PHD guiding, loss of star and guiding turned off

[alcol620]

Hi folks

I posted this question earlier and had minimal response so posting again.

Situation: Clear skies. Set up an imaging plan using APT software, and guide and dither with PHD. Set the plan running and retire for the night. Return 2 or 3 hours later and find that after 30 minutes of the imaging session cloud had rolled in for about 30 minutes. PHD had lost the star and stopped guiding. Result no more guided images, only ones with star trails!

Can PHD be set up so that if it loses the star it regains it and starts guiding again? I know it will do this if it loses a star for a minute or two but doesn't if it is lost for a more significant period.

Advice would be welcome. I am assuming that there must be a way of achieving this otherwise extended unattended imaging session are not possible if periods of cloud are likely.

Thanks

[alcol620]

I have answered my own question this evening.

During the cloudy spell tonight I played around with PHD. Made sure my PHD Dark library was up to date. Pressed the "Auto-select star" option after guiding started and watch PHD recover from lost stars during cloudy periods lasting over 10 minutes. Even covered the guidescope and left PHD running while it pinged at me and flashed red on the screen. On uncovering the guide scope PHD recovered the position and continued to guide.

Question answered.

[kendg]

Thanks for the info. Really appreciated.