct, even I make mistakes sometimes............... :-< Surely the important part was that the cable looked to be damaged, and was at a crazy angle ? Your image on Sunday, when guiding started to work, showed an ASCOM connection in the Connect Equipment window, and no ST4 cable on the camera ! If that wasn't the setup you actually used, then further attempts by you to frustrate us ! Definitely not, they gave similar advice, but you ignored that too. I'm really glad you have your guiding working. Michael

Sorry woodypower, I'm don't understand your image. I see a grey landscape image with a central inset red portrait image. Is it the red image you want help with ? Is this an actual image or a screen shot ? All I see is patterning that may be due to a screen shot. Post a JPG version of the image you want help on. Michael

Well done Graeme ! Noise in the background of the M51 image is smooth and not showing the usual DSLR "Walking Noise" patterns. Only a hint of coma in the corners. Michael

Welcome to the crazy logic of Astronomy ! Wait until you look at the Moon for the first time through an eyepiece. Depending on the telescope, the Moon may be presented inverted and laterally reversed ! Michael

To check for Sidereal Tracking: Align an hour mark on the RA setting circle to a reference point on the mount. Let it "track" for 30 minutes. Mount should have moved halfway to the next hour mark. My iPhone needed "Location Services" enabled to get GPS reception. Unusually for an american company, my Meade asks for date in the form 14 APR 2021 no chance of mistake there. But makes no mention of the convention for Latitude and Longitude ! Michael

I agree with Malcolm, one of the most frustrating posts I've tried to help with. And it's the same on the PHD2 Forum. It took forever to get him to remove the ST4 cable. Start a new Topic for PixinSight help in the "Imaging - Imaging Processing" section. Just think for once of the other members of this Forum. If they were looking for other people's experience with PixinSight, why would they look in a thread on PHD2 Autoguiding Problems ? Michael

That's good to hear. So how did the swap to LodeStar make the PHD2 errors appear ? Michael

+6 for Bahtinov Grabber You can adjust focus so that the "wobbling" due to Seeing can be eyeballed to be either side of perfect focus. Michael