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Has anyone any experience of using the Celestron oag with either a ZWO ASI 120MM mini or ASI 224MC as a guide camera? After a few nights of unsatisfactory guiding my 8” Edge HD with a piggy back 60mm scope I’m thinking about getting the oag. Unfortunately I can only afford the oag and not a new guide camera with a sensor large enough to make best use of the large prism. I already own the 120 mini and 224 and wondered whether they’d work. Thanks.

Hello All, Been searching the inter web for info on "how to improve tracking" during solar capture (for time lapse animations). Came across this LuSol Guide. Did a search on SGL and no hits. Any one looked at this before or even tried it? http://www.oc-lab.fr/ - Nihal

Perhaps DIYers will be interested in a low cost guiding setup for EQ2 mounts. I'm not sure if this approach has been tried before, but it's relatively straightforward to implement and is certainly low cost. In early 2016 I purchased a Meade Polaris 130 scope, complete with EQ2 mount and Economy RA (clockwork) motor drive with the intention of trying out astrophotography at a low entry cost. Very quickly the prime focus problem arose - so the scope was shortened by 40mm. With this mod 30 second exposures very not too difficult, with 60 seconds sometimes successful. Of course the problem was tracking. Rather than spend time taking lots of 30 second exposures and knowing that longer exposures were really the way forward, I decided to investigate the Economy RA Motor to see if it could be modified in some way for guiding. The answer soon became apparent - yes it could (with very simple mods) but I had no idea how well it would work. Next steps were to look for a way to guide the motor - an Orion mini guide scope and Microsoft Cinema webcam (modified of course) plus a Raspberry PI with Lin_guider were relatively painless to get going and the results were good. However, DEC drift could still cause star trails, so a bit of thought came up with the idea of using an Economy RA Motor as a DEC motor, again to be controlled by the Raspberry PI. This evening the setup was given its for test for dual axis guiding (5 min RA guiding had been successful previously). Not the best sky - very bright due to the moon and clouds appearing. Still, taking no time for polar alignment other than to point the scope slightly to one side of the pole star, a guide star was found, guiding started, guiding gain etc adjusted and a couple of images taken before the clouds got in the way. Results - no doubt as seasoned astrophotographers would expect, DEC guiding just needs a bit of correcting from time to time - the gain of Lin_guider had to be brought down to stop oscillation. RA guiding takes much more frequent corrections, again with a low gain for my setup. My aim with the mods was to see if such a low cost and basic setup could be made to guide - also at a low cost and with simple equipment/mods. On the face of things it is not too involved and I hope that it will be useful to those who don't want to jump into the expense of more mainstream equipment. It could also be a low cost learning curve into guided astrophotography for those who have already purchased a scope with EQ2 mount. Next steps for me is to find (hopefully!) some clear skies for a chance at decent imaging. Weight hasn't been added to the mount as yet - this should improve stability although the short 650mm focal length is a help when it comes to stability and guiding errors. Below is a 5 minute (bright) single image taken this evening with dual axis guiding (at 100 ASA due to the moon). The central star seems reasonably round, though coma affects other stars towards the edge of the image. I've also attached diagrams of the setup and another earlier 5 minute single image taken with RA only guiding.

I was once told in passing not to trust the OEM bubble level on equipment. It was a long time ago, and not really related to astronomical equipment. HOWEVER, it apparently applies to just about anything and ESPECIALLY astronomical equipment. Ever since I bought my new mount, I have had issues with guiding and less than spectacular results with plate solving tracking to a target. If I fiddled with it enough, it would work in a "barely acceptable" fashion. I tried everything I could think of (even some really stupid ideas). My only clue was that polar alignment with a polar scope to perfection did not lead to good polar alignment being reported properly elsewhere in the sky. PHD Guiding Assistant, for example, would always report up to 300 arcmin off for polar alignment once I left the pole. Other software that did not use the mount camera also reported similarly bad polar alignment. When I did a polar alignment with software that used the main imaging scope, rather than the polar scope, the result in PHD away from the pole was also bad. Not identical, but still very bad. For a while I considered that my mount was just a dud. The attached picture shows the problem. Prior to actually checking with a level, I had always meticulously leveled the mount with the OEM bubble level. Long story short, once I started leveling the mount with an actual working level, everything began working as advertised. It kills me to think of how many hours and imaging nights I wasted chasing such a simple problem. May this post help prevent duplication of my ineptitude in this matter.

Hi Star Gazers. I hope someone may be able to help me. For my full setup see end of post. After some successful tests of guiding in the last month as I progress toward doing DSO imaging, it has just gone pear-shaped. I have been using Ekos internal guiding, pulse not ST4 using a QHY5L II camera. In the past week the guiding process cannot keep within 2.5" for more than a minute, and within a couple it can be 40" out - RA is the main the problem. It does not always happen – just mostly. In desperation, to avoid moving the guide camera, etc to another PC, I started using PHD2 on the Pi itself (after ‘disconnecting’ the camera from Kstars and ‘connecting’ to PHD2). It works OK and the results are quite good - same INDI server, same guide scope, camera, mount - literally just changing from Ekos to Pi-based PHD2 within minutes solved the problem. When I set guiding on Ekos the next night, it again failed. I leave the mount connected to Ekos, but obviously not the camera. I have tried another camera (ASI385) and using ST4 – no better. I have checked that cables are not snagged, clutches are tight, and scopes are balanced and secure. Polar alignment is within 60” each time (as shown by Ekos Legacy PA function). Obviously I can continue to use PHD2 on the Pi, but I would prefer the Ekos internal guiding system for unattended imaging (eventually!). I attach a snip of the guiding screen when I had another try last night. Hope all this is clear.... Setup: HEQ5 Pro mount (10 months old) Serial/usb adapter INDI server running on Pi 4 8GB under Astroberry. QHY 5L II guide camera. Cheap 50mm finder scope as guide scope. Kstars 3.3.4 desktop under W10 remotely Ethernet connections to all Mount (as Eqmod) and guide camera on INDI running on the Pi .

Hi all PHD2 seems to be playing up again and Iost a clear night again Everything appeared to be fine and after polar aligning (separate camera to guide scope) I set up a new sequence. That started up and focused, plate solved and then guiding started but after a few seconds of perfect looking guiding the RA and Dec went off the scale massively ending up with a PHD error along the lines of "PHD2 is unable to make sufficient corrections in RA, check for cable snags, redo calibration...." Images obviously come out trailed. I have an RDP connection to the laptop at the mount so after happening a few times I went to check for snags etc but it all seemed fine. I set up the sequence again at the mount and the same thing happened. Restarting the apps, power cycling the kit and choosing different targets all resulted in the same issue so I packed it all away. It was also the same if I used PHD2 via NINA or if I just started PHD2 on its own and tried guiding separately. I'm using an AZ-EQ6 with a WO guide scope and 120mm if it's relevant. I checked everything was tight and have not looked at any logs yet but does anyone have any bright ideas what might be happening please? Thanks in advance...

Below are consecutive raw pictures if the ring nebula I took with my canon 600da and RCT 8" with neq6 pro guided with sharpcaps polar alignment procedure on the 15th of this month at 1am. I have 20 of these all 1600 iso auto wb 2 minute exposures. The problem will become apparent when you closely examine them, tracking is almost completely broken. I only stacked about 8 of them as most of the frames are unusable, some are star trails, some are commas and some are double exposures. This has become standard and getting worse since I tampered with my mounts gears and backlash adjustment. I have never been able to get consecutive 3min exposures on this mount, and I got it new 6 years ago, and only used it less than 30 times. I have spent roughly 20 hours trying to get rid of the backlash, coffee grinding noise and knocking when I press the directional keys to no avail, when the keys are pressed I notice the image wobbles violently. The go-to is also not working to 100% efficiently, I have to do guess work if I want my image centred.

I don't expect any replies - think I'm just braindumping for the mental wellbeing aspect of a frustrating night. --- Having been ill through the week, Saturday found me feeling well enough to get outside and see if I could hook some things together and try to get FirstLight through some of my recent purchases. I've been using my Star Adventurer mini-rig [SA non-wifi, Canon 200D (unmodified), >30yr old Tamron 200mm f3.5] but knew things were going to be very different, and was keen to get going. So the kit was all lined up: > Laptop (Win10), Raspberry Pi4 with Astroberry > EQ6-R Pro > SW 80ED-DS Pro (Kit), SVBony SV106 190mm/50mm Guide Scope > ZWO ASI 224MC, Canon 200D, SVBony SV205, 7TC ASI 120MC clone > USB GPS Dongle (G72 G-Mouse Glonass Beidou GNSS) for location and mains power for all via various PSUs with enough USB cables to circle the planet --- Didn't take too long to get both Win10 (ASCOM) or Astroberry (INDI) talking to the mount and progress was being made - RA/DEC all seemed fine so onto the cameras. Found a distant object and SharpCap gave me images for all three USB devices once I had the SVBony as a Windows WebCam (RESULT!) and the same through INDI on the Astroberry, all three displayed images when enabling Streaming. Settled on EQ6-R, SW 80ED, ASI224MC for imaging, SV106/SV205 for guiding That's it (I thought!) and I broke down the rig and moved it to the lawn - I say lawn, more like a mossy bank but serves the purpose - and wait until dusk where a simple Polar Align and I'll be grabbing images of M51 Whirlpool in no time ............... (I must cut the lawn, even if just to get rid of the blue from spray-painting a new table a couple of weekends ago) (please ignore the middle dew heater, was there to remind me to put it on the guide scope later) --- PA on the Star Adventurer, 30mins (5mins for the alignment, 5mins for remembering which phone app has a PA Clock and the obligatory 20mins to find the flamin' polar illuminator!) - this has been giving me consistent 5min exposures with no trailing. PA on the EQ6-R is 'interesting' - I have a QHY PoleMaster but am waiting on the adapter from FLO (stock issues) so it was SharpCap alignment. Wait for it to get dark enough, then get focus, then wait for platesolving in a "change exposure, gain, star threshold, black threshold, platesolve again" loop for over an hour. Woohoo, plate solved ..... oh, rotate around RA ..... and perform the same operation again ..... ARGHHH! Over two hours later (probably more like 3hrs+) I've got polar alignment to within 12 seconds (wishing I'd screengrabbed that now). I really don't like the adjustment mechanism, the thread pitch is far too high for minute adjustments of alignment! --- And onto guiding ........................ or maybe not. PHD2, Nothing through it at all .... then remembered I'd not refocused the guide scope, then it was taking the Darks library. Still nothing. Opened the SV205 via SharpCap and got focus, switched back to PHD2, still nothing ...... hmm, is this just an unsupported camera (windows 'webcam'). So switched out for the 120MC copy - Amazon 7TC special. Repeated the SharpCap for focus, then PHD2 Darks library and BOOM I have stars showing up in PHD2 - RESULT ...... I'll leave it at that for a moment and try looking at something, see what I get from the 224MC main camera and what PHD2 gives me in the guide scope. So onto the next 'learning opportunity' - target selection --- Erm, how do I select a target for goto with just two camera apps .... aha, Stellarium No Telescope selected, easy - it went something like this: "Open Stellarium, select telescope, select ASCOM ... there we go ... nope, it won't connect ... restart everything (twice) ... redo settings (twice) ... check ASCOM diagnostics (all passed) ... quick google search, aha I'm not the only one, you have to select the scope within the options pane ... what options pane .... oh, scroll down ..." And I now have Stellarium control of the scope - again a RESULT - it's taking time but I think I'm making progress here .... hmm, it's getting bloody cold, wow, it's midnight! --- So I now have an in focus 224MC, an in focus guide scope and control over the mount, here we go ... I'll be stacking images in the morning and making millions from selling prints online NOPE! Easy targets for testing were below the horizon (basically M42) so I'll just pick Vega and make sure slewing works, imaging works and can see how guiding works. Nothing, no bright star at all - okay, bigger target - the moon. Again nothing, no bright screen - so switched out the camera for a 26mm LER EP and a diagonal and manually aligned the moon - then, and here comes stupid, refocused (!) for the moon. --- Stellarium wasn't syncing with the mount - I was 'off' on any selected target and by a lot Quick google search and I'm no the only one - no sync points on my clean build so wasn't that, but use of the GPS dongle for location and TIME might be the problem. --- And at this point it as 2:30am - prime viewing time last night with the moon disappearing in the West behind me - the garden slopes due-West to due-East so I only get Partial-North>East>Partial-South viewing. Time to give up, have a small glass of Red and look for more things to buy on SGL/Astro B&S. --- Today - well I had to break everything down to get it into the garage (too heavy to carry as one with current health) - I'll try to get the ASCOM/GPS element sorted out and maybe this evening try some targeting/lunar rate tracking so see if that major element is resolved. And, if you've made it this far, please accept this for your perseverance, you've earned it.

I've recently started astrophotography, and after beginning with a DSLR and rotator haveprogressed to an EQM-35 GoTo mount and Zenithstar 73 telescope, with Ascom control and guiding with PHD2. While I've got some decent results, I've consistently had problems with guiding, even though I've tried adjusting the mount as described in online videos to remove backlash, and unbalancing the telescope. Initially there was obvious backlash that I could feel; I've now eliminated that, although I notice that the stiffness varies with declination (something I've seen reported by others), and it's almost impossible to avoid backlash at some declination angles without making the mount far too stiff at others. While I'm aware that this type of mount is always prone to backlash issues, what I'm seeing is still different to what I'd expect. If I drive the mount, say, North (either manually or as part of calibration or guiding), stop so that everything comes completely to rest, and then drive the mount South, what I see is that it continues to move North for a while before beginning to move South as expected; the behaviour is exactly the same if I start moving South then switch to moving North. The attached image is part of a typical calibration from PHD2 Log Viewer to show what I mean. As you can imagine, this completely messes up guiding unless I offset the polar alignment and guide in one direction only, or align very accurately and switch off declination guiding altogether. If this was simply backlash, I'd expect the mount not to move at all initially after switching direction rather than to move the wrong way, and I can't think of a mechanism to cause this behaviour. I'd be grateful if anyone can explain this, please, and give me some advice on how to cure it.

Recently I had belt modded my HEQ5-PRO and last night i gave it a full run and i was absolutely stunned to say the least about the guiding results I achieved. I was left wondering if its even too good to be true! Below are Before and After images of guiding.

Hi guys, With new mount and upgraded scope features, now looking to venture into imaging. Before I start, I'm not looking to get feedback on polar alignment, mono guidecam, better imaging cameras, etc; this is more a 'dummies guide' setup discussion! I'm not expecting to get great images at this stage, just more the options available, getting over some issues, so that I can jump outside on a clear night with an ideal, foolproof(!), setup for either imaging or visual as time would permit and what may work best for me. As you may guess from the topic name, I'm a mac user (Macbook Pro) and would rather keep to this if possible (whilst I do have Windows (and Ubuntu) via parallels, I'd rather not use these). I've got a setup which has worked well for visual, and obviously want to have a couple of 'staple' setups that I can use depending on expectations of night observing or imaging. So far, the best one for me has been the Skywatcher Wifi Synscan controller, which has worked a treat with my Android phone - I use the Synscan app to complete alignment and GOTO stars/planets/DSO etc, or Stellarium_plus after completing alignment. This removes the need for the Synscan Handset and any USB cables to the mount altogether. But I don't know if this will work for guiding. That then brings me to my issue on mac - connecting USB(A) between Macbook and Handset, I've attempted to control the mount through Stellarium. Trying each of the available connections (/dev/tty.usbsetial-1420, /dev/cu.usbsetial-1420, and just for sake of it, the /dev/tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port and /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port) in the dropdown menu under DeviceSettings/SerialPort, I cannot get the mount to connect (well, more like selecting the telescope and clicking the "Start" on the TelescopeControl just results in the spinning icon and I have to Force-Quit Stellarium and start again with the same result each time. Annoyingly (for fellow mac users!), Parallels/Windows/Stellarium connects and controls the mount fine! As the mount is the newer "pro" type, I also have a USB connection directly under the hand-controller RJ45 and AutoGuider ST4 sockets, but using this still results in the same issue. Another issue I have seen is that when I unplug the USB from the computer when connected to the handset, the date on the controller jumps significantly - for example, last night at ~23:30, I was transported through the local wormhole galaxy to Jan 2048 according to Synscan! Obviously unplugging isn't going to happen during a genuine session, but just wondering if this is a possible issue somewhere?! Any other mac users connecting USB directly to the SW 'Pro' mounts? Software wise, would folks generally suggest steering away from Stellarium towards KStars or SkySafari(Plus) for controlling the mount? Can the Wifi dongle be used for controlling mount from computer (any OS) or do I need to go USB either to handset or directly to mount? Is there an issue in using Mac USB to the telescope compared to 'straight' Windows (i.e. PC/laptop with Windows instead of virtual)? Anyway, back to topic... I've a Nikon DSLR to use for primary camera at this stage, which would be triggered independently from guiding software. PHD2 is my hopeful choice of guiding software (is EKOS with KStars similar?), with T7C guide-camera on 240mm f/4 guidescope, and at this stage, I can confirm PHD2 at least connects to the camera on OS-X. There is an ST4 port on the camera, but having read several topics, I think I want to pulse-guide directly - is this correct or is ST4 best for this setup? This sorta comes back to software and connections - my understanding is one of the following cable setups for guiding (as a minimum) : Guiding-camera => USB(A) => Macbook => PHD2 => USB(A) => SynscanHandset => AZEQ6 Guiding-camera => USB(A) => Macbook => PHD2 => USB(A) => AZEQ6 Guiding-camera => USB(A) => Macbook => PHD2 => Wifi => SynscaWifi Adapter on AZEQ6 [using ST4: ST4_on_AZEQ6 => Guiding-camera => USB(A) => Macbook => PHD2] (no additional connections needed if ST4 is used) Additionally, I'd like to use an observatory package, say Stellarium/KStars/SkySafari, to select objects and drive the mount, then use guiding software to keep good 'tracking'. Where in this train does EQMac fit in, or when is it used? What about the 2019 addition to EQMod (ASCOM Alpaca)? Can this be used or is it already in other packages?! For Windows users, how does EQMod fit in (if I go down route of getting Windows laptop for controlling things, is the setup similar to above? There may be bits in the above that repeat, and for that, I'm sorry, just want to get across the message that I'm new to the guiding but haven't quite settled down into the software/hardware I'm expecting to use for 'goto' and 'guiding' TLDR: For a mac user, what setup and software are folks using for guiding and observatory softwares for the newer USB-on-mount 'AZEQ6/EQ6-R Pro' mounts from SW?

Hi, I'm new to this whole auto guiding thing so bare with me! So I have a iOptron SkyGuider Pro with a WO Zenithstar 61 and recently bought a ZWO ASI120MM Mini and guide scope to have a go at auto guiding. I followed tutorials online step by step (installing drivers, and changing the settings in PHD etc.) and managed to connect the camera and mount in PHD, start looping exposures and select a star. But when I start the calibration, it counts to 'west step 61' and comes up with "RA Calibration Failed: star did not move enough" I have tried reinstalling all drivers/software, using a different laptop and solutions other people have found do not help. Guide scope is focused and it's not trying to track a hot pixel. The star is supposed to move up and down as the mount moves during the calibration although nothing happens. So this makes me think there is something wrong with the mount or the ST4 cable from the camera to the mount. Cable securely clicks into both ends. I have heard the term "backlash" with mounts and not sure if this could be the cause? Not sure what this means or if this is possible with a star tracker? I can't seem to manually control the mount in PHD although I'm not sure what I'm doing. I can however, manually press the buttons on the mount itself and it moves fine. I've attached pictures of my setup along with the 'Guide Log' that people often ask for - PHD2_GuideLog_2021-08-23_225305.txt (Also, the total weight on the mount is 4.7kg and the max payload is 5kg for imaging so this should be fine?) Any Ideas? Let me know if you guys need anything else. Thanks, Dean Setup: iOptron Skyguider Pro WO Zenithstar 61 ii Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MM Mini Guide Scope: 32mm F4 (focal length - 125mm)

*Moved to correct forum*

Hello all, I have had a real problem with my AZ EQ6 GT: I have found that the MOUNT guide rate in RA is 1/3 the guide rate in DEC. EQMOD is set to 0.9 in both axis?? This seems to have happened when I tried guiding with AA& instead of the normal PHD2? Is there a mount direct command to alter the RA guide rate. Bit like the mount commands to dim the polar scope and set park position. You know one of these serial commands the no one ever uses?? All the best John

I am looking to purchase a new guide camera following the sad passing of my trusty Meade DSI III, which has stood me in good stead for guiding for over a decade. I will be using the new guide camera with a 60mm Altair Astro finder/guide scope. Any recommendations or advice to inform my search would be gratefully received.

Hello all, So I routinely have issues with guiding. Last night, I was getting some solid sub exposures of 5 minutes on the Flaming Star Nebula. When it got to about 15-20minutes of the meridian, I began getting trails on my stars. Then after the flip, I was still getting trails despite PHD reporting all's well. I moved over to the Horsehead Nebula and tried 5 minutes there, and it behaved itself. Then I tested it on the Jellyfish Nebula and it also behaved (just about - minor trails). But it just did not want to dig it with the Flaming Star Nebula, which was practically near the zenith (about 2:30am 30/11/19). I tried recalibrating PHD (I use Pulseguide so the scope knew where it was). I then also recalibrated PHD at Alnitak so it was near the celestial equator (as the PHD best practices recommend). I even checked my Polar Alignment (done with a Polemaster), which was fine. I couldn't find anything wrong. The guide scope was slightly off alignment with the main OTA, but that wasn't making any differences before the Meridian. I did find the helical focuser of the Starwave 50mm guide scope I was using to have some movement in it again when I manipulated the guide camera. So that's something I need to look into. But before I start throwing money at this issue, I see the terms "flexure" and "differential flexure" coming up. Can anyone shed light on what this means please? I tried manipulating the OTA in its tube rings, that didn't yield any movement either. The piggyback scope is secure, the g/scope is secure in its rings as well, there's no movement in the OTA focus rack and the cameras are secure in their tubes. I do have my guide rings quite far back on the body of the telescope to assist with fitting the guide scope piggyback. Video of g/scope play: Flaming Star Nebula. 5 minute sub, post Meridian Flip, about 2:50am (30/11/19). Note the plate solve compass in the top left. Drift appears to be in S/W direction. Position of tube rings (they're now at the focus end). I think I am leaning towards needing to move my tube rings (once I remember to get the tools from work). Equipment: (brand new) Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro, SW Evostar Pro 80ED, Altair 0.8x R/F, Canon 600D, Altair Starwave 50mm Guide Scope, Altair AR130 Mono Guide Cam.

Hi I've set my scope up on it's pier in my ROR observatory, done a few drift aligns and started to take some images. I've noticed a 'quite' regular dip in my DEC line on several nights. Would anyone be able to have a quick scan of my log and offer any insight? Could it be backlash? Could it be something with each rotation of the gears? Faulty tooth? It is quite regular, although not always, and always in the same direction. It doesn't seem to be adversely affecting imaging yet, but I've not tried anything too taxing. Thanks Joe PHD2_GuideLog_2018-09-23_200940.txt

I've picked up a second hand Lightrack II recently, so was keen to test it. My plan was to use the guiding assistant in PHD to get a graph of the tracking performance, but initially the mount wouldn't move. After a search, I had to modify the guiding cable that came with the mount, as it was wired up 'the other way' to the one required for QHY5L. After that it calibrated fine and could run the test. Below is a 22min graph of the unguided performance, while it's not within the 2" peak-to-peak quoted, it's still pretty good. Next I've tried it with a canon 300mm lens (unguided again), the picture is a crop of a 10min exposure, slightly eggy, but again pretty happy with that.

Hi - I've not posted here before as only just launched into this hobby, although I've always been massively interested in astronomy. I had first light on my rig last night, which is: Esprit 100, HEQ 5 Pro, ZWO EAF, ZWO mini filter wheel, skywatcher 50ED guidscope with ASI120, ZWO1600mm Pro, Lynx dew controller w 2 astro zap tapes A big endeavour to get that lot working from zero experience, but I love a challenge and have really enjoyed the computer side (I'm a grade A nerd)... So - what went well... I got the guide scope in focus (was stressing about this), and also the main scope. Even more awesomely, the autofocus routine in SGP is working perfectly Filter wheel also working perfectly and I'm getting lovely smooth pics from the main camera (I've already done the flats and darks while I was waiting for clouds to clear). Final good thing (well, good-ish), is that I got the platesolving working eventually, and was able to get the scope to align from Park to the Soul Nebula and centre fine. For some reason the "number of attempts" in my SGP profile hadn't applied, so it was giving up after 1 go, but I got it working in the end. So the bad... I couldn't take any data because every time it finished the platesolving and started PHD2, PHD2 would start the calibration process and then halfway through, the sidereel tracking on the EQMOD panel would turn off. Obviously, that would lead to a "lost the star" error. Is there some reason why sidereel tracking would turn off like that? I'm generally a bit confused as to whether I should be controlling the telescope from SGP (i.e. unpark) or using the park and unpark + tracking button on the EQMOD panel. Both PHD 2 and SGP are setup to use EQMOD ASCOM HEQ5/6? So at the moment I can't do anything, because there's no way of guiding without it turning tracking off Also I was cold. Very Very Cold.

Hello. I have an unusual problem with my AZ-EQ6. I decided that I wanted to try pulse guiding rather than ST4, to get rid of a cable. I use MaxIm for all my controls, capture, guiding, pointing etc. and I use the EQMod ASCOM scope driver. My initial pulse guiding efforts worked ok, the mount would move and guide etc, no worries. I was not pleased with the pulse guiding results after some fluffing around so I moved back to ST4 and this seems to be where my issues started. Now, whether I choose ST4 or pulse guiding, my mount will no longer calibrate in the Y axis (Dec, I believe), or for that matter, guide. I have tried the move commands from inside MaxIm guide tab and X responds to a 10 pixel move but not Y. I tested with both PHD 1 & 2 with the same results. If it were a hardware issue, as in the mount has a Dec problem, would I be able unable to operate the mount with the hand controller or on screen motion buttons, both of which slew the mount fine? I could understand if the guide port were malfunctioning that ST4 would possibly have an issue but not when the mount slews as directed, so pulse guiding should work. Could it simply be that my EQMod driver has got confused and needs to be re-set, or am I looking down the barrel of sending my mount back to the dealer? Does any of this make sense? Thoughts and feedback most welcome.

Seems a waste to ditch a perfectly good finder scope in order to replace it with essentially the same thing, that has ability to mount a camera to. Is there a way to modify a 9x50 finder scope into a guide scope?. I'm speaking specifically about the 9x50 that comes on the Edge series SCT's. Thing is, I don't even use it for it's intended purpose, I find my Quickfinder more useful for that and don't even mount the finder scope any more when I go out. The EP of the finder is smaller than what's needed (less than 1.25"), can it be removed and an EP holder cobbled onto the body? I suppose focusing it would be part of the problem, too.

Is the NEQ5 Pro GoTo (yes the neq5 not heq5 or eq5) capable of guiding? I really canot find anywhere on the web is there any way to guide it? If yes than with phd or eqmod (eqmod is totally unknown for me, never used it lol)

Hi, I am using the SA with a Canon 650D and a 300/4.0 L USM for some months now. In order to get longer exposure times (>30 sec) I just got a little guiding cam (TSGM120M: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p8963_TS-Optics-Mono-Planetenkamera-und-Guidingkamera-mit-Aptina-CMOS-Chip.html). Stand alone guiding like the M-GEN II is way to expensive from my point of view, so I decided to use PHD(2) on a laptop to do the guiding. I use the Orion 50 mm Guide-Scope mounted on the second port of the L-Mount. But I don't know how to set up PHD2 to work with the SA. The guider-cam will be connected over USB to the laptop and over the ST-4 cable to the ST-4 port of the SA - now question about that. There are some users in the forum, who already work with PHD and the SA as far, as I have seen. So maybe someone could help me about what "Mount" and "Aux Mount" do I have to choose in the connection dialogue of PHD? How do I switch off DEC-guiding, as the SA doesn't provide it? Any experience with the dither function BackyardEOS provides with PHD2 connectivity? Many thanks in advance! Chris

Hi, Bit of a strange one. I have a NEQ6 which I control with EQASOM for imaging using SGP and PHD2 for guiding and have recently replaced the HC connection to the pc with an Lynx Astro FTDI EQdir cable. First time I used it it worked perfectly, it connected straight away, the guiding was good and SGP found the target without any issues. But I tried it again last night and whilst SGP worked perfectly, plate solved the image and moved directly to the target, PHD2 wouldn't connect to the scope. I selected the correct ASCOM mount from phd2 dropdown list but the EQASCOM connected briefly then disconnected with a display saying that it had failed to find the correct port. I tried adjusting the settings next to the mount selection tab and ensured it had pulse guiding selected but still no joy. As a result the phd2 software is not sending guide commands to the mount. The funny thing is that PHD2 will connect to EQASCOM if done so before SGP is connected but then the subsequent connection to SGP fails. But with PHD2 connected on its own its still not sending signals to the mount. Is this a faulty cable or is it a EQDIR driver problem or even an issue with PHD2 or EQASCOM? Any help would be appreciated as I am a loss as to how to rectify the situation. Thanks Dec