PHD

[jaygpoo]

So here we go again. I have a qhy5 ii camera which I brought as a guide camera in the first instant. I have the adaptor to turn my 9x50 finder into a guide scope. I have tried to set this up more than once and I have to say its not as clear cut as I am lead to believe. I open PHD and select the camera followed by the mount (NEQ6) and then I have to decide a expose time. Some have suggested 2s . I see a slider marked brightness and guess to the right is max. In the brain area you can adjust the gain but what ever I do I am still looking at an almost white screen which is impossible to see a star. I have aimed it at a good star just to see if I can get it on the screen and focus it but no. Just once I did something right and I locked onto a star but it was a while ago and I just can not set it up like so many laugh and say its so easy.??    What settings or secret do I need for this impossible task.  Jay

[hobsey]

Jay, you're not alone.

I had exactly the same problem and in the end gave up on trying to guide and on astrophotography all together.

I really do hope someone comes to your aid just so I can see what I needed to do.

[julianr]

Are you connecting to the mount via a cable on the qhy5 II if so setting should be 'on camera'

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2

[msh1]

the slider just adjust the screen brightness to the right darkens the screen left brightens the screen try bringing exposure down to 1 sec see what happens 

[Ant]

Lower the brightness I would say.

For me it worked pretty much out the box.

For the record I never got my QHY5 to work correctly - but others seem to have more luck.

First things first... You might find that it's a focus issue, so my advice is to put the Qhy5 in the main scope and point it at the moon, should be fairly easy to locate and get the exposure right. At this point you can ensure that the focus is achievable.

Once you have the focus point known, you can point at a brightish star and start working on the other settings. Increase the exposure times to 1 second adjust brightness/contrast to ensure that you can see the star against a darkish back ground.

Now you have the settings, you can pop the qhy5 into the finder guider and you already have settings that will be near enough right. Then all you have to do is make sure you can get focus.

With this hobby you have to break down every issue into solvable segments, never take anything for granted, just because I get my finder guider working with a qhy5 doesn't mean you will.

If you not sure of the settings in phd and focus through the finder guider isn't guaranteed. Pick something big and bright and nail the focus. Then nail the settings. Then move back to the finder guider with a configuration that you know is working, this should enable you to ensure focus is correct, then you should be there.

Sorry I'm waffling now lol.

Ant

[knobby]

No expert here... Only done it once but with my Asi120 I had to install ascom , connected can to scope with st4 cable, chose ascom webcam which gave me a dialog for can settings... From what I can remember :-) I used 0.2 second and 75% gain

[Thalestris24]

Hi

You probably need to remove the locking ring on the finder so that focus can be achieved by screwing in the finder objective. Use EZcap during the day with ms exposure times in order to get approximate focus. Then you can tweak focus and exposure times at night-time. Also you need to use the Ascom driver to run it with PHD/2. Once it's up and running the qhy5L-ii is an excellent, sensitive guide cam .

Hth

Louise

[jaygpoo]

Lots of advice and many thanks as always. Now the questions. Reading through the replies do I take it that you do not select the qhy5 camera in the phd menu but the ascom webcam?  I have never seen a contrast adjustment . Where is it in PHD or is it in the camera settings other than those for QHY5. Yes I am using a St4 cable. Is the gain adjustment the one in the brain menu? lastly I have removed the finder locking ring as the focus when I last got it working was not quite there with the ring in situ. Jay

[knobby]

From what I remember ( don't forget I've only done this once ) I chose ascom then my camera and a settings dialog allowed me to choose gain etc.

I'll have a check tomorrow if no one else answers

[Thalestris24]

Lots of advice and many thanks as always. Now the questions. Reading through the replies do I take it that you do not select the qhy5 camera in the phd menu but the ascom webcam?  I have never seen a contrast adjustment . Where is it in PHD or is it in the camera settings other than those for QHY5. Yes I am using a St4 cable. Is the gain adjustment the one in the brain menu? lastly I have removed the finder locking ring as the focus when I last got it working was not quite there with the ring in situ. Jay

Hi Jay

Firstly, I would highly recommend using PHD2 rather than PHD - it's a newer, better version. There are 2 things to select - camera and mount. Using PHD2, for the camera, select 'CMOS QHY5Lii Camera (Ascom)' (assuming you've installed the Ascom driver!). For the mount, select 'on-camera' if you're using the ST4 port. There is no 'contrast adjustment' - just the display brightness adjusted by the slider and exposure time. Exposure times seem to be generally ok at around 2 secs but it obviously depends on selected guide star brightness.

Louise

[jaygpoo]

ok so I have downloaded phd2 and removed phd from my system. Opened it up and looked at the differences. Internet based which I do not like but it has a exposure button marked AUTO . We like that and I got a seeable screen. Sadly clouds outside but will report my efforts as soon as we get a clear night. (be prepared for a long wait)   Jay

[Thalestris24]

Hi

Not sure what you mean by 'internet based'? Worth reading their online guide though!

The guide and troubleshooter on here is also very useful - http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188777-phd-guiding-basic-use-and-troubleshooting/

[IanL]

I use the original QHY5, so the QHY5 II might be a bit different, but:

- The brightness slider has no effect on the exposure time or gain of the camera (all cameras regardless of model) and nor does it have any effect on the image used for guiding.  All it does is adjust the histogram stretch on screen which is applied the image from the camera. What that means in practice is that if your exposure is too short / gain is too low you will not capture anything at all, and if either is too high you will get an overexposed image (and in daylight a complete white-out).  The purpose of the slider is to help you see guide stars on screen so you can pick them, nothing more, nothing less; it won't fix any problem with gain or exposure no matter what you do!

- If you have a really dark image with no stars (or no focussed ones) you will get pattern of jagged horizontal lines/stripes in the on-screen image; basically the histogram stretch is pulling out the noise in the image.

- The gain on the QHY5 needs to be set to about 90% to 95% for best results (at night) in my experience; the default 50% is way too low.  Conversely if you are testing focus during daylight, you might need to set the gain a lot lower.  Now the QHY5 II model might be somewhat different, so you'll need to experiment.

- Do a simple daylight test to ensure the camera is connected and working.  With the camera exposing (the circle/loop icon in PHD) try covering and uncovering the camera.  It should be pretty obvious that the on screen image goes dark/bright as you do.  If that works the you can be sure it isn't a driver or other basic connectivity problem in PHD.

- Perhaps you don't have the star in the frame. First set the finder up for visual and make sure it is well aligned to the main scope before attaching the camera.  That way you can use an eyepiece on the main scope to check your star is in the frame through the finder.

- Perhaps you don't have focus as others have said.  You might want to try some daylight tests on a distant object for this.  Bear in mind that you will need to reduce the gain and set the exposure to a much shorter value (fraction of a second) to avoid getting a white-out.  The main problem with daylight focus tests I find is that it can be hard to ensure you actually have something to focus on in the frame - a distant brick wall is usually a safe bet as there are plenty of lines/texture to work with.  Perhaps trying gently nudging the scope around each time you adjust the focus as a moving pattern is usually visible when you are getting nearer to focus, whereas a static one might not be.

- You'll still need to tweak focus a bit at night I suspect.  As others have suggested, the moon is a good target for focussing (use the edge of a limb or the terminator to do this).  You'll probably need a much shorter exposure again, well under a second, and you may need to tweak the gain too.

- For the rest your night-time tests pick a really bright star (mag 0 or 1, e.g. Vega at this time of year) and go for a 1 second exposure.  If you can achieve focus and have the right gain setting, you should definitely see something with your setup and a 1 second exposure.  If you don't, you'll need to play with the gain setting (leave the exposure at 1 second as this will be more than sufficient for a bright star).  Each time you change the gain, try the slider over its full range and hopefully you should see a star appear.

[jaygpoo]

Thanks so much for your reply proto star. It contains some valuable information from someone who has been tested to the limit of frustration but learnt a lot.  The rest of us will catch up in time. Right now all I need is a clear sky so that I can at least put some of the answers into pratice. Jay