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Old 11-06-2019, 09:32 AM
tileys
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Pulse guiding - Guiding while imaging

Quick Q - I know I can use ASCOM to do pulse guiding so I don't need the ST4 connection to the mount in addition to the EQDIR cable I use but a fairly silly Q - how do I get PHD2 guiding WHILE I am also using longer exposures while imaging in e.g. Sharpcap ? Doesn't PHD2 need a continuable series of short subs to keep a star in its target ? or is the initial calibration using shorter subs enough.

I would use my QHY 5LIIC as a guidecam (using ST4) and just use my ZWO imaging CMOS but of course - I am running Windows 10 and as far as I can make out I cannot get the QHY cam running in PHD2 (or presumably any other guide software) under Windows 10 ?

Another option for my is to just bite the bullet and go straight to my fledgling Raspberry Pi 3 setup using INDI - which I think will enable my to use Open PHD Guiding with the QHY over ST4 and to use the EKOS capture for the ZWO.

Been out of the loop for a little while and feel like I'm learning the basics all over again

Spent ages last night trying to adjust my azimuth knobs (very stiff) on my EQ6 without loosening the mount to tripod bolt - the cold seems to make my brain work a bit slower...
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Old 11-06-2019, 10:50 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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The EQ direct cable from laptop to mount allows many apps to talk to your mount at various times including PHD2. It’s the gateway for everything from laptop to mount using Ascom as the common language
I thought the same thing , how can I use my Goto EQMOD and Stellarium my planetarium at the same time with PHD2
Just remember PHD2 is open but not activated when your slewing, tracking , focusing, framing etc.. It’s the last thing you activate when you commence your imaging after everything’s set up ready to go
I use a DSLR with BYEOS via a separate cable to the laptop, so I assume Sharp Cap uses a separate USB cable from your main imaging camera to laptop in a similar way. Your separate guide camera USB cable must run direct from camera to Laptop for PHD2 to work via Ascom pulse guiding
I’m running Windows 10 also without any issues at all
The majority of problems 9 times out of 10 relating to the EQ direct cable and or your PHD2 guide camera are incorrect drivers or faulty cables
Hope the above makes sense
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Old 11-06-2019, 12:34 PM
tileys
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Thanks Martin for your reply. I was imaging with my modded EOS until fairly recently, using my QHY cam as a guide cam through a piggyback refractor but now I'm coming back to astrophotography on a new laptop which is running Win 10 and apparently there aren't any drivers for QHY that work with Win 10 - including generic ASCOM drivers.

My EQDIR cable seems to work between laptop and mount and my gamepad controller works well in EQMOD as well so I think that is ok.

The thing I was suddenly a bit unsure about was the conflicting requirements of the camera from Sharpcap (long exposures) and PHD2 (while imaging) needing lots of short exposures. If I am using pulse guiding through the one camera (and not using the QHY cam due to the lack of recognition in PHD2) I cant see it working - maybe if I am doing planetary imaging with short subs it might work.
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Old 11-06-2019, 01:09 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Don’t quite understand the last question, you need 2 cameras , an imaging camera in the scopes focuser and a guide camera riding piggy back on your scope.
The imaging cameras long exposures has nothing to do with the guide cameras 2 or 3 sec short exposures, 2 completely different systems and not connected in any way
The guide camera locks onto a guide star in the same field as your intended image target and makes micro corrections to the mount to keep the guide star locked on for minimum polar align error
PHD2 is all about locking on to a good unsaturated guide star and then the software does the rest. Obviously seeing conditions , wind , scope flexure and lots of other factors determine how well you guide
This then allows the separate imaging camera to take long exposures day 5 of 10 minutes of the intended target
I just wanted to know if you knew the concept of PHD2 guiding
Cheers
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Old 11-06-2019, 02:39 PM
tileys
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That's fine Martin. Thanks for that. I've used PHD2 for a while with a separate guide cam and a piggyback scope but always running on ST4 (when it was working. I might try a number of different USB cables - maybe it's not actually a Win 10 driver issue) - I guess I saw the potential of my imaging cam using pulse guiding but I guess I got carried away and thought I could avoid using a separate guide cam for autoguiding.

From what I've read you can use one cam to do both guiding and imaging at once but I guess that's very limited to say the least even if it can be made to work e.g. by having a passthrough (I saw a thread on that somewhere) or by using a dual chip camera and who can afford one of those !

Thanks again for snapping me out of it I'm overcomplicating it by trying to simplify it.
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Old 12-06-2019, 08:59 AM
tileys
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I tried a few different cables on my QHY5LIIC last night and downloaded a few extra ASCOM drivers from the QHY site and this gave me more native options in PHD2 but still no joy and then I tried the QHY 'system driver' from the QHY site (was previously getting 'unknown device' in device manager) - maybe I had never actually installed that - just the ascom drivers on the QHY site (?) - anyway - success now - PHD2 finds and connects to the guider cam.

Just got to sort out my alignment now - was close but no cigar.

Clouds mercifully stayed away last night.
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Old 13-06-2019, 07:38 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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Glad you finally got connected to PHD2
Cheers
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