1st go at guiding on the ZEQ25,graph all over the place!

[Oily]

Finally received my QHY5l-II from Astronomia so had a go at setting up PHD2 last night/this morning.Finding stars with this camera was easy compare to the SPC900!

Equipment used:

iOptron ZEQ25GT,SW 200PDS with an Optistar AR80/QHY5l-II piggy backed,default settings in PHD2.Once locked onto a star it all then went pete tongue,the graph below tells the story of my 1st attempt,the RA just dropped off the scale!

So after this I altered the counter weight on the mount which gave me this graph,maybe get the balance better on the mount?

Then the dec went 'off course' for some reason?

Managed a 5 minute sub with this but compared to some graphs I've seen this isn't right!

Any tips etc much appreciated!

[ollypenrice]

Firstly isn't that a lot of scope to put on this mount? I haven't seen an iOptron 25 but the 45 wouldn't just shrug off an 8 inch Newt in my book.

Things to check;

- is the mount set to a sensible guide speed? Someting like 0.5 x sidereal is popular.

- you ran an auto calibration? (Just checking!)

- is Dec certainly communicating with PHD? You could try altering the aggressiveness but it doesn't really look as if Dec is talking to PHD. Could be a bad contact?  How did the Dec caibration look as PHD carried it out? It moved in both directions OK?

Olly

[lensman57]

Firstly isn't that a lot of scope to put on this mount? I haven't seen an iOptron 25 but the 45 wouldn't just shrug off an 8 inch Newt in my book.

Things to check;

- is the mount set to a sensible guide speed? Someting like 0.5 x sidereal is popular.

- you ran an auto calibration? (Just checking!)

- is Dec certainly communicating with PHD? You could try altering the aggressiveness but it doesn't really look as if Dec is talking to PHD. Could be a bad contact?  How did the Dec caibration look as PHD carried it out? It moved in both directions OK?

Olly

I have seen these mounts at the local Opticstar show room, they are well built and put together but I also think that the mount is over loaded, there is a lot of inertia to overcome with a 200p and an AR 80 on top but if Oily could get the dynamic balance spot on the little thing might just surprise him.

A.G

[ollypenrice]

Thinking some more, how about checking the mesh of the worm and wheel in Dec, and its stiffness. The iOptron 45 uses a spring loaded carrier to mesh the worm into the wheel. Is this stiff enough? With the 45 it is sometimes reported that the plastic motor cover can impede the sprung arm from meshing snugly. A physical check of the dec worm wouldn't hurt.

Olly

[Tinker1947]

I have PHD Dec dropping off the bottom of the scale the last couple of attempt, but one try it worked perfectly so i'm thinking its a dodgy usb cable i will order some 2m long replacements and see how it goes.....this was with PHD and PHD2 same problem....

[Leveye]

With a graph like that it's almost always associated with balance and how tight you have the R.A. and DEC clutch knobs..I gently rock them back and forth until i feel the gears just finally engage while turning the clutch knobs. That's how the tension should be.

V5ASTRO products make knurled over sized  knurled knobs that are excellent for adjusting them. Especially in colder weather. Check out the website here:

http://www.v5astro.com/

Keep at it you'll get it. Also remember sometimes it find it takes a few minutes to completely settle after adjusting things. Give it some time to level out.

[Oily]

Firstly isn't that a lot of scope to put on this mount? I haven't seen an iOptron 25 but the 45 wouldn't just shrug off an 8 inch Newt in my book.

Things to check;

- is the mount set to a sensible guide speed? Someting like 0.5 x sidereal is popular.

- you ran an auto calibration? (Just checking!)

- is Dec certainly communicating with PHD? You could try altering the aggressiveness but it doesn't really look as if Dec is talking to PHD. Could be a bad contact?  How did the Dec caibration look as PHD carried it out? It moved in both directions OK?

Olly

The payload is within the ZEQ25 specs which is 27lbs,mine weighing in at 22lbs although I might swap the AR80S for the finder scope once I get the  adapter from modern astronomy.I checked the guide speed and it was set at 0.20,I've now set it to 1.00 as suggested by Stark labs.I'm not sure about the dec calibration Olly,it moved the mount in all directions and it finished the auto calibration.This is all new to me so couldn't tell you if it did everything it should have?Thanks for your reply

I have seen these mounts at the local Opticstar show room, they are well built and put together but I also think that the mount is over loaded, there is a lot of inertia to overcome with a 200p and an AR 80 on top but if Oily could get the dynamic balance spot on the little thing might just surprise him.

A.G

That's what I've been trying to do today AG,I've made myself an extended CW shaft and got some extra CW's too

Thinking some more, how about checking the mesh of the worm and wheel in Dec, and its stiffness. The iOptron 45 uses a spring loaded carrier to mesh the worm into the wheel. Is this stiff enough? With the 45 it is sometimes reported that the plastic motor cover can impede the sprung arm from meshing snugly. A physical check of the dec worm wouldn't hurt.

Olly

I've doubled up on the springs to mesh the gears properly and I'll check the plastic cover to see if it isn't catching.

I have PHD Dec dropping off the bottom of the scale the last couple of attempt, but one try it worked perfectly so i'm thinking its a dodgy usb cable i will order some 2m long replacements and see how it goes.....this was with PHD and PHD2 same problem....

Will check the USB cables,I have strung some together so maybe get some long replacements

With a graph like that it's almost always associated with balance and how tight you have the R.A. and DEC clutch knobs..I gently rock them back and forth until i feel the gears just finally engage while turning the clutch knobs. That's how the tension should be.

V5ASTRO products make knurled over sized  knurled knobs that are excellent for adjusting them. Especially in colder weather. Check out the website here:

http://www.v5astro.com/

Keep at it you'll get it. Also remember sometimes it find it takes a few minutes to completely settle after adjusting things. Give it some time to level out.

I've been practicing getting the correct tension using the double springs as suggested by Paul Chase,one thing I forgot to mention is I get a lot of 'cross talk' from the motors,I've tried wrapping tape around them as per Paul's video tut's but still get the noise?Could this effect it in any way?

[Oily]

Think this problem maybe solved,Paul Chase(Astronewb) has told me to choose 'ASCOM camera chooser' in PHD2 camera selection drop down menu and then in the properties box select QHY5L-II instead of just selecting 'QHY5L-II' as I had done(He said "PHD will go flakey and produce rubbish graphs,been there,done that" when selecting QHY5L-II)

So hopefully I'll get chance to try this tonight

[davedownsouth]

Think this problem maybe solved,Paul Chase(Astronewb) has told me to choose 'ASCOM camera chooser' in PHD2 camera selection drop down menu and then in the properties box select QHY5L-II instead of just selecting 'QHY5L-II' as I had done(He said "PHD will go flakey and produce rubbish graphs,been there,done that" when selecting QHY5L-II)

So hopefully I'll get chance to try this tonight

Hi Oily,

will be very interested to see what kind of graph you get as I will be trying this with my mount once I have worked out how to connect the camera/computer to the mount for autoguiding purposes .

[Oily]

Hopefully if the sky is clear tonight I'll give it another shot Dave.

What camera have you got Dave?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[davedownsouth]

Hi Oily,

I have got an Atik One 6.0, with an OAG Atik GP as guide camera.  The Atik GP connects to the Atik One 6.0 via a USB cable, and again, the only connection from the Atik One 6.0 camera is a USB port, so this goes to the Laptop.  Any guiding needs to come from the computer as the Atik GP can not be connected directly to the mount .

Look forward to hearing how you get on when the skies next clear for you,

Cheers,

Dave

[Oily]

Had another go last night in between the cloud but still the same

Then I decided to take the 200PDS off and just put the AR80S on to see if it's this setup that's to much for the mount to handle,the graph improves but not by much.I also dropped the exposure down to 1.0 which helped(I think)

I's sure I got the PA as near as dammit too

[glowingturnip]

looks alright to me !  Sub-pixel accuracy on both axes - dec is very smooth, and RA osc around 0.35 where it should be.  I'd be happy with those for my equipment.  Seems to have solved the issues you were having with your first graphs.

Btw if you put in your guidescope focal length and your guide cam pixel size in the brain dialogue (I can't remember exactly where) then it'll rescale that graph into arcseconds of error, which will be more useful for comparison with the image scale of your target

[Oily]

Really glowingturnip?!?! Always thought it had to be dead smooth,lol.It might have helped if I'd read the manual first as I've just done what you've suggested,entered my focal length and pixel size in the advanced options.

Will try again tonight if I get chance

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wuthton]

Looks OK to me too considering the weight and surface area of your equipment. A gentle puff of wind will show on your guiding graph.

[swag72]

Don't become a slave to a guide graph. By all means look at it a little, but the proof of the pudding are in your actual subs. Fire it all up and just set it running, you may find that you are worrying over nothing.

[peroni]

I've just started guiding as well. I use the QHY5L-II on my skywatcher finderscope. This thread was a great help in getting everything up and running.

[Oily]

Looks OK to me too considering the weight and surface area of your equipment. A gentle puff of wind will show on your guiding graph.

Think the wind will be a killer!

Don't become a slave to a guide graph. By all means look at it a little, but the proof of the pudding are in your actual subs. Fire it all up and just set it running, you may find that you are worrying over nothing.

I'll try not to

I've just started guiding as well. I use the QHY5L-II on my skywatcher finderscope. This thread was a great help in getting everything up and running.

Thanks for the link peroni

[Thalestris24]

Hi Oily

Just to mention that it's very useful, if not essential, to enable the star profile and target displays in PHD2. Particularly the star profile to make sure that the profile of the selected guide star has a nice shape. I usually monitor that until I feel confident everything is running smoothly. You also want the exposure time to be not too short so that most of the seeing fluctuations get integrated. Choosing the right guide star is important. The auto-select feature is quite useful but you have to make sure there is a reasonable distance to any adjacent stars.

Hth

Louise

[Oily]

Thanks for that Louise,seems like another steep learning curve I have to climb!

[Thalestris24]

Thanks for that Louise,seems like another steep learning curve I have to climb!

Hiya

I've only been imaging for  about 6 months so still a beginner myself! Don't worry it'll all fall  into place!

Good luck

Louise

[Tinker1947]

Hiya

I've only been imaging for  about 6 months so still a beginner myself! Don't worry it'll all fall  into place!

Good luck

Louise

And often for mostly a unknown reason fall out of place just as quickly...

[ChrisLX200]

The graph is just showing the corrections that have been made - if it was flat then no corrections were necessary. Don't blame the guider for a lumpy graph blame the mount.

ChrisH

[Thalestris24]

And often for mostly a unknown reason fall out of place just as quickly...

Heh heh - true!

[glowingturnip]

And often for mostly a unknown reason fall out of place just as quickly...

haha, yep.  I've got a sub somewhere where it lost the guidestar, and then refound it in a different place - the sub has two nice crisp M81's and two M82's - 4 galaxies for the price of 2