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May 23, 2017 18:43:32   #
CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.
 
I use PHD which works fine for targets south of 20* north. But will not work for anything inside that 20* ring.
Does anyone have a guidance program that works close to the North Star.
Thanks.
Craig

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May 23, 2017 19:57:50   #
nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina
 
CraigFair wrote:
I use PHD which works fine for targets south of 20* north. But will not work for anything inside that 20* ring.
Does anyone have a guidance program that works close to the North Star.
Thanks.
Craig


It works throughout the entire sky - but, you need to pick a calibration star that is near or close the meridian and celestial equator (south). If you don't have a good visual....get as close as you can. Once you are calibrated, then you can select any target anywhere in the sky.

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May 24, 2017 06:23:23   #
CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.
 
nikonshooter wrote:
It works throughout the entire sky - but, you need to pick a calibration star that is near or close the meridian and celestial equator (south). If you don't have a good visual....get as close as you can. Once you are calibrated, then you can select any target anywhere in the sky.

Thanks Ed for the response but I don't quite understand what you mean by calibration of PHD. Am I missing something in the setup process??? Or do you mean to just guide on a more equatorial star???
Craig

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May 24, 2017 09:33:56   #
Europa Loc: West Hills, CA
 
I believe Ed is talking about the initial part of the setup, when you first start PHD, pick a star in the area Ed mentions, then when you hit the guide button, PHD does it's little stepping process, which calibrates to your mount. I sent you an email, see page 45.

Ed, I have always picked whatever was in the area I was currently pointing in, maybe this is why I get inconsistent guiding???? I'll have to try it out..

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May 24, 2017 10:09:59   #
nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina
 
Europa wrote:
I believe Ed is talking about the initial part of the setup, when you first start PHD, pick a star in the area Ed mentions, then when you hit the guide button, PHD does it's little stepping process, which calibrates to your mount. I sent you an email, see page 45.

Ed, I have always picked whatever was in the area I was currently pointing in, maybe this is why I get inconsistent guiding???? I'll have to try it out..


Get as far away from North as possible. PhD2 has a very very good Polar Align Drift routine. You first pick a star in the south - meridian and celestial pole - make your adjustments, then either the East or West ........it is pretty dog gone accurate. At least as accurate as my Polemaster but the Polemaster is fast, 3 minutes tops

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May 24, 2017 10:25:08   #
Europa Loc: West Hills, CA
 
When I've done the drift alignment I use the recommendations PHD/you mention, or at least best I can, I don't have an east west view of the sky. But I was never selective on my initial calibration star.

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May 24, 2017 10:34:00   #
nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina
 
Europa wrote:
When I've done the drift alignment I use the recommendations PHD/you mention, or at least best I can, I don't have an east west view of the sky. But I was never selective on my initial calibration star.


Even if you have to shoot it's 75° Alt. Which seems like straight up to me can't you find a store in the south doing that? You're better off choosing the star there on the meridian . I don't have a good view of the south either because of trees so I'm almost straight up when I do my PolarAlign just get as far away from the north as possible and then pick either east or west and get as close to the horizon as possible. I think you'll be pleased with your drift along with them, your graph will flatline like a dead man after a heart attack!

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May 24, 2017 11:00:32   #
Europa Loc: West Hills, CA
 
nikonshooter wrote:
Even if you have to shoot it's 75° Alt. Which seems like straight up to me can't you find a store in the south doing that? You're better off choosing the star there on the meridian . I don't have a good view of the south either because of trees so I'm almost straight up when I do my PolarAlign just get as far away from the north as possible and then pick either east or west and get as close to the horizon as possible. I think you'll be pleased with your drift along with them, your graph will flatline like a dead man after a heart attack!
Even if you have to shoot it's 75° Alt. Which se... (show quote)


Definitely one time I would love to say I flatlined! My view of the south is best, I can get a little over 2 hours of imaging from the south. Straight up maybe an hour.

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May 24, 2017 12:04:18   #
CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.
 
CraigFair wrote:
I use PHD which works fine for targets south of 20* north. But will not work for anything inside that 20* ring.
Does anyone have a guidance program that works close to the North Star.
Thanks.
Craig

The Error Code I get when I do a calibration to far to the North is: The star did not move enough in calibration.
I have had this problem several times on different nights. OK I think I have found the section I need in the User Guide Brian sent me.
Craig

Reply
May 24, 2017 12:16:05   #
nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina
 
CraigFair wrote:
The Error Code I get when I do a calibration to far to the North is: The star did not move enough in calibration.
I have had this problem several times on different nights.
Craig


Why that error message happens is a little tough for me to understand but I too would get the same message if I am too close to the North....you would think that PhD2 could send commands to move the mount...thus the star moves. At any rate, you are wasting time ...if you are seriously trying to get a good PA if you choose stars within 30 degrees of the NCP.

I have a friend who liked my Polemaster (what he liked was not having to look through the polar scope and make adjustments while contorted) but said it was too costly, he mounted a webcam in his polarscope opening...and uses Sharpcap which has a tremendous Polar Align overlay - you can see Polarus on the webcam (laptop) and the overlay is like the reticle - which shows where to move the star to be aligned. ....and to be honest, it is just like Polemaster....except he is out 10 dollars and me.....well, like my daddy would say, "fool and money will soon part."

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May 24, 2017 12:57:37   #
Europa Loc: West Hills, CA
 
CraigFair wrote:
The Error Code I get when I do a calibration to far to the North is: The star did not move enough in calibration.
I have had this problem several times on different nights. OK I think I have found the section I need in the User Guide Brian sent me.
Craig


You maybe on a hot pixel or you are too close to the pole for enough movement.

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May 24, 2017 15:13:08   #
CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.
 
Europa wrote:
You maybe on a hot pixel or you are too close to the pole for enough movement.

Yes Brian it's too close to the Pole to get the movement needed. How do I adjust the movement.
Craig

Reply
May 24, 2017 16:50:37   #
SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA
 
CraigFair wrote:
Yes Brian it's too close to the Pole to get the movement needed. How do I adjust the movement.
Craig


I did a search in the Help section of PHD2, "Star did not move enough"
(Because I, too, have had this happen.) Here is what I found...

"In most cases, calibration will complete automatically without any user involvement. Obviously, this assumes that the mount and all the cable connections are working correctly. If they are not, the calibration is likely to fail with a message that the "star did not move enough"; and you'll need to do some trouble-shooting. If the star has basically not moved at all in one or more directions, you should look first at the cable connections and mount behavior.
The "manual guide" function under the 'Tools' menu can help with this as can the trouble-shooting section of this document. But if the star has moved by some amount in each direction, you may need to adjust a calibration setting called the calibration step-size. PHD2 uses this parameter during calibration as a fixed-size duration of movement. The default value has been chosen to cover a wide range of typical guide scope set-ups, but you may need to adjust it for your situation. For example, an off-axis-guider on a long focal length scope will probably need a setting that's different from the default value. To adjust it, go into the "brain dialog" (Advanced Settings) and click on the 'Guiding' tab. On that tab, you'll find a setting for 'Calibration step(ms)', and that's where you change the value. There's even a 'Calculate' button that will help you choose an optimal value for the parameter. Once you've set this value, it will be remembered as part of your equipment profile and you probably won't have to adjust it again.

You may also see a calibration failure if you're using a star too close to the celestial pole. In those locations, fixed-length movements in right ascension often move the star only a very small distance. In that case, move to a star location closer to the equator, ideally somewhere in the range of -30 to +30 degrees declination, and re-run the calibration. But if this is not feasible, you can adjust the calibration step-size upward until calibration succeeds. You can always review the results of your last calibration by using the 'Tools' menu and clicking on 'Review Calibration Data' That will open a dialog that shows a graphical representation of the mount's movements along with the values that were computed for guiding your mount. This window is described elsewhere in the Calibration Details section of the help file. As a quick quality check, you can open this window and confirm that 1) the RA and Dec lines are roughly perpendicular and 2) the plotted points are roughly linear with no significant curves, bends, clumping of points, or reversals in direction. If you do see these kinds of odd patterns in the graph, you should probably re-do the calibration. Even with high-end mounts, calibrations can occasionally go awry because of environmental conditions, especially wind and bad seeing."


As a long time Windows user, I'm pretty use to Windows NO HELP if I seek something. But the help files in PHD2 seem to actually try and help.
If the above doesn't help much, hopefully it can give you some help finding more pertinent help.
If I may ask, what is it you are trying to guide on?

Reply
May 24, 2017 18:45:00   #
nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina
 
SonnyE wrote:
I did a search in the Help section of PHD2, "Star did not move enough"
(Because I, too, have had this happen.) Here is what I found...

"In most cases, calibration will complete automatically without any user involvement. Obviously, this assumes that the mount and all the cable connections are working correctly. If they are not, the calibration is likely to fail with a message that the "star did not move enough"; and you'll need to do some trouble-shooting. If the star has basically not moved at all in one or more directions, you should look first at the cable connections and mount behavior.
The "manual guide" function under the 'Tools' menu can help with this as can the trouble-shooting section of this document. But if the star has moved by some amount in each direction, you may need to adjust a calibration setting called the calibration step-size. PHD2 uses this parameter during calibration as a fixed-size duration of movement. The default value has been chosen to cover a wide range of typical guide scope set-ups, but you may need to adjust it for your situation. For example, an off-axis-guider on a long focal length scope will probably need a setting that's different from the default value. To adjust it, go into the "brain dialog" (Advanced Settings) and click on the 'Guiding' tab. On that tab, you'll find a setting for 'Calibration step(ms)', and that's where you change the value. There's even a 'Calculate' button that will help you choose an optimal value for the parameter. Once you've set this value, it will be remembered as part of your equipment profile and you probably won't have to adjust it again.

You may also see a calibration failure if you're using a star too close to the celestial pole. In those locations, fixed-length movements in right ascension often move the star only a very small distance. In that case, move to a star location closer to the equator, ideally somewhere in the range of -30 to +30 degrees declination, and re-run the calibration. But if this is not feasible, you can adjust the calibration step-size upward until calibration succeeds. You can always review the results of your last calibration by using the 'Tools' menu and clicking on 'Review Calibration Data' That will open a dialog that shows a graphical representation of the mount's movements along with the values that were computed for guiding your mount. This window is described elsewhere in the Calibration Details section of the help file. As a quick quality check, you can open this window and confirm that 1) the RA and Dec lines are roughly perpendicular and 2) the plotted points are roughly linear with no significant curves, bends, clumping of points, or reversals in direction. If you do see these kinds of odd patterns in the graph, you should probably re-do the calibration. Even with high-end mounts, calibrations can occasionally go awry because of environmental conditions, especially wind and bad seeing."


As a long time Windows user, I'm pretty use to Windows NO HELP if I seek something. But the help files in PHD2 seem to actually try and help.
If the above doesn't help much, hopefully it can give you some help finding more pertinent help.
If I may ask, what is it you are trying to guide on?
I did a search in the Help section of PHD2, "... (show quote)


IF...if, you are getting this message AND you are picking a star in the North Star zone that is the reason. If you are getting a message that the star is not moving and your guide scope is aimed south. If you are still in question as to what is the cause, run this test - click on GUIDE MANUAL or MANUAL GUIDE not too sure what it is ...but it is under TOOLS. Look at your star and click on N and/or W and click several times to see if the star moves. If it does, your kit is ready to calibrate because pulses are successfully moving the mount. If you then choose a star in the South close to the meridian - THE STAR WILL MOVE....on this trust me.

Reply
May 25, 2017 14:32:37   #
CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.
 
SonnyE wrote:
I did a search in the Help section of PHD2, "Star did not move enough"
(Because I, too, have had this happen.) Here is what I found...

"In most cases, calibration will complete automatically without any user involvement. Obviously, this assumes that the mount and all the cable connections are working correctly. If they are not, the calibration is likely to fail with a message that the "star did not move enough"; and you'll need to do some trouble-shooting. If the star has basically not moved at all in one or more directions, you should look first at the cable connections and mount behavior.
The "manual guide" function under the 'Tools' menu can help with this as can the trouble-shooting section of this document. But if the star has moved by some amount in each direction, you may need to adjust a calibration setting called the calibration step-size. PHD2 uses this parameter during calibration as a fixed-size duration of movement. The default value has been chosen to cover a wide range of typical guide scope set-ups, but you may need to adjust it for your situation. For example, an off-axis-guider on a long focal length scope will probably need a setting that's different from the default value. To adjust it, go into the "brain dialog" (Advanced Settings) and click on the 'Guiding' tab. On that tab, you'll find a setting for 'Calibration step(ms)', and that's where you change the value. There's even a 'Calculate' button that will help you choose an optimal value for the parameter. Once you've set this value, it will be remembered as part of your equipment profile and you probably won't have to adjust it again.

You may also see a calibration failure if you're using a star too close to the celestial pole. In those locations, fixed-length movements in right ascension often move the star only a very small distance. In that case, move to a star location closer to the equator, ideally somewhere in the range of -30 to +30 degrees declination, and re-run the calibration. But if this is not feasible, you can adjust the calibration step-size upward until calibration succeeds. You can always review the results of your last calibration by using the 'Tools' menu and clicking on 'Review Calibration Data' That will open a dialog that shows a graphical representation of the mount's movements along with the values that were computed for guiding your mount. This window is described elsewhere in the Calibration Details section of the help file. As a quick quality check, you can open this window and confirm that 1) the RA and Dec lines are roughly perpendicular and 2) the plotted points are roughly linear with no significant curves, bends, clumping of points, or reversals in direction. If you do see these kinds of odd patterns in the graph, you should probably re-do the calibration. Even with high-end mounts, calibrations can occasionally go awry because of environmental conditions, especially wind and bad seeing."


As a long time Windows user, I'm pretty use to Windows NO HELP if I seek something. But the help files in PHD2 seem to actually try and help.
If the above doesn't help much, hopefully it can give you some help finding more pertinent help.
If I may ask, what is it you are trying to guide on?
I did a search in the Help section of PHD2, "... (show quote)

Thanks for all the great information on Tools/ Manual Guidance to Sonny and Ed.
Craig

Reply
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