PHD question please?

[Gasman]

Hi folks

I`ve just started using PHD with my Lodestar guider and finding it very useful but I`ve noticed that if I first load it up then calibrate then start guiding everything is fine it chugs merrily away tweaking the NEQ6 now and then but if I stop PHD then slew to another object then start it again it pings like mad and seems to need closing down and recalibrating again at the new position is this normal please?.

Thanks

Steve

[andyboy1970]

Its normal to re-calibrate when moving target.

I always calibrate on a star near the target.

[Bizibilder]

You have to find it a guide star (place the little box over a star) in the new position and then start it. There is also a setting that forces a re-calibrate - but you can turn that off if you wish. As long as your objects are fairly close you can restart without calibrating but if there is a significant difference in position (especially Dec) then you need to recalibrate. As calibration should only take a couple or three minutes it is no hardship to redo it every time, after all that is only a tiny fraction of the total imaging time.

[Gasman]

Ah cheers for that, I thought it would need recalibrating but I couldn`t find a recalib command other than restarting the prog again!

Steve

[andyboy1970]

The force calibration check box is in the brain menu.

[DMouse]

Hi, the main cause of the pinging is loosing the guide star, this can be caused by the dreaded meridian flip. If your scope changes sides, then you have to either recalibrate Phd or there is a check box in the setting that says flip calibration dta. Once clicked it will show you its new settings and you should be able to guide without recalibrating. Of course you can just recalibrate every time you move the scope. Clear Skies

[r3i]

Of course you can just recalibrate every time you move the scope. Clear Skies

It's good to get into this habit and if you have the calibration step size tuned so that it's achieved within 10-15 steps, it only takes a couple of minutes to do.