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phil3

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  1. I am just starting in autoguiding. I am using my GPcam3 178M as a guide camera. I have checked good focus on the guide camera in sharpcap (camera fully operational), then close sharpcap and opened PHD2. When I start it looping, it shows almost no stars in the sky from the guide camera. Maybe 2 faint ones. When I try to get it to lock on it says low SNR. I slew to different targets but there is either zero or a couple of guide stars. Is there a reason why I can't use a gpcam3 as a guide camera? I see the starlight xpress ones use a ccd rather than cmos. I have tried all exposure lengths and the gamma adjuster slider in phd2, it makes no difference. I even tried centring arcturus but it said low star mass. Thanks Phil
  2. Sorry for the delay in replying. It turns out my gamepad, when connected via USB, was only connected in "charge" mode - so although it appears in device manager it cannot be used. In wireless mode, it needs a specific dongle. Anyway, I bought a Sparkfox Atlas Triple mode smart controller gamepad, comes with dongle. I connected it all up and windows 10 recognised it, EQmod worked just fine and I can now control the scope with that gamepad.
  3. Will do thanks. I've seen folks use the xbox 360 controller before for this but perhaps the specific one I have here might not be compatible. Like I say under device manager it does recognise it as "xbox 360 wireless controller via plug & charge kit" and I did update drivers, it said I have the correct drivers for this. So in theory it is recognised on my laptop. I also did the same on my PC and that also recognises it. But nothing comes up under EQmod.
  4. Hi Alan, Thanks for that -unfortunately it didn't solve the issue. I downloaded ascompad, when opened it opens the same looking screen that I get in eqmod 'gamepad configuration' but still the gamepad is not recognised. Worth a go though! Cheers Phil
  5. Hi, I connected my xbox 360 gamepad to the laptop but in EQmod under gamepad configuration it is not recognised.. It's a wireless gamepad but also comes with a USB cable. I've connected it using the USB cable to the laptop, has all the right drivers and is properly recognised in device manager. But when I open gamepad configuration in EQmod it's like it's not even connected to the laptop. How do I get EQ mod to recognise the gamepad - is there additional software that I need? Thanks Phil
  6. Heh Heh cheers Ed, I've been coming to the Hullbridge meeting for years so I'm all sorted. It's a 14" so not the sort of scope to chuck under my arm.
  7. I was recently cleaning my LX200 corrector plate and I happened to notice when I study the mirror at the other end of the OTA, that it's slightly foggy. Looks like someone has breathed on a cold mirror. Slightly odd seeing as it's in a mostly sealed tube. I wondered if anyone has had this before, or if anyone any suggestions on how to clear it. The scope is in an insulated, lined wooden shed, there is no damp. Even when I leave a heater in the shed so it's nice and warm the apparent mirror fog remains. Many thanks Phil
  8. Ok thanks alot, just to be clear all my slews are very accurate. The only thing that is out is the red circle on the starry night screen should be in a different position. But I will check all the basic time settings etc. anyway.
  9. Hi I've just started using Ascom to control my scope mount, everything's working just fine except one thing - the red circle pointer that tells you where the scope is pointing, when using Ascom in Starry Night, is not in the correct position. So I select my target and slew to it, target centred on camera screen so the scope direction is all good. But when I look in Starry Night the red circle is some way off where it should be. I've tried synching on target etc. but nothing seems to correct the error. Any suggestions please, many thanks.
  10. Ok cheers, sounds like you are in a similar adjustment range to me, I am 2 divisions on the top lever and 1 on the bottom. I did some back to back testing with and without the ADC and found a marked improvement with using it so will stick with it.
  11. Thanks for that - certainly looking at that graph, my pics at 15 deg will need dramatically less ADC lever adjustment than at 10 down to 5 deg, I can see that maybe those 7 notches will be required at those super low elevations. I'm not fortunate enough to have a view at those altitudes so I can't check it but it seems about right! Not sure yet where this leaves me with equal or unequal ADC lever adjustment.
  12. I’ve been using my ZWO ADC for just over a year now, with positive results. I’m not sure yet if I am near optimal settings for it. My setup is a 14” LX200 with 290 GPCAM3 mono. USB filter wheel/Baader LRGB filters. Based in Essex/UK. I am using my Canon DSLR just to view the planet in order to set the ADC levers. I set the saturation to maximum to help see the red and blue fringes. To set the ADC levers at initial level point I am using my neighbour’s roof which seems to work pretty well. Saturn and Jupiter were low last year and very low this year, I’m not expecting any miracles but these imaging sessions are just practice for those years when we get better altitude planets. Pics attached of my setup and also of the ADC at various settings along with the resulting test image for fringing. ADC is adjusted while viewing through the UV/IR filter. Note the pics are just from the DSLR which is only used to set up the ADC and not for imaging! My questions are: -I am finding that the strongest ADC lever setting I use is 3 ‘notches’. There are lots of marks, or notches, around the ADC barrel, and in theory I can adjust the prisms by up to 7 notches each. From what I’ve read there are people out there who will automatically go to maximum ADC lever adjustment whenever a planet is below say 20 degrees. If I do that, the colour fringe adjustment is way, way too overadjusted. So the point is, why is there so much adjustment on the ADC – there’s no way I would ever need to go even half of the maximum prism adjustment. With Jupiter at 14 degrees I need 3 notches. At 20 degrees I am using just two notches. Is it just that ZWO have built in way too much adjustment just in case. Are there people out there who are needing to use the full 7 notches on their ZWO ADC? I’ve heard of some people who don’t even need to level the ADC, they just automatically go to maximum adjustment then swivel the ADC until the fringes disappear as much as possible. I’ve tried that and it always leaves massive amounts of overadjusted colour fringing. -See my attached summary pics of the colour fringe images versus lever adjustment. I am finding that I get better visible adjustment if I adjust the levers unevenly. The ADC instructions specifically say make sure to adjust each lever exactly the same amount. In which case why don’t they just manufacture the ADC so that it just has one lever that moves both prisms by the same amount. Typically I am adjusting one lever by 2 notches but the other lever by just one notch. The one notch adjustment (rather than two) causes the remaining blue fringe from one corner to disappear. The end result being I am not seeing any colour fringing left at this setting. If I keep both levers at 2 notches there is a remaining blue corner. On a side note I used the ADC on Uranus when it was high in the sky at 45 degree altitude last year. I found that I needed no ADC lever adjustment, it made no improvement to any colour fringing. My conclusion from that test is that at 45 degrees the ADC was not required. Which seems to agree with what I’ve read on the subject. If we get some nice high altitude planets in future years I will try it again to check. Looking forward to Mars next year! Thanks in advance for any help. Cheers, Phil Pic 1 unadjusted Pic 2 adjusted, 1 lever 2 notches, 1 lever just 1 notch Pic 3 maximum adjustment 7 notches has more than reversed the original fringing
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