SGP platesolve 2 problem with 200mm camera lens

[MartinB]

I have been using Platesolve 2 via SGP using a variety of ZWO CMOS cameras with a Canon 200mm lens.  I did get things set up and working well but then, for no clear reason, Platesolve started to fail to solve.  Things work better with Astronomy.Net (and ANSVR for blind solving) but  still not completely reliable and very slow.  Has anyone else had similar problems?

[newbie alert]

I had issues with ps2 but in APT,  a change to ASTAP was recommended  as could have possibly had a corrupt file.. no issues since

[Xiga]

On 05/11/2021 at 15:47, MartinB said:

I have been using Platesolve 2 via SGP using a variety of ZWO CMOS cameras with a Canon 200mm lens.  I did get things set up and working well but then, for no clear reason, Platesolve started to fail to solve.  Things work better with Astronomy.Net (and ANSVR for blind solving) but  still not completely reliable and very slow.  Has anyone else had similar problems?

Yes, i've encountered this too when using lenses. If you open the PlateSolve2 settings, there is a checkbox called something like 'Use highest accuracy' (it's not quite that, but you will know when you see it). If you uncheck this you should find it will now solve. I found this little nugget somewhere online last year when i was doing a mosaic of Cygnus at 135mm and having the same problem. Unfortunately PlateSolve2 doesn't have profiles, so just remember to change the setting back when you move back to using a scope. 

[MartinB]

Aha!!!!  Thanks Xiga.  I have now managed to install astap which tricks my old version of SGP into thinking it is Platesolve2 and am also going to give ASIair a try.  

[adyj1]

1 hour ago, MartinB said:

Aha!!!!  Thanks Xiga.  I have now managed to install astap which tricks my old version of SGP into thinking it is Platesolve2 and am also going to give ASIair a try.  

I think the dev/s of ASTAP need extra credit for making it work with the same parameters as PS2 to allow this to happen. ASTAP is the best platesolver I have used - by far - and the ability to use it in any program that supports PS2 is a stroke of genius. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by adyj1

[Xiga]

I'm also still using the old version of SGP. It just works, so I haven't seen the need to upgrade. I also did the ASTAP trick too a year or two ago. The insanely quick solves blew me away, but then for some reason it started to crash on me and eventually it got so frequent I couldn't rely on it so had no choice but to go back to PS2. 

[MartinB]

7 hours ago, Xiga said:

I'm also still using the old version of SGP. It just works, so I haven't seen the need to upgrade. I also did the ASTAP trick too a year or two ago. The insanely quick solves blew me away, but then for some reason it started to crash on me and eventually it got so frequent I couldn't rely on it so had no choice but to go back to PS2. 

I'm itching for a clear night to see if it works.

[Starflyer]

If I blink I miss ASTAP solve, should solve (😜) your issues Martin.

[daz]

I switched to ASTAP a little while ago - not missed a beat since!!

PS2 was good but would occasionally fail for no reason I could fathom...