spaceman_spiff

Hi there, it was 300ms or 0.3 seconds. I know this is still a pretty short exposure and atmospheric seeing could still shift the guide star but I normally guide using 50ms exposures which must be worse! .

Just a brief report on the issue... I am about to bring the scope in after a very good night guiding on M64 (the Black Eye galaxy). I added a 0.1s DEC backlash signal to the guider so it automatically provides a small amount of movement every time the guiding switches direction. I was worried about spurious small changes in direction causing an unnecessary backlash input so I increased the guiding exposure to 300ms to help prevent seeing conditions causing this issue (hopefully by smoothing them out a bit). I also slightly de-balanced the scope (both RA and DEC) and the auto-calibration procedure worked perfectly, no issues at all. No meaning to brag, but my PA was excellent this time (one of the best I've done). TBH, I was easily getting round stars with 3 min exposures. I am not sure if this played a part in the issues with the auto-calibration procedure but I will bare it in mind next time. Cheers, Dan.

Also, Is it worth altering the dec play feature? Will this be accounted for in the auto-calibration procedure?

Good point Michael, I could also slightly unbalancing the DEC axis and see if that helps.

Hi everyone, I'm restarting my astrophotography after a year or so out and I am having trouble with my Synguider 2. During auto-calibration it correctly calculates the RA movement but then it tries to complete the DEC drift calibration goes wrong. It basically hangs and then times out (after the timer hist 30). The result is the RA aggressiveness has a reasonable value but the Dec is zero or near zero. I have to guess what the DEC aggressiveness is (about 2/3 of the RA) and it works fine. Weirdly, it worked fine a year or so ago and once I have manually set the DEC aggressiveness it works well (which means the mount is receiving the guiding signals and moving properly). The mount is a AZ-EQ6 and the guider is attached to a ST80 scope. The guider has the latest 1.2 firmware installed. Any ideas? Many thanks, Dan. ?

Expensive...unfortunately yes. My wife thinks i'm crazy to spend £240 on an "iron bar" but we know better, right? But you are right, the cameras are the real killer!

My wife just got me the ADM mounting bar for Christmas. I can't believe how heavy it is! A very solid piece of kit, the very long-term plan is to get multiple scopes and image simultaneously. I'll need a few more Christmas bonuses for that to happen. I can't wait to set up the rig this weekend (with the excuse that I need to check everything works OK!). Dan. ?

Following this with interest... Keep up the good work!

Hi Olli, I use the 12V DC - 6V DC converter by HiTecastro plugged into a 230 AC-12V DC converter. It works well for the Synguider 2 but didn't work for the Synguider 1 (no idea why not...) Not sure what SA is... but the HEQ5 should be able to handle your 130ps, ST80 and guide-scope mount easily. I know some people use a finder-guider set-up to save weight but have never used that so can't comment. I just know the ST80 works! HTH Dan.

I bought the Synguider 2 a few months ago because my old Synguider 1 exploded (don't use 12V input!). The new version is more sensitive than the old one and it sends correcting signals more frequently. I actually found it harder to set up because it is easy to overexpose the sensor. With some fiddling and good focusing it does work well. You will also need a guide scope for it. I use the ST80 and attach it using the Skywatcher guide-scope mount + FLO adapter plate. To summarise, the Synguider 2 is decent, I haven't been able to use it much in the past few months because of work commitments but I am happy with it. HTH Dan.