frustrated on the west

[mgirdwood]

hi All

although not a total newbie, tonight it certainly feels that way, due to a now restricted view i am for the first ime having to try to image west of the meridian.

i have just cracked the east in as much as i can now get up to 600 secs a sub, but after 2 and half hours of frustratingly moving weights up and down to try to find the correct balance i was not able to even get a 200 second sub without trails. using PHD to see if i could bring the graph in but nope.

to prove a point to myself as the clouds started to roll in again i nipped back over to a target in Leo, a quick eyeball move of the weights, popped a 500 second ub to check and lo nice round stars...

i know i must be doing something fundamentally wrong so if any of our wonderful members out there would like to slap me over the head with a possible answer i really would be grateful, otherwise a lot of the fun is going to hasten away

thanks in anticipation

mark

[Leveye]

Problems with the graph in PHD being separated from one another if yours looks like that almost always spells alignment and balance issues.

Don't forget the mount must be pointed to your "True" northern or southern position whatever  your case and not what the compass says that can be off by over 25 degrees. Check online for a map for your true S/N setting and offset the compass and then align accordingly. Worked wonders for me. Also use the new PHD2 it awesome.

[mgirdwood]

Thanks Leveye, i am reasonably happy with the PA so i am banking it is a balance issue hence the weights,  i hope perhaps someone with the same gear as myself will be able to pint me towards where that problem lies

[sidelight]

Assuming there was a flip involved is did you re-calibrate PHD?  I think there is an option to invert the existing calibration but I've never used it.

[laser_jock99]

Assuming there was a flip involved is did you re-calibrate PHD?  I think there is an option to invert the existing calibration but I've never used it.

Would have been my first thought also. PHD sometimes needs re-calibrating after moving from east to west or vice versa.

[mgirdwood]

hi, no flip as i was beginning the session west of the meridian so PHD was set up ok i think

[sidelight]

Hmmmm,  thinking back to the dim distant past when the skies were clear and I was home to use the scope...

The things I can think of that have caused me issues in the past then are....

• Balance - especially when using my newt - not just the from counterweight balance but also also the scope orientation and especially with loads hanging off the scope/rings - not really applicable here but thought I would mention it.
• Binding/trapped or at least tightened cables   - with my favourite being that alt adjustment screw that sticks out of the mount what feels like several feet at times, I used to really have to keep an eye on that before I rerouted my cables.  It just introduced drag and then would jolt free
• Being too close to balance and not East heavy - although I've never proved that one conclusively it did seem to introduce some "bounce"
• Too much on the USB port, not the latency it introduced, more the poorer signal seemed to make the communication between the mount and the computer more error prone.

Cheers

Ross

[Owmuchonomy]

Hi, do you perform counter intuitive balancing on you sky cone of interest? This sweetens up my HEQ5 balance. Balance as normal then aim at your target, stand behind mount facing North, if your weights are right side then drop them down the shaft about 2cm.  If weights are left side then slide them up the shaft by 2cm.