PHD Drift Polar Alignment.

[bamus]

try to take dark frame or in options use median noise reduction function. if you stressful have connected this camera to PHD, then you should be able to see stars

[chandrainsky]

try to take dark frame or in options use median noise reduction function. if you stressful have connected this camera to PHD, then you should be able to see stars

Thanks! I will try the dark/median function. However, did not get the second part. what is "stressful"? If you mean if I am sure that the camera is connected yes, it is connected, physically at least Not sure if PHD is talking to the camera (or at least talking right!). I think it is talking since there was nothing on the PHD screen before I installed ASCOM stuff and the noise started appearing only after that.

[bamus]

Thanks! what is "stressful"? If you mean if I am sure that the camera is connected yes, it is connected, physically at least Not sure if PHD is talking to the camera (or at least talking right!). I think it is talking since there was nothing on the PHD screen before I installed ASCOM stuff and the noise started appearing only after that.

Sorry I meant successfully. blumming autocorrect J

I used to use normal webcam for guiding and I could see start up to 6 mag, but star had to be almose perfectly in the centre of FOV. If it wasn’t, than huge noise, similar to yours (old TV screens), appeared, and no stars were visible. Dark frame or median noise reduction did the job.

[Ransu]

I think you can not succesfully connect Nexquide/synguider to your computer and same time use PHD. Nexguider/Synguider uses internal computer for quiding. It is meant to be stand alone guider, used without computer. I think PC port in Nexguide is for software updating purpose.

[jimao22]

...set scope to near meridian and celestrial equator start PHD and do a calibration, start guiding with the DEC turned off, turn on the Graph and change the RA/DEC button to dx,dy....

Hi,

I am a little bit confuse, how do you turn off the DEC?

By turning off the "Dec guide mode"?

[jimao22]

Sorry, I sow now someone else had the same question. Forget and excuse my question !

[AstroAndy]

Hi all

If someone is still following this post, here's a quick question.

Once I've done my calibration, turned off dec. guiding, and am guiding on a star to drift align, do I adjust the AZ and Alt. with the guiding off, or on? In other words, during the adjustment process, is the guiding supposed to be on, or off? One would assume that if the guiding is on, adjusting the screws would cause a shake in the telescope, and move the guidestar, or even lose it.

Andy

[r3i]

Hi all

If someone is still following this post, here's a quick question.

Once I've done my calibration, turned off dec. guiding, and am guiding on a star to drift align, do I adjust the AZ and Alt. with the guiding off, or on? In other words, during the adjustment process, is the guiding supposed to be on, or off? One would assume that if the guiding is on, adjusting the screws would cause a shake in the telescope, and move the guidestar, or even lose it.

Andy

After monitoring the drift and identifying that you need to make an adjustment, in PHD click on the 'PHD' button to stop the 'guiding' process. 

Make your adjustment on the mount to whichever axis you're testing. 

Go back to PHD, click on the Loop button to check if the chosen guide star is still in the selection box and if necessary re-select the star to 'guide'.

Click on the PHD button to restart the drift analysis - also best to click on the Clear button in the graph window to reset the graph for the next analysis run. 

Repeat until you're happy that the drift has been adjusted out.

[AstroAndy]

Hi Mike

Thanks for the answer.

Andy

[r3i]

Hi Mike

Thanks for the answer.

Andy

Hi Andy,

No worries - using PHD to drift align doesn't take much doing once you know which way you need to make the adjustment on the mount to offset the drift that is being recorded in the application.

[KyleStoke]

just to add to Mikes post, if you turn off the guiding re-start the camera looping.

if you can see your computer screen while doing the adjustment it makes it a lot easier to judge how much you are changing the mounts position.

also will give you a reference point if you have gone to far in the adjustment etc

[AstroAndy]

Aye, Kyle, I always have my screen so that i can see it, I only turn it away and down when doing the actual imaging (less light, besides, once I'm all set up, I control remotely, better to sit in a warm spot. )

It also helps to know the star drift location,North drift means an East adjustment (too far West), and South drift a West correction, the trick is to know what direction the star drifts in the cam (on the software), less guesswork that way.

[KyleStoke]

Hi Andy

all i know is when i do it and im adjusting the azimuth position, and the dy line drifts below the center line i turn the left knob tighter(east i presume, pushing the mount west), obv if it drifts up the other knob gets tightened. altitude if it below the line bottom knob tighter and vice verse.

that is by far the easiest way i found to do it.

you cant beat doing your astronomy from in front of the tv with a brew

[skybadger]

I finally got the observatory mount alignment nailed yesterday, took a few hours to do it, but then I haven't got adjusters, it was hammer and block all the way.

[AstroAndy]

Went out yesterday, did a little bit of this and that, and nailed the alignment, I'm so positively surprised..I usually use (or should I say used) EQAlign, which is a pretty good tool, but you have to drift abt 10 min, and it's best to do 2 iterations AZ, 2 Alt., which takes time. I used to have pretty good guide graphs, then it changed. Took in all kinds of information from all kinds of sources(from here,too hail to the stargazer's crew), redid my settings, and drift aligned w/ PHD. I can honestly say that where before I dreaded aligning I am now looking forward to it. I've done 20-30min single exposures (maybe I'll put up my guidegraph and an image of M81 later.

@ Kyle long's you get it nailed,..tightening the left AZ knob, though, will move the mount East (the apparent motion of the star will be West)..if in AZ, u have a North drift, means you are West of due North, and thus must go East. How this translates to the image, it's upside down (as astronomical telescopes are, remember 2 "lenses (lens - camera sensor, or mirror camera sensor combo would yield an upside down image, thus placing North down). Always good to either move the scope w/ your handset, and see which way the star goes, or watch calibration to see how it moves.

Andy

[KyleStoke]

@Andy you are 100% right i have just wrote the wrong thing down i meant right knob

but as you say as long as you get good subs it doesn't matter, i was easily getting 900sec subs the other night with this tech

[AstroAndy]

Aye, Kyle, it's the most awesome thing tio see your guide graph flatten out and stay there. Clear skies.

[AstroAndy]

Here is a continuous 20m exposure of M81, and some guide graphs. the one from 9/22 was done with EQ Align (2 iterations AZ 2 iter. Lat)

and the 10/10 one was drift aligned w/ PHD, all through the 9x50 finderscope.

And the 2 monsters from before.