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Old 29-03-2011, 09:24 PM
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pvelez (Pete)
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Maxim Guiding - Very odd!

I have been wrestling with Maxim a bit of late - there have been a few posts on this previously - but this is new. And quite peculiar.

When calibrating with Maxim, the guide star obviously moves - but the system won't recognise it. The co-ordinates stay the same even though the star moves.

This happens in one axis, but not the other.

Any thoughts on this? Seems a bit weird to me

Pete
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Old 30-03-2011, 04:22 PM
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OzRob (Rob)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pvelez View Post
I have been wrestling with Maxim a bit of late - there have been a few posts on this previously - but this is new. And quite peculiar.

When calibrating with Maxim, the guide star obviously moves - but the system won't recognise it. The co-ordinates stay the same even though the star moves.

This happens in one axis, but not the other.

Any thoughts on this? Seems a bit weird to me

Pete
I have had this numerous times. In my case the program does not recognise the movement at all. The only way I have been able to resolve it is by closing down Maxim and re-opening it. I hope someone can shed some light on what is happening.
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Old 30-03-2011, 04:49 PM
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Thanks Rob

its really odd - the star moves but the program doesn't recognise it. But its only in 1 axis. I get a lovely red line in the other

Pete
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Old 30-03-2011, 10:33 PM
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When I have had this happen its usually in a crowded star field or I have not indicated the guidestar properly or the gain on the camera has been too high and maxim is having trouble picking the star from the noise. Open the info window and run the mouse over the area where the guide star is. You might find the difference in ADU's is very small even though maxim maxim is displaying a distinct difference. Try changing the settings on your guide cam to maximise the difference and see if that helps, it usually works for me,

Cheers

Mark
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Old 31-03-2011, 03:34 AM
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Take a screen shot of your guider settings panel.
You havent changed any settings by any chance?
Are you using GPUSB or Guider relays?
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Old 31-03-2011, 08:09 AM
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Originally Posted by marki View Post
When I have had this happen its usually in a crowded star field or I have not indicated the guidestar properly or the gain on the camera has been too high and maxim is having trouble picking the star from the noise. Open the info window and run the mouse over the area where the guide star is. You might find the difference in ADU's is very small even though maxim maxim is displaying a distinct difference. Try changing the settings on your guide cam to maximise the difference and see if that helps, it usually works for me,

Cheers

Mark
Thanks Mark

I assumed it was the fact that Maxim was confused by the noise. I am using a Star Shoot Autoguider and its pretty noisy. I wasn't sure how to change the setting for this - there is a pop up for gain. I'll drop that and see if that makes a difference

Pete
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Old 31-03-2011, 08:11 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by leinad View Post
Take a screen shot of your guider settings panel.
You havent changed any settings by any chance?
Are you using GPUSB or Guider relays?
I'll not be out with it again till Saturday - weather permitting as usual.

If I have no joy, I'll definitely post a screen shot. I am working with Guider relays. Any suggestions for other settings woudl be most welcome

Pete
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Old 31-03-2011, 09:10 AM
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It could be latching onto hot pixels, use auto darks on the guidecam.
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Old 31-03-2011, 01:19 PM
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It could be latching onto hot pixels, use auto darks on the guidecam.
^^ This I found that if I didn't use auto darks I had that exact problem
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Old 03-04-2011, 06:31 PM
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OK

there must be another solution - the guide star moves about 10% of the screen length and still Maxim thinks its on the same pixel.

Have tried different parts of the sky and autodarks as well as shutting down and restarting.

What else can I do?

Pete
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Old 03-04-2011, 07:33 PM
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Moon (James)
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Quote:
What else can I do?
It would help if you could post some screen prints of your settings.
Here are some guesses:
- bin the camera 2x2
- use the auto dark feature
- use a brighter star
- try a longer exposure
Once you get it working, it's rock solid.
James
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Old 03-04-2011, 07:37 PM
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Thanks James

I was trying to use my Stellarvue finder with a 2x barlow - clearly not enough SNR as the screen remained grainy. I expect Maxim didn't like that at all.

I've switched to the trusty Orion ST80 and its working now.

Might be time for an OAG.

Pete
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