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Vixen Spinx mout and the ASIair.


CCD-Freak

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I have a friend that is trying to use a Vixen Spinx mount with his ASIair and he can not get it to calibrate for auto-guiding.  His Spinx has the early version of the Star Book which is in the list of supported mounts in the ASIair.  He says it seems like it is moving too fast when it tries to calibrate like it is not set to the guiding rate.    Has anyone seen this behavior?

So.....Has anyone been able to get the Spinx to work right with the ASIair? 

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If the Starbook is listed as supported in the ASI menu then it should work

Which model Sphinx and which version of Starbook?

Couple of things to check.. that the tracking toggle is enabled in ASI (mine defaults to off when initially started)

That the calibration settings in AAP are set correctly to suit guide camera focal length

That the guide calibration is located away from the poles

 

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Thanks for your response...

Sheldon has the original version of the Spinx mount and StarBook and everything else seems to work OK.  Guiding calibration keeps failing.

His guide scope FL is set correctly and he knows to not calibrate in the polar regions.

Where is the "tracking toggle" located in the ASIair + software ????  Can you do a screen shot ???

 

 

Edited by CCD-Freak
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From memory it is halfway down the 'Mount' menu page on the AAP, it's a flip toggle. My Vixen SXD2 stops tracking from SB10 once the ASI Air Pro is connected and you have to switch it back on in AAP menu 

 

If he is getting untrailed long exposure test shots on the main camera obviously this does not apply..

Edited by 900SL
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3 hours ago, 900SL said:

Is it the Starbook 1? Is he connecting via LAN or ST4?

 

The Starbook 10 works like a champ, not sure about earlier versions

It is the original Starbook so it is probably the version 1.  He is trying to connect via the Lan.   I am not sure if he has tried the ST4 port. 

 

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  • 8 months later...
On 18/02/2023 at 13:18, CCD-Freak said:

I have a friend that is trying to use a Vixen Spinx mount with his ASIair and he can not get it to calibrate for auto-guiding.  His Spinx has the early version of the Star Book which is in the list of supported mounts in the ASIair.  He says it seems like it is moving too fast when it tries to calibrate like it is not set to the guiding rate.    Has anyone seen this behavior?

So.....Has anyone been able to get the Spinx to work right with the ASIair? 

not sure whether this has been resolved since the thread is a few months old, but I've had the same issue with my ASIAIR PRO + Sphinx SX combination when auto-guiding. Seems the trick is to set the slew speed to lowest (1) in ASIAIR telescope interface BEFORE starting auto-guide calibration. This worked for me, but still couldn't get very good guiding accuracy due to DEC backlash (?).

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42 minutes ago, Ming said:

not sure whether this has been resolved since the thread is a few months old, but I've had the same issue with my ASIAIR PRO + Sphinx SX combination when auto-guiding. Seems the trick is to set the slew speed to lowest (1) in ASIAIR telescope interface BEFORE starting auto-guide calibration. This worked for me, but still couldn't get very good guiding accuracy due to DEC backlash (?).

I have some dec backlash but it only seems to effect settle time after dithering. Can take 20s to settle. Guiding however is  spot on.

20231117_013326.thumb.jpg.cd84d9015734955b42542e6754defdc6.jpg

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21 hours ago, 900SL said:

I have some dec backlash but it only seems to effect settle time after dithering. Can take 20s to settle. Guiding however is  spot on.

20231117_013326.thumb.jpg.cd84d9015734955b42542e6754defdc6.jpg

I think that's only true for the later versions of the Sphinx (SXD2 in your case?). The original Sphinx SX + Starbook (what I have) is quite notorious for DEC backlash/tracking. I heard/read somewhere that this is due to the Sphinx trying to track in both DEC and RA after star alignments. I didn't really do any star alignments as I only used it with the ASIAIR, so not sure what's causing the lousy/erratic tracking in DEC. I'll try to play some more with the DEC backlash setting in Starbook and see whether that makes any difference...

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The problem with the original SXW Sphinx mount with regards tracking for imaging purposes is that the mount not only tracks in RA but also in DEC and the reason it does this is to make up for inaccuracies in PA and also to keep the Goto model correct. I think for visual use this is not a problem but I've read that these steps in declination can cause problems when imaging.

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This is true of the Starbook Ten controlled mounts too which are designed to be used optionally without accutate polar alignment, and therefore track on both axes. The Sphinx used just a Starbook and some later SX and AP mounts a Starbook One which is a controller without the sky map. (Vixen do not use 1 or 10, they are names not numbers).  I understood from good sources One and Ten could be interchanged, but with limited functionality.

This is purely for info, know nothing of guiding, but Vixen manuals are comprehensive and I recollect do cover it. They also cover backlash adjustment, which was not perfect and hard to set.

Edited by Stephenstargazer
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