michael8554

Would help to see a Calibration but the log says the latest Calibration was in May 2019 ? Michael

Very much likely. Huge overhang, worst feature of refractors meant to be used with a diagonal. Screw connections as much as possible, length worked out with the focuser almost fully retracted. Michael

For guiding a 9.25 to have any chance you should use an Off Axis Guider OAG, which would add far less weight than a guidescope and mountings would. Michael

Yes that's true, ideally the mount should be balanced to take up the backlash, if that's what it is. Michael

Is north to the left on the image? Did the test complete? If not, at what stage of the test? If North is left, the mount may have headed fully north from the centre of the cross, but failed to reverse back to the centre, so failed to head south of centre to complete the cross. Did you do a Guide Assistant run with backlash measurement, what was the figure for backlash? Could you post the graph in Review Calibration Data? And a Guidelog that ideally includes a Cal. The lack of South movement could be Dec backlash, but not cable problem, as the star test shows North movement it would seem. Michael

I think the cable swap shows the RA motor is faulty. Any way you can tell if RA is jammed? Is there very slight play if you gently rock RA ? Michael

Why was LiveView on when you were imaging? Michael

He's already getting the feedback, but because he doesn't star align, it's wrong. So Cal near your target. Slew (not GoTo) to the nearest Meade Known Star, centre it, call up that star in the handset, press ENTER, you should then see the Bayer or whatever name for the star, DONT GoTo. Then SYNCH (press ENTER for 3 secs ) The mount and PHD2 will now think it's at those coords. Then Calibrate Michael

Well I would leave it tracking for 10 minutes or so to see if RA is tracking but not slewing. Try replugging so that the working Dec electronics are driving RA, and vice versa. But if it's new and not working I would return it, opening it up will invalidate the gaurentee. Michael

You shouldn't get heat buildup on a 1 minute 600D exposure, 10 minutes in this heat then yes. Only with the filter, and is there on darks? That doesn't seem possible. Is this light leak from an open back Newtonian? The elongated stars in the corners are due to Coma - what scope or lens are you using? Michael

Would help to know what mount and which drivers you have loaded. I've never seen that message in PHD2 before, but could be about the COM port. If you look in Windows Device Manager / COM ports you should see your cable and the COM port number it has occupied. Put that number in the empty box in PHD2. Michael

You can slew the mount with the handset without any sort of alignment. Ideally PHD2 likes to be Calibrated at Dec zero, then if the correct Dec can be read off the mount, it will compensate for different Dec's. But ST4 guiding setups often don't have a mount reading, so you have to Cal on the target, and again if you change targets, and the same every night. To enter RA and Dec, hold MODE for 3 secs, then GOTO, then enter coords. But that would be meaningless if you haven't done PA and star alignment. Michael

Is this a new mount you are operating for the first time? Faulty mount or handset. Is the RA motor able to track? Does RA slew at the slowest setting? Does the power LED on the mount go out when you try RA slews? Probably the power supply isn't powerful enough, spec may be 3A but may not be true.

You don't need to restack, just post one of your flats. Or you have deleted them, so you can't restack, they'll be in your PC Trash Can. Michael

Need to see a Flat. How did you arrive at 1 second exposure? Michael

How are you taking the Flats, what Exposure are they? What does you Flat look like ? Michael

Shadow at 1:05pm Thursday should be a decent north, but how are you setting the mount elevation ? Always nudge the scope north until the guidestar moves, to take up Dec Backlash BEFORE you Calibrate. The sudden jump in Dec sounds like Stiction due to poor balance, motor was struggling. Michael

This is a nice budget scope and mount with a simple RA drive, suitable for visual use. This mount doesn't have a polarscope or the capability to fit one. During the day find out how to focus on a distant object. Then adjust the finder to centre the same object. With the weights straight down point the scope north, with a compass will do for visual use. Then raise the scope up towards Polaris with the vertical adjustment on the mount. Polaris is found like this: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/polaris-the-present-day-north-star Centralise Polaris in your finder, that should be enough alignment for visual use. Michael

When I had a 600D it always banded in hot weather. I used a Background Equaliser tool in the free FITSwork software, can't remember the exact name for the tool. Michael

Every comet has a different trajectory, which means some move much faster than others. Deep Sky Stacker can either stack the comet, giving star trails, or stack the comet AND the stars, so no star trail. Last night I did just that with 2 minute exposures at 1280mm Focal Length of Comet ATLAS. Michael

Good point Tom about the effect of friction in the bearings - Stiction will look much like Backlash in PHD2 graphs. Michael

Well done.! Before trying tonight on a star, try focusing on a slightly nearer distant object. Then reset on your furthest object. Now you will know which way to turn the focuser to focus on even more distant objects, such as stars. Michael

In theory, no. With modern mono guidecam you should always be able to find guidestars when pointed at the target, so it helps to have the guidescope centralised to the imaging field of view. For instance, upping the exposure to 5 secs or so should show your target galaxy. As almcl says try during the day, with PHD2 or with Sharp Cap in video mode. Which camera driver are you using in PHD2? Did you ever try burning paper with the Sun and magnifying glass as a youngster? Try it with the guidecam (no camera attached ! ). Where it focuses the sun is where the sensor should be, will give you a starting position. Michael

Which camera driver are you using with PHD2 ? Drivers & AltairCapture software download (Windows only): www.altaircameras.com (opens new window). Michael

This image might be a good starting point for the relative distance of the camera from the scope, yours look too far away compared to this. Michael