URGENT!!! HELP!!!! What is an 'Ascom dirver'???

[Merlin66]

Leaving the testing of any set-up to the last minute is always bad news.....

I have a Lodestar, ST80 and NEQ6 set up and it guides OK.

On the PHD screen you have an option of Manual control...this sends signals to the mount to replicate the corrections being sent during normal operation.

Set up the system and look at a very distant object, you should see (or at least feel) the motors making some corrections...

[rocketandroll]

Leaving the testing of any set-up to the last minute is always bad news.....

I have a Lodestar, ST80 and NEQ6 set up and it guides OK.

On the PHD screen you have an option of Manual control...this sends signals to the mount to replicate the corrections being sent during normal operation.

Set up the system and look at a very distant object, you should see (or at least feel) the motors making some corrections...

Leaving it to the last minute?! :-)

That's why I've been on here the last two weeks asking every possible question about PHD, the Lodestar and my set up to check that everything that could be tested (without stars at least) had been tested.... or at least I thought it had.

I tried the 'manual guide' mode on PHD last night... whenever I pushed the north/east/west/south buttons all that happened was, usually nothing, sometimes they greyed out, sometimes it froze up and said 'not responding' for a few seconds... at no point did they appear to actually move the mount or actually 'DO' anything at all.

I'll give it another try during daylight today and see what happens.

Ben

[ncjunk]

Definately get that mount working in the daylight to manual commands. That looks to be your only problem, a lack of connection.

I struggled for quite a while with Maxim dl before i realised it wasn't correctly connected to the telescope and therefore could not move the telescope properly

I would use Carte du ciel to connect to the same Ascom telescope driver that PHD is using and confirm it can control and slew the telescope. That will check the telescope driver setup. Then test with phd and recheck all settings looking for and testing any settings you dont like the look of.

Its a big old learning curve this astro stuff and we have all been in a position where it wasnt working and we felt like giving up....keep at it and good luck.

[ncjunk]

You could also try the lead that connects to the hand controller and see if that works. I was thinking of that lead with the previous test with Carte du ciel comment. (and using the pulse guide settings)

I know it can sometimes be flaky but i think you could get that working quite quickly.

[rfdesigner]

Hi

I've managed to get my lodestar guiding with Phd on my homebrew mount drive system.

To make it work this is what I did:

1. Lodestar connected to mount autoguide port with white 'flat' cable.

2. Lodestar connected to PC via USB

3. Phd to recognise Lodestar.

4. Select guide to 'on camera' in Phd, this means the camera outputs guide instructions onto the white cable.

5. Turn on the mount autoguide port.

6. Set gain on mount autoguide port to appropriate level.*

7. Adjust Phd imaging times to suitable values (go longer to get it going)

8. Turn on the guiding calibration on Phd and star guiding.

9. Adjust Phd to get the 'osc' number to about 0.5

(note mount is not connected to PC)

*I set the gain on my mount so that a continuous guide instruction would move the mount at 1x tracking rate in any direction.. in effect stopping the RAmotor when the mount is instructed to go east. I chose this as it was the highest gain I could use without running into backlash issues. You can test this by shorting different wires on the white guide cable while it's plugged into the mount.. you cannot damage the mount doing this, if you can simulate the 'guide east' command the mount should stop so you can hear the motor stop (if it's audible enough).

Please try again from the back garden (no matter how light polluted.. better for all our nerves!)

good luck

Derek

[Earl]

One thing to take into consideration is turn on sequence.

If I dont turn on gear and start applications in the correct order I can have issues.

Last night my Guide cam refused to work until I did a complete power off restart.

[todd8137]

what a night mare they can be others have no probs at all i am quite good with most things related to pcs and software but in the end i used stellarium with my goto mount which works a treat a did spend a silly amount of money on starry night pro plus and ascom drivers were a night mare after 2 months a gave up and sold it to another sgl member i can no sleep at night

have you gogled ascom drivers and gone to there website

ASCOM - Standards for Astronomy

hope you have more success than me

clear skies always

[rocketandroll]

Thanks all for the help so far...

I'm not gonna give up just yet, but I do want a coherent plan to go through and test all of the possible problems and determine where the fault is.

So... re: testing if the mount is connected to the computer... as the only way I have of controlling the mount is via the camera, I assume I have to do that through PHD set to 'on camera' otherwise I don't think I have any way of controlling the mount.

With the mount connected to the computer via the camera, in 'manual guide' mode, if I set all the 'max movement' levels in RA and Dec to a high value... I am guessing I should be able to effectively slew the scope a little (at least enough to be able to see it move) if I hold down one of the direction buttons?

Re: the below...

When you say 'turn on the mount's autoguide port'... what exactly do you mean? Also, when you talk about adjusting gain on the autoguide port.... how is that achieved exactly?

Is that possible through the menus on the hand controller?

Please don't tell me I've done something unbelievably stupid by simply not enabling something on the mount controller have I?

I suppose... if I rule everything else out... I can only then assume that the white control cable or the sockets it plugs into are at fault? I assume I can buy another of those cables... but the sockets may be more of an issue... especially the one on the mount.

Hmmmm....

I'm back off down the workshop in a few minutes to have a play...

Will report back.

Ben

Hi

I've managed to get my lodestar guiding with Phd on my homebrew mount drive system.

To make it work this is what I did:

1. Lodestar connected to mount autoguide port with white 'flat' cable.

2. Lodestar connected to PC via USB

3. Phd to recognise Lodestar.

4. Select guide to 'on camera' in Phd, this means the camera outputs guide instructions onto the white cable.

5. Turn on the mount autoguide port.

6. Set gain on mount autoguide port to appropriate level.*

7. Adjust Phd imaging times to suitable values (go longer to get it going)

8. Turn on the guiding calibration on Phd and star guiding.

9. Adjust Phd to get the 'osc' number to about 0.5

(note mount is not connected to PC)

*I set the gain on my mount so that a continuous guide instruction would move the mount at 1x tracking rate in any direction.. in effect stopping the RAmotor when the mount is instructed to go east. I chose this as it was the highest gain I could use without running into backlash issues. You can test this by shorting different wires on the white guide cable while it's plugged into the mount.. you cannot damage the mount doing this, if you can simulate the 'guide east' command the mount should stop so you can hear the motor stop (if it's audible enough).

Please try again from the back garden (no matter how light polluted.. better for all our nerves!)

good luck

Derek

[steppenwolf]

I tried the 'manual guide' mode on PHD last night... whenever I pushed the north/east/west/south buttons all that happened was, usually nothing, sometimes they greyed out, sometimes it froze up and said 'not responding' for a few seconds... at no point did they appear to actually move the mount or actually 'DO' anything at all.

Until you can get this test to work, you are on a loser before you start. The problems could be:-

1. the mount is moving but you can't see it. Set up in daytime with an eyepiece and check through the telescope for movement.

2. the clutches have not been tightened so the motors are moving but not the mount (I know but in a cold car park with high expectations, it can be done!)

3. the mount is faulty and the ST4 port is not working. Connect the ST4 cable to the mount's ST4 port. Set the mount tracking and use a thin wire to short pin 2 to each of pins 3-6 in turn and check for mount movement. If the mount moves, the ST4 port and mount are working (and so is the cable for that matter)

4. if the above test fails, it could be either a faulty mount or the ST4 cable is faulty - get a friend with a test meter/continuity checker to test all the connections on the cable go from one plug to the other

5. the guide camera is faulty or not recognised by the PHD software. Reload PHD and the Lodestar drivers and try again

6. try the manual control again using PHD software's virtual buttons

Don't get too hung up on focussing the guide camera, a little out of focus won't matter and may even assist with centroid calculation!

[rfdesigner]

It would seem the autoguide port gain is adjustable. looking at the manual I can't see that the autoguide port is defeatable... but you never know!

From:

---------------------------------

Sky-Watcher HEQ5 PRO SynScan Equatorial Mount.

Guiding speed selectable from 0.25X, 0.50X, 0.75X, or 1X

---------------------------------

It might just be that you have the guide rate set to 0.25x and that it isn't enough for Phd to get it guiding.. I set mine to 1x at 1500mm fl. (If I remember correctly I had 1/8th speed set initally and it didn't want to work, so I went to full gain and the Phd calibration then noticed the movement)

DErek

[m.tweedy]

Have you considered either contacting this society or paying them a visit.

OASI - Introduction

I am sure some of their members would be willing to help

[Parallax]

Hi Ben

Sorry to see you are having so many problems.

Steve's comments above seem a good course of action.

If you need me to come and lend a hand then just shout.

Steve

[rocketandroll]

hi all

Thanks for the ongoing help!!

Ok, firstly... yes, I'm a member of OASI however I'm their only member who is in to imaging... there isn't anyone else in the group who can help.

I have now run a load if tests...

First I tried moving the mount with manual guiding through PHD. I heard the motors respond in every direction except 'west'.

with this in mind I tried shorting the pins on the guide cable as suggested. I couldn't get it to do anything until I noticed the camera end plug had five pins and the mount end had six :-) pin 2 is pin 1 at the camera end.

With that established I shorted each pin with pin 1 in turn. I heard a response from the motors with every pin except the last one... pin 5/6 depending on your viewpoint :-)

I then tried the same sequence shorting pin 2 and each pin in sequence on the mount socket. Again every one gave an audible response from the motors except pin 6.

I am now 75% confident the problem is that pin 6 on the mount is dead. Would that be consistent with the failure to move west in manual control and the failure to calibrate in the RA axis?

So... next question is.... has anyone dismantled a HEQ5 before and how easy is it to get to the sockets? are they attached directly to the board or are they on flying leads?

Advice?

Ben

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[Merlin66]

Caution!

Depending on your settings the RA motor may just be stopped to allow the siderial motion to move the object towards the West.

Nothing wrong with the cable/ connector.

[rocketandroll]

Caution!

Depending on your settings the RA motor may just be stopped to allow the siderial motion to move the object towards the West.

Nothing wrong with the cable/ connector.

I did wonder that.... however... I had the mount tracking at normal sidereal rate at the time, I can hear both motors (they have very different pitches) and I am fairly certain I'd hear the difference between one running normally (tracking) and stopping altogether.

Don't know if there's any other way of checking really though?

I was very careful to make sure I could definitely hear a difference in every other direction with every other pin and there was definitely no change in sound at all from shoring pin 6.

I still think this makes the most sense... and quite possibly explains why my Synguider wouldn't work at all as well.

Ben

[Merlin66]

What did you have the guide rate set to?

If it was x1 siderial -the motor would stop (I think) any other rate the motor would continue running but at a different rate.....

Worth double checking...

EDIT:

What happens when you use the arrow keys on the handcontroller? Everything work OK?

[Parallax]

Ben

It does sound as though the ST4 port on the mount is faulty.

I didn't use ST4 port guiding on that mount (or my present mount) and didn't know that it was faulty.

All is not lost though. Now that you are resigned to using a laptop, you can use pulse guiding via EQmod. I know, I know, it's something else to learn but that definitely does work and is relatively easy to set up. (I'm free tonight if you are).

Steve

[steppenwolf]

I would expect pin 6 to simply stop or slow the motor depending on the hand-controller guide sped setting as this is the -RA line which means for the purposes of guiding, no movement of the RA axis. The real test is as I have been suggesting, look through an eyepiece and note if there is a change in movement on shorting pin 6.

[rocketandroll]

I would expect pin 6 to simply stop or slow the motor depending on the hand-controller guide sped setting as this is the -RA line which means for the purposes of guiding, no movement of the RA axis. The real test is as I have been suggesting, look through an eyepiece and note if there is a change in movement on shorting pin 6.

Thanks Steve... will give that a try. Unfortunately, from my imaging site there are no 'distant objects' I can focus on in daylight so this will have to be tested at night with stars i think.

Gonna try the pulse guiding thing too.

Thanks!

Ben

[rocketandroll]

Hi Steve

Just PM'd you... might take you up on that, would be good to have a stab at getting it working with someone else around who can help!

Cheers

Ben

Ben

It does sound as though the ST4 port on the mount is faulty.

I didn't use ST4 port guiding on that mount (or my present mount) and didn't know that it was faulty.

All is not lost though. Now that you are resigned to using a laptop, you can use pulse guiding via EQmod. I know, I know, it's something else to learn but that definitely does work and is relatively easy to set up. (I'm free tonight if you are).

Steve

[Psychobilly]

When I was having guiding issues with a mount I created a fine grid test chart in Corel printed it out bonded it to artboard and stuck it on a distant wall...

I then used a webcam to check out the effects of the guide signals (generated using the handbox option in PHD guide) on the tracking...

Peter...

[Photosbykev]

Have you install the full Ascom v6 software package? and then used the POTH Scope-dome hub programme? This will give you an on screen virtual hand controller to test the connection from the laptop to the mount. If you can't drive the mount from the virtual handcontroller you have a basic connection problem and none of the other software programmes will be able to drive it either.