Panic at the disco, belt modding HEQ5

[Anthonyexmouth]

Now I'm starting to plan the cabling to the pier I'll invest in a good bench supply for the workshop, no PSU getting cold outside. Then I can make up my breakout panel for usb power/12v/8v dslr with a little regulator behind the panel

[Anthonyexmouth]

Well, i think i might have scared the mount, showed it a picture of my concrete mixer today. Also new psu and changed the guide cam because i think its trash

opinion on this compared to the last few nights.

[JamesF]

RA looks much calmer there than it was.

James

[tooth_dr]

That's looking pretty good now!  Are you guiding with an ST80?

[Anthonyexmouth]

Just now, tooth_dr said:

That's looking pretty good now!  Are you guiding with an ST80?

yeah, and an asi120mm but i just swapped it out for my asi290mc and it seems more stable. 

[Anthonyexmouth]

Not quite so good now, but its gone a bit misty/foggy. 

 

[tooth_dr]

Thanks.  I'm just in two minds about doing the belt mod or try a longer guidescope.

[tooth_dr]

Are you on the latest development of PHD2, 2.6.5 dev 7?

[Anthonyexmouth]

im on 2.6.5 but not sure its dev 7

just checked, its a full release version not a dev build. 

[vlaiv]

I would say that is much better - what one would expect from a belt modded mount - RMS of 0.64". DEC rms is pretty much where you want it - at 0.34", while RA is still a bit too high at 0.55". Try adjusting guiding parameters now. Aggression of 50% is pretty low.

[Anthonyexmouth]

2 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I would say that is much better - what one would expect from a belt modded mount - RMS of 0.64". DEC rms is pretty much where you want it - at 0.34", while RA is still a bit too high at 0.55". Try adjusting guiding parameters now. Aggression of 50% is pretty low.

i did have it set to 70 but someone mentioned the other day that it was too high so i lowered it. i'll put it back to 70 next clear night. also going to download dev 7 release of phd2 to see if it cures the asi120mm image flip issue i posted about in another thread

[spillage]

That looks like job well done. A bit of fiddling with phd settings may improve things but at 0.60" I would say that right on the money. I find my 120mm very fussy about conditions and the slightest bit of cloud/mist really effect the graph in phd.

[Anthonyexmouth]

For guiding, should I stick with the asi290mc I used last night or is the asi120mm more suited if the newer phd2 sorts out the issues.

[vlaiv]

I don't think there will be much difference between the two.

[Anthonyexmouth]

Was wondering on the pixel size and resolution difference . 

If not much in it the 290 will go back on my mak90 if dev7 of PHD starts playing nice with the 120

[vlaiv]

I think that you are guiding at 1.5"/pixel - that is quite good guiding resolution, so you don't need much better than that. But that is with 290? Right?

ASI120 at ~ 1.93"/pixel will be fine as well. That should give precision of about 0.1" and RMS of 0.3" so that is fine still.

 

[Anthonyexmouth]

22 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I think that you are guiding at 1.5"/pixel - that is quite good guiding resolution, so you don't need much better than that. But that is with 290? Right?

ASI120 at ~ 1.93"/pixel will be fine as well. That should give precision of about 0.1" and RMS of 0.3" so that is fine still.

 

Last night was the only time I've used the 290 for guiding. It was a trial because of the random image flip in phd2. Been using the 120 previous to that. Just downloaded dev7 version which apparently fixes a few zwo issues. I'll give the 120 another go because the 290 was supposed to be my planetary imaging cam. 

Are you saying the 290 will be a little better? 

[vlaiv]

Just now, Anthonyexmouth said:

Last night was the only time I've used the 290 for guiding. It was a trial because of the random image flip in phd2. Been using the 120 previous to that. Just downloaded dev7 version which apparently fixes a few zwo issues. I'll give the 120 another go because the 290 was supposed to be my planetary imaging cam. 

Are you saying the 290 will be a little better? 

Even if it is, I'm not sure you'll notice.

290 would be a bit better if you had the mount capable of guiding below 0.3 - 0.4" RMS. Since you have mount that will on most good nights guide down to 0.5" RMS but hardly below - I don't think you'll notice the difference between two cams.

[Anthonyexmouth]

9 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Even if it is, I'm not sure you'll notice.

290 would be a bit better if you had the mount capable of guiding below 0.3 - 0.4" RMS. Since you have mount that will on most good nights guide down to 0.5" RMS but hardly below - I don't think you'll notice the difference between two cams.

Fair enough, hopefully this phd2 release will mean I can swap back to the 120 for guiding. Or maybe it's a fault with the camera, either way at least I've got options. 

You deserve a paid, full time position on SGL. 

[vlaiv]

6 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

Fair enough, hopefully this phd2 release will mean I can swap back to the 120 for guiding. Or maybe it's a fault with the camera, either way at least I've got options. 

You deserve a paid, full time position on SGL. 

I'm glad if I was able to help

[Yearofthegoat]

Very useful topic. I've just done the belt mod but haven't checked guiding yet. Just enjoying the lack of gear chatter is very nice!

I did also find that 12v isn't quite enough for the HEQ5. I used a 12v power pack from an old Virgin Superhub(!) just because it came to hand and it crapped out once or twice - same error with the handset not initialising. I went into Utilities/Information/Voltage on the handset and watched it while slewing around and it dipped into 11.7v territory, so am guessing a nominal 12v just isn't enough with a bit of load.

BTW my Maplin bench PSU gives out 13.8 ish and has been utterly reliable (RIP Maplins, we miss you ).

Anyway, thanks for the thread - very interesting and I'll test my guiding with the bench PSU, no other wimpy wall warts. Hopefully the worms will be okay without tinkering.