neq6

[spillage]

I will apologize now as I have no access to any data.

Having used my quattro 8" for several months with it guiding very well (normally around .7" I decided to change back over to the much lighter 130pds.

The mount is on a pier with a belt mod and polar aligned as usual. Stupidly I thought guiding would be a breeze with the lighter kit. Apparently NOT.

It now resembles what I can only describe as my attempt to write my name with an etch a sketch and I have been luck to get guiding at 1.5". Dec being the worst.

Would you say this was just due to balance or should I consider stripping down the mount. By the time I get home from work its dark so its a real pain to work on the mount and so far my weekends have been taken up with other things.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

What software are you using, for guiding ??  if PHD2, then you'll need to reconfigure for the different scope....

[spillage]

Sorry I should have mentioned this. I am using phd2 but both scopes use a st80 for guiding and I have ran off a new set of darks and ran calibration. Guide assistant just grumbled a bit about my dec backlash so I might do some adjustment on the backlash if possible.  

[Bukko]

Is it possible there is not enough mass in the assembly now to take up the backlash?

Possibly try and unbalance the axis a little and try again.

Might work, then again, might not.

Good luck.

Gordon.

[JamesF]

Oddly enough I had some niggles with guiding my NEQ6 on Monday night, having made no changes to my setup other than upgrading KStars etc. to the latest release.  It was guiding fine on the other mount (though I had different problems there because I think Ekos had lost some of its settings).

I'd slewed from unpark to the Pacman Nebula and started guiding, but the calibration refused to work, repeatedly complaining about lack of DEC movement or something.  Eventually and for no really good reason I parked, unparked, slewed to M27, then slewed to the Pacman and restarted guiding, at which point it worked fine for the next four hours.

I have no clue why the guiding wouldn't work initially nor why it was perfectly happy once I'd slewed elsewhere first.  Most strange.

James

[spillage]

Cheers for all your input. I think as I have some time off this weekend I will recheck the backlash and might strip off the scope and wiring and do a clean install. That is the only issue with not having a nice large dry and well lit scope room to be able to work in.

[spillage]

We have a fairly clear night last night and luckily I have change to remove and reinstall the scope and leads. I also check that the motors had not become loose and checked the backlash which all seemed okay. Still having odd issues with tracking so have attached the phd2 file from last night.

The only thing I noticed is that RA is not as free moving a DEC but this has always been the case with this mount.

Any ideas are more than welcome.

PHD2_GuideLog_2019-12-01_013559.txt

[michael8554]

Hi Mark

A log with Calibration included would be helpful.

Your guidescope looks to be out of focus, HFD of  5 to over 6 is poor, aim for 3 to 4 using the Star Profile as a guide.

And no, defocusing doesn't help PHD2, only if you have a very short FL guidescope yielding tiny stars.

You're using Z Filter on both axis. From what I remember of using it when it first came out, its main feature is being able to use fast exposures to correct, that would normally be classed as "chasing the seeing".

You're using 3 second exposures that defeat the object of using Z Filter guiding, try using 1 to 2 secs and adjusting the settings accordingly.

But Z Filter doesn't suit every mount, it might be worth setting up a new Equipment Profile with default settings, Calibrating, running the Guide Assistant, and accepting the recommendations.

Michael

[spillage]

Thank @michael8554

I think I made these changes out of frustration. 

Last night I went back to hyteresis in RA and resist in DEC but I may give the predictive PEC a go on the next clear night.

I guess with so few clear nights you rush things just to be up and running so I gave up a few hours last night fettling the settings and using some left over roof lead to assist with getting the balance as best I could and finally saw guiding back down to around .8-.7 so moving in the right direction. 

I waste some time as earlier on in the day I tighten up the motors only to find that the RA was too tight and binding so a quick adjustment put this right.