phd gUIDING

[TrevorW]

Can PHD say guiding and in fact not be

Last night I calibrated the GS using PHD and it said was guiding but it kept drifting off the guide star

would this mean that it wasn't communicating with the mount even though it said it was guiding

[spearo (Frank)]

Hmmmm
if it did a calibration routine beforehand and then switched to green lins (horiz/vertic) then it probably was guiding
if it kept drifting its possibly due to
1) poor drift alignment
2) weight issues (not balanced well enough?)

all i can think of
frank

[TrevorW]

Balance was spot on in RA some DEC inbalance but only at the SCP point but either side DEC was spot on as well.

I don't do drift alignment I use the EQ6 alignment routine and it seemed to line up on targets OK.

The green box changed to yellow

Cheers

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

The yellow box, to me, in PHD means I've usually lost the GS signal..

[Gama]

Have you calibrated for R.A only, or both R.A and DEC ?. Maybe its drifting too fast in the DEC, and you havent selected DEC guiding.

Theo

[leon]

It seems to me that your alignment is out, but don't quote me on that.
So Theo I can't get your understanding on calibration on both RA and Dec.

If it were correctly aligned, or close too, would it not do both at once.

Leon

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Hi Trevor,
I've found PHD to be a bit temperamental at times too.
I find that if I get a calibration error message - for example: "Dec guiding turned off - star did not move enough in dec axis" , then the Dec (or RA too) guiding option remains off until you manually turn it back on even after shutdown and restart of the laptop - might pay to check that everything is on under the "brain" button.
All the best
Doug

[alan meehan (Alan)]

Also try under tools enable graph this should show you what is going on
ALAN

[TrevorW]

Thanks Guys few options there I'll check to make sure everything is on usually don't have a problem with PHD. Under the Brain all I have is RA Aggressiveness and Dec Guide Mode is Auto there is no on or off and under tools there is an enable log but no enable graph so I assume you mean this.

I'm wondering if you forget to click the on telescope icon or click it in the wrong order whether it will say guiding but in fact not be

Cheers

[Gama]

Leon,
I was refering to the guide star calibration. You can select it to calibrate in R.A only or R.A and DEC. So maybe he hadnt setup this correctly.


Trevor, If your using a direct connect cable (Guide cable from camera to mount) you must select "On camera" in the menu.

Theo

[TrevorW]

Originally Posted by Gama

Leon,
I was refering to the guide star calibration. You can select it to calibrate in R.A only or R.A and DEC. So maybe he hadnt setup this correctly.


Trevor, If your using a direct connect cable (Guide cable from camera to mount) you must select "On camera" in the menu.

Theo

Thanks Theo thats usually what I do anyway. I select connect to camera then select "On camera" from the other menu

Cheers

[alan meehan (Alan)]

Hi Trevor what version of phd are you using on version1.9.0 under tools at the end there is enable graph straight under enable log if your not using the latest version i would suggest using it www.stark-labs.com

[TrevorW]

Thanks Alan there is a V10 now

Cheers

[tiggere]

TrevorW...by the EQ6 alignment process are you referring the the 3 star alignment process? If so that will compensate for the Polar alignment being out of whack but only for finding the objects in the "GOTO"...it will still drift as your polar alignment isn't perfect...the only way to fix a polar alignment error is with the Altitude/Azimuth knobs...watch your numbers in the bottom of the PHD Guiding window...if they are moving by single digit numbers your polar alignment is good...if they are changing into double digit then you need a better drift alignment...

Drift alignment should solve alot of the problem your having...I think its more that PHD guiding can't keep up with the error in your polar alignment...

[TrevorW]

Thnaks Tiggere will bear in mind