Getting started with auto guiding

[CaptainShiznit]

Okay so I might be bordering on taking on too much too quickly, as I'm very new to the hobby, but I tend to go all in on these kind of things. That being said, I have some questions about auto guiding.

I got myself a used QHY5 and guide scope. It came with the RJ11 cable and I borrowed the USB cable from my printer. I have my laptop at the ready but it has no serial port but plenty of USBs.

Is this the only other cable I need to get it all connected up, bypass the handset and control with stellarium?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq5-pro-heq5-syntrek-pro-az-eq5-gt-az-eq6-gt-and-eq8-mounts.html

Would that then look like, guide camera to computer via the camera's USB (printer style one) and mount to computer via the above cable? Or does the camera need to connect to the auto guide port on the mount via RJ11 too?

I also seem to have gotten lost in a sea of required programs and drivers. I understand there's a preference factor with a lot of them but if someone could break down exactly what I need to install and what does what, that would be awesome 😅

I also want to polar align using the guide camera. Is this as simple as pointing the mount roughly North and following the procedure in SharpCap once everything is up and running?

Really appreciate any help.

[geeklee]

37 minutes ago, CaptainShiznit said:

Is this the only other cable I need to get it all connected up, bypass the handset and control with stellarium?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq5-pro-heq5-syntrek-pro-az-eq5-gt-az-eq6-gt-and-eq8-mounts.html

Providing it matches your mount (guessing it must as you've quoted a specific one) then yes, this will allow mount control from a computer.

37 minutes ago, CaptainShiznit said:

Would that then look like, guide camera to computer via the camera's USB (printer style one) and mount to computer via the above cable? Or does the camera need to connect to the auto guide port on the mount via RJ11 too?

While guiding commands can come via the guide camera via the RJ11 (ST4 port) you wouldn't need this with the cable above.  Guiding would be guide pulses sent straight to the mount from the computer (via guiding software and ASCOM connection).  I've not used Stellarium so I don't know how the software itself needs setup or whether it can connect to ASCOM by default.

37 minutes ago, CaptainShiznit said:

I also seem to have gotten lost in a sea of required programs and drivers. I understand there's a preference factor with a lot of them but if someone could break down exactly what I need to install and what does what, that would be awesome 😅

Any programs in particular? 😅  SharpCap will let you polar align, focus, capture, plate solve and live stack  (plus many more things).  PHD2 will primarily let you guide but also polar align with a few methods.  I'm sure you have a few more apps you're thinking of!😅

To get connected up and control the mount from the computer - the ASCOM platform and the EQMOD packages. 

37 minutes ago, CaptainShiznit said:

I also want to polar align using the guide camera. Is this as simple as pointing the mount roughly North and following the procedure in SharpCap once everything is up and running?

Fundamentally, yes.  You have to be within 5 degrees of the pole and be able to see at least 15 stars.  There's a few other requirements - here's a good overview:

https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap/features/polar-alignment

Hope this helps, there will be more knowledgeable folk along too I'm sure.  I've recently gone through a lot of this stuff so it's mainly fresh in the mind 🙂

Edited January 18, 2020 by geeklee

[CaptainShiznit]

Geeklee, thanks for that awesome reply, you answered pretty much everything. I know that was a vague question about software but that's all I needed to know really. Just with never having done it before and being new to the hobby in general, there's so many programs people recommend, I just wanted what was required first so I could go from there. Thanks again!

[geeklee]

2 hours ago, CaptainShiznit said:

Geeklee, thanks for that awesome reply, you answered pretty much everything. I know that was a vague question about software but that's all I needed to know really. Just with never having done it before and being new to the hobby in general, there's so many programs people recommend, I just wanted what was required first so I could go from there. Thanks again!

I only called out SharpCap (SC) as you mentioned it for Polar alignment.  Agreed, there are many applications out there for all the various functions - including apps that do all of it (or most of it anyway).

Two game changers for me on the learning curve were electronically assisted Polar Alignment (SC in this instance) and Plate Solving. 

I spent 60s kneeling down behind my polar scope before I thought "There has got to be a better way than this" (I had already read that there was, but wanted to - initially - do it all manually).  I hooked my laptop up to the guide cam and did my first polar alignment in 15mins with SC... this is now down to under 5mins usually.  I don't find it as accurate as reported although I do work to get it under 20 arc secs in SC. PHD2 guiding assistant reports ~1-4 arc minutes usually.  Next up on my learning curve is drift alignment to tweak it further.

For plate solving, this was a big wow moment, especially where I have it now.  I'd read up a lot about it before hand but it only really clicked in the workflow when I had the equipment hooked up.  Initially I was working with a DSLR (no computer control) so I did plate solving with the guide camera in SC to get close then tweaked with EQMOD control and manually ran some exposures on the DSLR to check framing/position.  This was still a huge step forward compared to manual alignment for me.  When I got a camera with computer control it all came together especially with PointCraft in Apt.  Goto++ with the main camera and scope - it's a beautiful thing 😁  Really!  I've found myself loading an image from a previous evening, chosen solve, then Goto++ and just carry on capturing the exact (within a few pixels) same target.

I look forward to more game changers for me in the future - auto focusing comes to mind.

Good luck!

Update: If you haven't already, have a read through this excellent document

https://openphdguiding.org/phd2-best-practices/

Edited January 18, 2020 by geeklee
Added PHD2 best practice doc link

[MarcusH]

That was some great pointers by @geeklee.

It was also funny to read that we had exactly the same two game changers: SharpCap and Plate Solving. 😄

Can't remember if I read it somewhere or if it was in a Youtube video, but have you tried the iterative method of SC Polar Alignment ?

What you do is a normal Polar Alignment, i.e. mount in home position - let SC plate solve - turn the RA axis 90 degrees - let SC plate solve again - adjust the Alt/Az knobs to minimize the PA error.

When you're happy with the numbers you restart the Polar Alignment but now from the position you left the RA axis in (i.e. 90 degrees from home position). Once SC ask you to rotate the RA axis, you rotate it back to the home position. Ideally the PA error would be the same as in the first iteration, but more often you find yourself 1-2 arc minutes off. Now repeat this until you get as low of an error as possible.

Drift alignment is still superior, but this usually gets me pretty fast to <0.5 arc minutes PA error in PHD2 guiding assistant.

[geeklee]

4 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

Can't remember if I read it somewhere or if it was in a Youtube video, but have you tried the iterative method of SC Polar Alignment ?

What you do is a normal Polar Alignment, i.e. mount in home position - let SC plate solve - turn the RA axis 90 degrees - let SC plate solve again - adjust the Alt/Az knobs to minimize the PA error.

When you're happy with the numbers you restart the Polar Alignment but now from the position you left the RA axis in (i.e. 90 degrees from home position). Once SC ask you to rotate the RA axis, you rotate it back to the home position. Ideally the PA error would be the same as in the first iteration, but more often you find yourself 1-2 arc minutes off. Now repeat this until you get as low of an error as possible.

Drift alignment is still superior, but this usually gets me pretty fast to <0.5 arc minutes PA error in PHD2 guiding assistant.

I haven't done it that way, no.  I sometimes restart from the home position a few times repeating the normal approach - I wasn't sure if even this was making a difference.  I'll definitely do the iterative method you describe above - thank you for this info 👍

(I forget that, of course, SC is plate solving to do its polar alignment work as well)