Help Please - APT Dithering Settings

[PembrokeSteve]

Hi,
I am at the moment trying to set up "Dithering" on my APT. 
I am presently using a Canon 600D, with Orion ED80 Refractor, mounted on my NEQ6PRO.
Please note, I have not yet progressed to Guiding - NO GUIDING
Do I basically select "APT Dithering" and maybe leave all the other settings at Default?
Most grateful if anyone can let be know which settings I might need to adjust, and to what values.
Finding it all a little bit confusing !

Many Thanks

Steve

 

[alan potts]

I am in just as much mess but found I had to put a figure in the stability box, I put 1.5 but I only got it to do it once then it timed out. I was using it with PHD2 but at least I got something after I ticked that box with 1.5. Someone will put you right.

Alan

[Atreta]

23 hours ago, PembrokeSteve said:

Hi,
I am at the moment trying to set up "Dithering" on my APT. 
I am presently using a Canon 600D, with Orion ED80 Refractor, mounted on my NEQ6PRO.
Please note, I have not yet progressed to Guiding - NO GUIDING
Do I basically select "APT Dithering" and maybe leave all the other settings at Default?
Most grateful if anyone can let be know which settings I might need to adjust, and to what values.
Finding it all a little bit confusing !

Many Thanks

Steve

 

Hi, how are you connecting  to the mount?

[PembrokeSteve]

Hi, 

I intend to connect my NEQ6 mount to laptop using RS232 cable, via my Synscan Handset. 
Hopefully this will allow me to dither in "APT Dithering" mode.
Regards,

Steve

[Atreta]

1 hour ago, PembrokeSteve said:

Hi, 

I intend to connect my NEQ6 mount to laptop using RS232 cable, via my Synscan Handset. 
Hopefully this will allow me to dither in "APT Dithering" mode.
Regards,

Steve

Yes, that's the way i connect mine. I use a cheap usb to rs232 adapter. I also suggest to install eqmod and ascom platform too so you can integrate all the software needed. It's very straightforward to install and use. I can try to help you with it if you have any problems. 

This is the link for the sbove softwares:

https://ascom-standards.org/Downloads/Index.htm

https://sourceforge.net/projects/eq-mod/files/EQASCOM/

[stash_old]

8 hours ago, Atreta said:

I use a cheap usb to rs232 adapter

With all due respect please pay the little extra and get either FDTI (Real not fake) or CH340 RS232 adapter - most "cheap" adapters use the prolific chip which if you search this site and many others have a history of problems with Windows - especially Win 10.

Heck what's the extra £5-10 pound when you have paid (I assume here) over £900 for the mount (new price). ?

[Atreta]

4 hours ago, stash_old said:

Heck what's the extra £5-10 pound when you have paid (I assume here) over £900 for the mount (new price

Sure, i wasn't recommending to buy a cheap adapter

I got this one to try to update the handset, but it didn't work, and then i tried to use it for mount control and it works fine until now, even under windows 10. 

[david_taurus83]

On 06/05/2019 at 23:00, PembrokeSteve said:

Hi,
I am at the moment trying to set up "Dithering" on my APT. 
I am presently using a Canon 600D, with Orion ED80 Refractor, mounted on my NEQ6PRO.
Please note, I have not yet progressed to Guiding - NO GUIDING
Do I basically select "APT Dithering" and maybe leave all the other settings at Default?
Most grateful if anyone can let be know which settings I might need to adjust, and to what values.
Finding it all a little bit confusing !

Many Thanks

Steve

Yes, apart from me using an Lynx astro EQDir cable, I was using APT dithering a couple of weeks ago. Works just as well as PHD. My settings below for APT Dithering.

[MarsG76]

Firstly you need guiding for dithering to work... personally I left APT on the default setting and adjusted dither settings within PHD2... keeping the "random" option selected.

The level of dithering you need to set to is dependent on the focal length at which you're imaging... so a higher step number is needed for shorter focal lengths to increase the actual random step away from the current position, but not so far that you might lose the guide star. Unfortunately it is a bit of trial and error.

Once I determined my dither settings, I saved the profile for each of my 2 scopes and 3 focal lengths within PHD 2 and recall as needed depending on the focal length and scope which I'm imaging at.

[david_taurus83]

6 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

Firstly you need guiding for dithering to work...

Usually, yes, most people will utilize PHD to control dithering. However, APT can dither the mount itself without any guiding whatsoever. I was using it successfully myself a few weeks ago after I sent my guide camera away for a check up. If you select APT Dithering like in my example above, it will do it based on your imaging focal length.