Paramount MYT question.

[ollypenrice]

Folks, I am trying to help a guest persuade his new Paramount to respond to guide commands, so far without success. The guide cam is a Lodestar 2, as yet untested, so it is just possible that the fault lies here. I can lend him an alternative Lodestar to check this.

We have tried two ST4 cables.

We've tried guiding in Bisque's own software, AstroArt and PHD2 but calibration fails due to lack of movement. In PHD2 we've increased the guide steps in the brain and also tried giving manual guide commands. When we do this the manual guide window freezes. (Not a good sign?)

Bisque say that the default guide speed is 0.5x siderreal but the owner hasn't yet found out how to confirm that this is the setting. A job for today.

The big question is this: is there a configuration step in setting up the MYT mount which may have been missed?

Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Olly

[gorann]

Hi Olly

I seem to remember that when I moved from using an ASI camera to a QHY camera for the guiding, it first failed because I used the ASI ST4 cable and not the QHY ST4 cable and apparently some connectors are swapped. So, it may be worth checking that he uses the ST4 cable that came with the Lodestar.

[ollypenrice]

6 minutes ago, gorann said:

Hi Olly

I seem to remember that when I moved from using an ASI camera to a QHY camera for the guiding, it first failed because I used the ASI ST4 cable and not the QHY ST4 cable and apparently some connectors are swapped. So, it may be worth checking that he uses the ST4 cable that came with the Lodestar.

Thanks Gorann. The ST4 cable looks like a conventional phone cable but it is reverse wired so the colour order is reversed between the ends. Our guest was using the original SX cable and we can check that the spare is the same.

Olly

[Sp@ce_d]

Not sure if this is any help Olly as I've never had the opportunity to play with a Paramount but I do have the skyx. You should be able to see the settings in there for guide rate etc.

had a quick look through one of the manuals 

https://www.observatorysolutions.com/downloads/bisque/documentation/Paramount-User-Guide.pdf

page 121 settings tab

page 132

 

0. Read All Parameters from Mount

   Choose this command to read the mount’s parameters from the control system and update them on the Bisque TCS window. Reading every parameter from the mount’s internal memory is a relatively lengthy operation and this command may require fifteen seconds or so to complete. 

page 136

Guider Relays

The Guider Relays graphic on the bottom left side of the Show Status tab (see Figure 72) shows four red circles (clockwise from the top) that represent North, East, South and West mount relays. The color of the circle changes when the relays are open or closed.

•   A black-filled circle indicates that the relay is open so that no guider corrections are being made.

•   A green-filled circle indicates that the relay in this axis is closed and guider corrections are being

  applied to the mount.

  If the graphic shows that the relay is unexpectedly closed (for example, if there is no autoguiding taking place), here are possible causes:

•   The relays on some SBIG camera models are always closed when the camera is turned off. Turn the camera on to open the relays and show black-filled circles.

•   A shorted or otherwise improperly wired autoguider cable is causing unwanted guider corrections in one or more directions. Try unplugging the guider cable from the Electronics Box on the Paramount ME II, MX, or MX+, or, from both the Adaptor Panel and the Instrument Panel on the Paramount ME. If the relays are now closed, replace the guider cable.

•   Corrosion or other containments are causing a short in the relay port. Try spraying electronics cleaner on both the cable and directly in the guider relay port to see if the behavior persists. 

[steppenwolf]

@ollypenrice ... I have decided to scrub my post here as the MYT manual is confusing in its pinout diagrams and it is not crystal clear whether the wiring refers to the camera as reference or the mount as reference - sorry!

[RayD]

4 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Thanks Gorann. The ST4 cable looks like a conventional phone cable but it is reverse wired so the colour order is reversed between the ends. Our guest was using the original SX cable and we can check that the spare is the same.

Olly

Not sure if it's relevant, but I've just checked my unused Lodestar X2 ST4 cable that came with mine from SX and it doesn't appear to be reversed. 

[andrew s]

If he is controlling this via The Sky X then don't use a cable just use Direct Guide. You need to use a longer setting for the calibration time but it is in the The Sky X manual or paramount manuals (available on line). 

Regards Andrew 

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, andrew s said:

If he is controlling this via The Sky X then don't use a cable just use Direct Guide. You need to use a longer setting for the calibration time but it is in the The Sky X manual or paramount manuals (available on line). 

Regards Andrew 

Thanks, we tried both but saw no sign of active guide commands in any of the guiding options we ran.

[ollypenrice]

4 hours ago, RayD said:

Not sure if it's relevant, but I've just checked my unused Lodestar X2 ST4 cable that came with mine from SX and it doesn't appear to be reversed. 

Oh no, more confusion! I have a non-reversed phone cable. WHether or not our guest puts it in his mount will be his call!!! Thanks for the input, sincerely.

Olly

[gorann]

Why the h--l did someone come up with the idea of reversing the order of the leads? Just to make our lives easier? What's wrong with standards and why cannot a phone cable just be a phone cable? When it happened to me I have a vague memory of finally solving it by reading the manual, which I usually do not do, but by then several hours of great dark sky had been wasted....

[andrew s]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Thanks, we tried both but saw no sign of active guide commands in any of the guiding options we ran.

You need something like 200 for the calibration time with direct guide. If the camera is giving an image then Direct Guide should work. If you are not familiar with TSX you need to check it's guide settings. If you post a screen shot I can look at them.

[pc387]

Hi I've attached a blog by Paramount's Richard Wright regarding guiding using 'Direct Guide'. I believe he uses a Lodestar for guiding too.

Some of the guiding interface has changed in recent updates of the software, but many of the settings hold true.

Maybe of help?

pc387

Guiding Best Practices.docx

[ollypenrice]

Well, last night we tried yet again and it worked in PHD at the default settings. The trouble is that we don't know what we might have been doing differently! Such is life and many thanks for the suggestions.

Olly

[steppenwolf]

That's great that you have it working but so frustrating for you that you don't know why!! I hope it continues to perform for the rest of your guest's stay.