phd guiding orion starshoot issue

[bruceathome]

Hi all. First post :)

Have an HEQ5 Pro mount and am trying to setup autoguiding with an Orion Starshoot Planetary Imager and Autoguider (lots of capitals there) using PHD guiding. Everything seems to work and I get the green cross hairs and everything, however no commands seem to be getting sent to the mount. I have tried using the manual commands from PHD guiding but those don't seem to get through either.

Any ideas?

[toryglen-boy]

silly question, but have you connected through the mount in PHD ?


:)

[gbeal]

Bruce,
heck, someone else will know, but a couple of questions.
The camera is "recognised", that is it comes up in the list and you select it?
The mount the same? Do you select "On Camera"?
If you can't move the mount via the manual controls, then I suspect it isn't connected correctly. Can you select a slew speed on the mount, as opposed to a guide speed? This is what I do, and when I click on "Move" I can see and hear it move. Do this during the day or on a stormy night.
It will be something simple I suspect, keep trying.
Gary

[bruceathome]

Hi guys. Thanks for the replies.



The camera is connected to the computer through the usb cable, and I get an image from the camera.
The camera is connected to the autoguider connection on the mount.
PHD guiding shows both the camera and the mount connected.


gbeal, what do you mean by "Can you select a slew speed on the mount, as opposed to a guide speed?" - sorry mate - my ignorance is showing. - I also don't see a 'move' button in phd guiding - I just see North south east west buttons (when using manual guiding). The mount slews fine manually when using the hand controller, and also when connected to the computer using The Sky software.

[OzRob]

I have had a similar problem with the same setup. I found that when PHD was doing the calibration the mount did not move and the calibration eventually failed. I traced the problem to the cable connection at the camera going to the mount. Now I never let the cable to hang free and have it pulled tight by looping to around my guide rings.

[bruceathome]

Thanks ozrob, I'll give it a try.

[bruceathome]

No go - I wonder if the cable is stuffed (more palatable than thinking that the autoguider or mount has had it).

[adman]

Check in PHD whether the 'On Camera' setting is selected under the (I think...) 'Telescope' menu....

Adam

[mithrandir]

It's the "Mount" menu. "On camera" is the last entry and is the right setting if you are using an ST4 camera to mount cable.

[bruceathome]

Yep - have 'On Camera' checked.

[gbeal]

Bruce,
in my case my Tak mount is nigh on impossible to tell if the 'MOVE' command is actually working, in the guide setting. BUT....... if I select the slew setting, it really sings, and moves, which is all we are trying to establish. I tinker with this sort of set up problem during the day.
Sorry, "Move" is a term that is used in other programs. Us the NSEW buttons and listen for the mount to move, hopefully.
I agree though, if you have an image in PHD, and both the camera and mount are reported as connected then I would suspect a cable too. Try another cable? Simple RJ12 plug at both ends.
Gary

[bruceathome]

Would a telephone cord work?

[gbeal]

Possibly, or the motor cable from a Losmandy mount.
The BUT......... is check the wires (colour or polarity) on the existing one, and confirm what you are looking to use is the same.
Gary

[Dennis]

I would check this out before you use a standard telephone cable. The Guide Port Flat Cable (http://www.store.shoestringastronomy.com/images/gpfc_7.jpg)that looks like a “standard telephone cable” supplied by Shoestring Astronomy with my GPUSB USB Guide Port Interface (http://www.store.shoestringastronomy.com/gpusb.htm)is a mirror image at opposite ends compared to a standard telephone cable.

They issue a warning on their website:

"A WARNING ABOUT CABLES
We had one case where a customer used an improperly wired cable with his Celestron Advanced Series Goto mount. This resulted in damage to the electronics in his mount, as well as damage to the interface adapter. We can't stress enough the importance of using a properly wired cable. If you choose to make or buy your own from another source, please be sure it is built per the description shown in this document."

This link will open the pdf in a Window. Right Click to "Save target as".
http://www.store.shoestringastronomy.com/guide_port_cables.pdf

Cheers

Dennis

[bruceathome]

Ok guys - thanks - feeling suitably paranoid about the cable now - I am wondering if its a windows 7 64 bit issue as well - will borrow an xp laptop from work tomorrow and try on that. If that doesn't work I'll take everything back to bintel and try different bits etc.

[Dennis]

Just to clarify, I refer to the Shoestring RJ12 connector cable that I have as a “cross over” cable. That is, if you lie the cable flat on a table, then one end has the locking tab facing up to the ceiling, the other end has the locking tab facing down, into the table top. The cable is laid flat – no twist in it.

The White, Black, Red, Green, Yellow and Blue conductors then run parallel all the way through from one end to the other.

Cheers

Dennis

[bruceathome]

Thanks Dennis. Checked the wiring of the cable that came with the autoguider and it was completely different to a telephone cable I had lying around.

Checked the autoguider with an xp laptop from work today - everything worked fine! Autoguider, cable and mount all working well (at least for manual guiding from within phd guiding - will try tonight to actually autoguide) - it was a windows 7/64bit issue (at least I assume so).

Thanks for all your help people - much appreciated.

[JohnH]

My G11 will do this on occasion with my QHY5 (same as the Orion) - if I do not connect/power up in the right order. In my case it is essential to have the camera initialised before connecting to the mount, if I do not do that I can get no response to the guide commands. Disconnecting and re-connecting the cable at the camera end will fix it...Try starting PHD and connecting to the camera first - once that is running connect the guide cable to the camera.

That order always works for me - but my kit is different - G11G - QHY5 - Guidemaster.

[bruceathome]

Thanks John - will give that a shot.