Help please - guiding problems.

[The_Sarge]

So the STT-8300M finally arrives!!

After several nights wasted trying to get it to guide I am at a loss.

CGE Pro Mount and STT-8300M with self guiding filterwheel.

While waiting for the camera to arrive I checked the pin assignments in both manuals and determined I needed a straight through cable and bought one.

When I try to calibrate the guider (or try using CCD Ops to slew the scope) I get a constant motion in 1 direction. North and South Work fine but when I ask it to move west it just locks and keeps going seems to do the same with east but moves west.

The calibration fails with "invalid motion" in x axis and watching the star motion its constant in 1 direction e.g. down but does move left and right when those relays are activated.

I have tried the standard guider cable and will only move in 1 direction out of the 4.

The straight through cable mixes up the +/- for RA and DEC but that shouldn't matter and I get this problem.

I made my own cable matching pin to pin from the diagrams in the manuals and get the same.

I'm beginning to think its a problem with the mount as I had the same problems trying to use an autoguider with a separate guidescope before,

Maybe bad wiring and a short somewhere?

Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Sarge

[Scorpius]

Have no idea but sure someone on here can help you figure it out. Probably some kind of setting since it looks like there's more settings involved with this stuff than you can shake a stick at! Good luck and don't get discouraged - SGL's emergency responders will be along very soon...

[MarsG76]

Reading what you have done it does look like the common hardware used with all guide solutions is the mount... look like the East/West signal is either no getting to your mount or the PCB... check if your autoguide connector is physically clean, even use some isopropanol alcohol on a q-tip to clean the contacts in it see if that improves or your problem.

[Thommy]

Are you absolutely sure you got the wiring right? I had a similar problem with my CGEM. Usually my calibration failed and when it didn't, the result of the calibration was useless. I tried to send guide corrections manually using PHD guide (perhaps CCD ops has something similar?) with no response at all. This made me sure that the problem wasn't any setting being wrong. I thought my ST-4 cable was ok, but another check showed that one of the plugs was turned up side down. Since then I learned that a "standard ST4" cable is not always standard  . Then I tried to go through the hand set instead - no problem!

[The_Sarge]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Tried all sorts including open mount surgery to see if there was anything amiss inside.

To no avail.

Finally solved the issue by going through every setting in the mount and found the tracking was set to RA and DEC.

Changed it to RA only and it calibrated first time.

Sarge.

[cjdawson]

Just a thought, have you tried testing out that the St-4 connection on your mount is functioning correctly?

I test mine by making a breakout ST-4 cable.  Then shorting the wires manually to see the end result.  When you short ground to the movement pin, the scope should slew at guide rate in that direction.  Should should be able to get all 4 movements by shorting one pin at a time.  Shorting both RA pins would be pointless - either unpredictable result, or in the case of my mount, the motion cancelled out.