Synguider 11 problem lost star

[jimmyh1555 (James)]

Well, it's been 8 months and I have almost mastered the HEQ5 alignment and am now embarking on my guiding learning curve, and tonight, I eventually got the Synguider to actually start guiding on a star (Alpha Centaurus). Things all looked good, until, after about 5 minutes, the big white blob which was Alpha Cen, started migrating off the screen (I hate that tiny screen - I have to use a magnifying glass!) , came back for a few seconds, then off it went completely with the dreaded message "Star lost"
I am wondering if the cause is any of the following......
1 - Scope alignment not good enough and making the Synguider work too hard sending signals to the HEQ5.
2 - The cable is not wired up correctly so signal does not reach the HEQ5 dec and RA motors
3 - Synguider battery is only 4 D cells and not powerful enough to send signal to HEQ5.
4 - Synguider not man enough for the job - ie chuck it and try PHD with the added problem of finding laptop, battery, inverter, software and another 8 months learning..
HELP Any suggestions folks?

[doppler (Rick)]

No idea with synguider, but there are plenty of things that can cause this to happen in guiding systems, bad balance, a too bright star or choosing a double star (alpha cen) can cause issues, more commonly it's a bit of flexture or an adapter that is not tight enough. I don't think there's an easy fix for auto guiding you just have to stick at it and work out what works best with your setup.

[jimmyh1555 (James)]

Thanks for that! I'm going to have another go tonight I did another polar alignment last night, so should be OK as far as the pier is concerned. I will check all my fittings for tightness (have a sneaky feeling that was the problem.) I would be grateful if somebody out there could confirm that there are no problems with HEQ5 and Synguider 11 re wiring etc. !