Guide camera/software wont track

DrDr244 · #1 22-07-2013, 08:56 PM

Hi everyone,

If I posted this in the wrong place, could a moderator please move it for me.

Gear: Celestron C8-SGT which I think has a GEM5 mount. It has an orion starshoot autoguider with the short tube 80.

My usual hookup - starshoot camera into a usb hub, then a long (special extension kind) usb cable back to another hub at my PC indoors. Both hubs are powered. However I've also tested a single short usb cable directly into my computer. We also use a USB to serial adaptor from the PC which then connects into the handset of the mount. This was the only combination that ever worked - connecting a cable from the camera to the guideport never did anything.

We're trying to use PHD guiding. As far as I can tell the scope simply does not move when issued commands by the software. The autoguiding built into the mount itself seems to work however, as does commands issued by using the 'show hand control' option in the celestron ASCOM driver. I'm really finding it difficult to understand why PHD cant drive the scope if I can move it by mouse clicks.

We've updated the firmware for hand controller and the motors, reset the mount back to factory defaults and used 3 different computers and installs of PHD - but still no tracking. I've taken a look at a FAQ for PHD and also followed the trouble shooting tips given by the author Mr. Stark.

I checked out the 'enable graph' option in PHD and I see large correction spikes and nothing like the 'flat as a pancake' like other people strive for. This gives me the impression that the software is sending the commands to the scope, but the scope is ignoring them. By why would it ignore those but not commands from the mouse operated move arrows?

Oh and lastly - ***It used to work*** All that I can think of that has changed is that I brought it back from my friends place where it worked - and it has never worked at my place. Originally it worked perfectly by simply plugging in the scope and loading PHD. I never had to change any of the settings in the mount, PHD or on the PC.

I would really appreciate any suggestions. Thankyou kindly.

Starblazer99 (Brian) · #2 23-07-2013, 07:56 AM

Just curios what USB to rs232 converter you are using there has been a few problems with some chipsets and drivers lately due to windows updates.

DrDr244 · #3 23-07-2013, 05:56 PM

The USB to rs232 is a Sonix ComHUB. I'm willing to buy a new one if there is a chance it could fix this. Is it possible the USB to rs232 could convey mouse click commands but not guide data from PHD? We did have a problem in that the Sonix adapter wouldnt allow us to update firmware though it - we had to build a windows XP PC on old hardware for that. But it used to guide via the Sunix ComHUB.

naskies (Dave) · #4 25-07-2013, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrDr244

I checked out the 'enable graph' option in PHD and I see large correction spikes and nothing like the 'flat as a pancake' like other people strive for. This gives me the impression that the software is sending the commands to the scope, but the scope is ignoring them. By why would it ignore those but not commands from the mouse operated move arrows?

What happens when you try to calibrate PHD? Do you see the stars move along the RA and then DEC axes accordingly? What mount option is selected in the "Mount" menu? How did you configure PHD for use with ASCOM?

pluto (Hugh) · #5 25-07-2013, 05:28 PM

Does it work just plugging the st4 cable into the mount and setting PHD's mount setting to "on camera"? rather than going through ASCOM...?