michael8554

Run Guide Assistant at the target. If you have a ST4 type setup with no mount position info being sent back to PHD2, you should Cal on every new target, every night. Because the amount of guiding required by and large changes as Dec changes. You Guidelogs are reporting the mount position, so with that Dec Comp checked, and after a Cal at Dec zero or thereabouts, with that single Cal PHD2 will compensate for any target every night, if the guidescope orientation isn't altered. Re your plan, the PHD2 Developers recommend starting a new Profile rather than tweaking what you have a) it's too easy to miss a setting b) you have a old one to go back to or to compare. Cal first at Dec 0, then run Guide Assistant at your target, or at the position you intend to test at. I don't think you need to Cal again after PE is enabled, it doesn't change the guide rate. If you have time I'd like to see the effect of Cal and guiding with those different Guide Rates for Dec and RA ! Michael

Looked at latest guidelog, which will be with the old settings: Guidespeed only 6arcsec/sec, up it to 12arcsec or more, with a new Cal Calibrating at Dec 21.4, should Cal at Dec 0 is where the stars "move" fastest, so PHD2 has most movement to Calibrate on. Guidecam HFD is 6 pixels, use the HFD reading in the Star Profile to get it down to minimum, 3 to 4 is good. RA rate is half the Dec rate. Here's the last Cal in the log: I'm beginning to notice the blue East overshoots E0 to E5 on the return journey I'm not sure if this is because the RA rate is half what PHD2 is expecting, or because of RA backlash - there are 4 to 5 RA backlash steps in the Cal As before, Dec is 12 steps at 7.5 arcsecs/sec which is fine, but RA is 22 steps at 3.7 arcsecs/sec which is about half the setting of 6 arcsec/sec. Now RA: The star mass and SNR at the top of frame is bouncing around, poor seeing ? The horizontal blue dotted line is where your Min Move is set, at 1 arcsec. Note how the large up spike above the RA label is the result of over correction of the downward spike before it (which itself might be due to chasing the seeing) - so too much Aggression ? So this Min Mo setting means RA isn't being corrected until the error is bigger than 1 arcsec ! Now Dec: PA is good, but Dec is bouncing around, perhaps due to the poor seeing suggested by the Mass and SNR graphs, so perhaps your balance and PA are too good? PA doesn't need to be any better than 5 arcmins, this will give a gentle oneway drift that can be easily guided out, and slight off balance will stop Dec yoyo-ing I notice in the image of your Advanced Setup/ Guiding, the Use Dec Comp box is unticked. This is preset to on, so that PHD2 can compensate the RA steps at higher Decs. Did you untick this? So see earlier post for suggestions for your next session. Michael

Here's the EQ PA setup from the LX90 manual, it's pretty clear it's the same procedure as the LX200 etc : Begin polar aligning the telescope by locating Polaris. (They forget to mention to set the mount and wedge pointing true north as best you can, with the control panel facing north, see image below - MIchael) 1. Select "Setup: Telescope" from the AutoStar menus. Press ENTER. Scroll to "Telescope: Mount" and press ENTER. Scroll to "Scope Mounting: Polar" and press ENTER. The tele- scope mount is now set to the polar mode. 2. Press MODE until "Select Item: Setup" displays. Press ENTER. "Setup: Align" displays. Press ENTER. Scroll to "Align: One-Star" and press ENTER. AutoStar now prompts you to set the telescope in the polar home position. a. Using the bubble level of the wedge, adjust the tripod legs so that the bubble is level. b. Set the wedge to your observing latitude. c. Using the Up and Down Arrow keys, rotate the telescope tube in Declination so that the telescope’s Declination reads 90°, that is the moulded Dec pointer (11, Fig. 1) is pointed to 90° on the Dec. setting circle. (Dec 90 on the Dec scale means you're pointing at Polaris, NOT south Dec 0 - Michael)al: d. Loosen the R.A. lock, and rotate the fork arms to the 00 position H. A. on the R.A. setting circle. (This means align the marks just below the RA lock with the mark on the base above the control panel. I'm not sure that's right, because the home position is definitely upside down, see image. So rotate 180 degrees in RA until the index mark is at the back and diametrically opposite the front marks - so that the scope is upside down - Michael) H Ho Home Position, pointing at the NCP e. Press ENTER. The telescope slews to Polaris. (As Polaris is only about 2 degrees from NCP, the mount will rotate a lot in RA to Polaris's hour angle, and a tiny bit in Dec 2 degrees. The Autostar now has a known position for Star Alignment, the next bit is setting PA - Michael) f. Use the azimuth and latitude controls on the wedge to center Polaris in the field of view. (The mount has moved to where Polaris should be at that time of night, so you centre it with the wedge controls. Only you can't see Polaris unless you have a Star Diagonal, or a camera that clears the base when pointing north , so just press ENTER and do a Drift Align - Michael) Do not use the AutoStar handbox during this process. When Polaris is centered, press ENTER. The telescope is now polar aligned. Michael

Daytime you could run the mount for 60 minutes, check the setting circle for an hour of movement. Do you have any Backlash Comp set in the mount or EQASCOM? They will conflict with PHD2 Michael

Sounds like the ratio is correct, so Sidereal should be right too? And PHD2 is correctly showing the Guide Rates set in EQASCOM. But check just in case. Then try a Cal at Dec 0 with RA Guide Rate set to 14 and Dec at 7, see if the Cal steps come out the same !! Then a Guide Assistant run, accept settings, then do an initial guiding session of 10 mins without changing the settings. then you can have a play ! And post log. Michael

I've changed the post, see below

Normal behaviour, after the East steps it deliberately goes back quickly to the centre, to save time. Your started your first Cal with a good Guide Rate of 13.5 arcsec/sec, and at Dec 5, but got actual guide rates of RA = 7.5, Dec = 13.8. That's why Dec Cal'd in a reasonable 12 steps, but RA took 22 steps. So something is wrong with the RA rate. With guiding off, does it actually track a star reasonably well in RA, allowing for PE ? Is it belt drive with wrong ratios set in RA ? After that the preset Guide Rate for subsequent Cals goes 7.5, 6, 12, 7.5, 1.5, 4.5, 6 - what's that about ? 13.5 was fine. And at different Dec too, not near Dec 0. Not that it would have helped until you get the guide rate sorted, but no sign of a Guide Assistant run, which would have suggested the right Min Mo settings etc, but I did see loads of manual changes in the logs. Star HFD started at 4.31, so your focus could be improved, but worsened as the night went on to 6.4, which is pretty poor - were these Auto Selected stars ? Might be worth seeing tonight's Guidelog Michael

PHD2 requires a guidecamera, not a DSLR, so use the DARV method that Mark pointed to, Michael

The difference in Dec and RA guide rates is worrying, and the Dec and RA RMS difference may be why the stars in your image are elongated. Could you post that Guidelog ? Michael

Green Swamp seems to be an Astro software suite: GS Server includes ASCOM telescope support and the Synta Protocol for SkyWatcher and Orion mounts: EQ8, EQ8-R, HDX110, AZ-EQ5GT, Sirius Pro AZ/EQ-G, AZ-EQ6GT, Orion Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G, EQ6-R PRO, NEQ6, HEQ5, EQ5, EQ4, AzGTi. I didn't think the Bog Snorkeling search results were relevant........ Michael

I seem to remember someone had a sundial placed on the pier head when not occupied by the mount ?

The moment of inertia is proportional to the square of the distance from the axis to the weight. Some say it's better to have the heavy weight close to the axis. Michael

I think it's part of a handgrip. A short strap attaches to the loop, and the other end attaches in place of the neck strap on the DSLR. Your right hand goes through the strap to hold the camera and operate the shutter. https://www.wexphotovideo.com/spiderlight-hand-strap-red-1611679/?mkwid=sJkX1uJ3E_dt&pcrid=310558796614&kword=&match=&plid=&product=1611679&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImdOT_dre6AIVC-ztCh37zg7nEAQYDiABEgIAhPD_BwE Michael

Correct. PHD2 wants to compensate the RA guiding for changes in Dec, based on the Dec position supplied by the mount Michael

The Dec circle goes 0-90, 90-0, 0-90, 90-0. If you pick the wrong quadrant the Dec reading will go DOWN as you Swing UP. So if you have set the Dec on a star at say Dec 30, and swing to the Dec of your target at say Dec 40, if you use the wrong quadrant you will actually be at Dec 20. My first telescope about 20 years ago was a Russian TAL-1, and I didn't know it had a Southern Hemisphere RA circle. Oh the hours of fun I had until I sussed it. Michael

Here's a quote from Cloudynights: Just to expand on your comment, my TEC6, a 6” F/12 Mak Cass, has a moving mirror, according to Yuri the F ratio varies from F/11 to F/14 as the primary is moved in and out Michael

Can't comment on the loss of camera situation I'm afraid, but your RA and Dec Guide Rates are horribly low. Read these: https://openphdguiding.org/phd2-best-practices/ https://github.com/OpenPHDGuiding/phd2/wiki/EQASCOM-Settings Michael

Just to reply to some of the suggestions. I use Switch mode PSUs, and others have chipped in with their success with those, so let's discount the RF interference issue. The Fusion unit may well be Switch Mode, the spec is vague, I quickly picked it as an example of Linear based on the appearance. I've always assumed Israel to be a modern hitech country, makes its own Mach 2 fighters, surely they have LED lighting, so there should be a local source of a suitable LED power supply, no need to go to AliExpress - perhaps they don't have Google........? Michael

That was an example, I've no idea of your amperage requirement have I. I said to add up your current and add 50% Why don't you search for a XX Amp Mains Linear Power Supply in your country? Michael

What did that involve Stefan, none of the other steps addressed the focus creep? Michael

I do too, but some imagers have visual evidence, so it was only fair I mentioned it. The Switch Mode supplies are relatively imexpensive so probably worth a punt. Michael

Now try and recollect this beer befuddled conversation - are you sure it wasn't on condition you get Garden Rescue in ? Michael

I'd repaint the whole thing in Great Western Green.......... 🙂 Michael

You'll see in the spec for the 12V unit that the output voltage is adjustable, so I imagine 13V or more is achievable. And l see the 13.8V unit is also a LED power supply like the 12V, so I imagine they are identical Chinese units under the hood. These are Switch Mode power supplies which can put interference on your images. You might prefer a Linear power supply like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FUSION-Fusion-100W-13-8V-Power-Supply-FS-PS101/352577799099?epid=1142254228&hash=item52174643bb%3Ag%3ApmcAAOSw2x1c8x3c&LH_ItemCondition=3 Add up the current required for all your kit, add 50% so you don't run flat out, and buy one with that current rating. Michael

Nudging North only takes a few seconds with the handset on lowest slew, looking for movement of the star on the PHD2 screen. Or using the PHD2 Manual Move in Tools menu with a large setting, say 5000. Michael