Help with guiding

[Drbelly]

Hi everyone,

I have been attempting to get more into astrophotography and have taken several unguided images but have been unsuccessful so far in getting guiding going to get longer subs.

My setup is a SW 250PDS with the main imaging camera being an SXVR-H18 mono CCD attached via a coma corrector and SX 2 inch filter wheel. I have a lodestar to use as guide camera through an OAG connected to the filter wheel.

I have struggled and struggled to get the correct spacing for the lodestar to come to focus with the main camera but recently thought I had it cracked. I have added 20mm worth of c-cs mount adapters to the lodestar and managed to get this focused a couple of weeks ago on a bright 3/4 moon using PHD guiding.

Now the moon is out of the way I thought I would be able to have a go getting an actual guide star on the lodestar chip but the last couple of nights when I have fired up PHD, all I am getting is a pure white image. I have tried knocking the gamma slider right down and decreasing the exposure but I can't get an image with PHD. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling and get the same result. I can't figure out where I'm going wrong.

I've made sure the OAG turret is far enough down in the OAG for the pick-off prism to receive light etc. but nothing.

Does anyone have any suggestions?  

[Tinker1947]

I think i would try the Lodestar by its self in the Focuser, then run PHD and get that working, then back to your present set-up, i think it takes some patiences to get the thing working well......