PEC Training via Software HELP!!!

[MarsG76]

Hi Astronomers...

I decided that after modding my 40D, in the last few years taking a few long exposure images successfully with the modded DSLR even up to 45min (30 mins usually) subs at 2000mm with all subs usable unless clouds ruined the exposure.

Lately I thought I'd tackle a new challenge, that challenge being PEC training on the CGEM to see if I can improve the tracking quality (RMS in PHD) and in turn tighten the star bloat a bit and improve the detail, particularly imaging at F10.

Currently my attempts failed miserably. Initially I learned the hard way that you can not train PE on the CGEM using the GPUSB autoguider port, can't even have the cable plugged it since the CGEM starts to make a tapping noise and the whole alignment gets confused or theres is a conflict between the autoguider and the handcontroller, the mount becomes unusable until it is power cycled.

The second attempt was to connect the NexRemote via COM8 (on my laptop) and generate a Virtual COM32 for PHD to connect to the NexRemote. PECTools connected to NexRemote directly, so had all three bits of software talking to each other.

I have installed ASCOM version 6 and the Celestron ASCOM drivers. I connected PHD using ASCOM via these drivers.

I aligned the scope via nothing but NexRemote on the laptop, the NexRemote read the GPS and aligned successfully.

I located a guide star, calibrated PHD and commenced guiding, which it was guiding with no problems.

Till this point everything was smooth and as expected but here's where the problem started... I had PECTools connected and seemingly everything was OK, it found the index, which came up with a dialog box warning that the scope will move up to 2 degrees, which it did when I hit "OK", returning the guide star to nearly the same spot, which I thought was quite good for such a small FOV since I was using the IS21au618 CCD as a guide camera with a 1/4" CCD.

I resumed guiding in PHD, hit "Train PEC" to start the training procedure and nothing... where the sine curve is, there is meant to be a yellow line showing the start point and a grey line moving as the scope goes through its 479 second worm cycle. I waited for more than 10 minutes than left it for a half hour to see what will happen and nothing. When I hit stop training nothing changed on the graph. Same thing was with batch training, I left it for 90 minutes and still nothing, no files generated nor was there any difference in the software after I stopped training.

I decided to do a PEC training procedure using the hand controller (after starting from the beginning, aligning the scope using the hand controller) on the scope, which it seemed to be OK, PHD was guiding and the mount was recording, after 8 odd minutes it stopped. When I initiated playback, it seemed to improve the guiding scale a bit, but not so much as to be worth while.. but a improvement nonetheless.

I tried running everything with administrator privileges with no change.

I'm under the impression that the CGEM has a 3 cycle worm period before truly being periodic, so the way to get the best result is to average over 6, 9 or 12 cycles and upload the result.

Has anyone tried this and had a similar outcome, or does anyone have any advise... the laptop I'm using is a Sony VAIO running Windows Vista Basic... but all of the controls are working so I'm reluctant to think that the OS is incompatible with the software.

 

The second thing I tried was using "PERecorder" which worked OK with the calibration and verification until I hit "Record" to record the PE... all it did was display a error message, a crossed out rectangle was all that was shown where the PE graph was supposed to be generated and the tracking was stopped of course losing the guide star. When checking the hand control Tracking setup, it changed from EQ-South to "Zone-5"... Normally there is no "Zone-5" option, just OFF, EQ-North and EQ-South.

 

Sorry for the novel but currently I'm out of ideas, if anyone has any ideas, help would be appreciated.

Mariusz

 

[Peje]

I've been looking into doing this for my NEQ6, so far I'm planning to capture the data using ASCOM then use PECPREP to smooth the data. I've only started looking so perhaps there's a flaw in my plan. The other issue forme is that Autumn is pretty grim for getting a couple of hours of clear sky without crazy wind

EQMOD vs PEC