Help with autoguider, please

[peter brown]

I have attached my Orion Starshooter guide camera to my Meade LX200 10". I locked onto a star and waited for the calibration which never completed...to give me a green cross. The camera was connected to the auto guide port on the telescope panel. The star and box eventually drifted off the screen.
Do Ihave to let the telescope mount know that it is about to be guided?? or would sub optimal polar alignment cause this problem?
Can anyone help
Thanks
Peter B

[Tandum (Robin)]

Poor polar alignment and or Poor connections are your problems.

[peter brown]

Thanks a lot. I'll give it another go with better alignment etc Peter B

[Hagar (Doug)]

Hi Peter, As long as your polar alignment is close it should compensate with the guider. A couple of things will need to be set in autostar handset to allow guiding to work. You need to have the guide speed set. You will also require the guide program to connect to the mount. The autostar will have to be set to Polar mode. The telescope will already need to be guiding before you start trying to guide or calibrate. You also will probably require the telescope to have already completed a star alignment.
If at this point the mount won't guide you need to clean all connections on the cables and plugs with an eraser and reconnect. then start again.

I am away until Saturday Morning but can drop down and give you a hand on Saturday or Sunday evening. It would be nice to see your final setup.

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

it might be simpler -once you have locked a star and the box turns green, you must hit stop
then press the guide button and away yu go-PHD will then do its calibration thing

did you do that?

[Tandum (Robin)]

That's a point, you should get the green cross while it's calibrating.