Nothing but problems!

Very helpful info! I have a permanent pier but have been re calibrating PHD every time I go out. I will get a good calibration and just reuse that. Will certainly save some time. Was hoping to test things out last night, got to the point of starting PHD and the clouds rolled in (seems a common theme here lately). Hopefully I will actually get to test the imaging sequence soon.

Thanks
Randy

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Well I disabled PHD2 as suggested. SGP slewed to target when I told it to, it plate solved M57 and centered. I started PHD2, autofocused, then ran the sequence. At first the same result, just counted elapsed time. I paused it, restarted the sequence and did not let it recenter. It started an image and started counting down and elapsed time ran. I thought I was in the clear, however this was supposed to be the first of 6 images. The progress bar showed 12% after the first image but it never started back up. I paused, resumed,and it still would not image. I paused and restarted and still nothing.

Not sure what else to try.

Regards,
Randy

I’ll be trying again tonight if weather permits. Have a feeling I will be toes up before I ever get this working correctly.

Regards,
Randy

Randy,
We’ll need logs and the sequence file to troubleshoot.

Thanks,
Jared

Finally got the sequencer to image last night. I think the problems do stem
from PHD2. I thought I had it fully disabled it, but got a message about
dither when I ran the sequence. Once I told it to continue and ignore
dither, it started imaging. Apparently I still don’t have a full handle on
getting some settings saved, either in control panel, equipment profile or
the sequence. Just not sure. It would sure be nice to get PHD2 to cooperate
with SGP as I can run it manually but with no dither. I did save my last
good PhD calibration so if you any ideas on getting it to run with sgp, I
would like to hear it. I did get pretty good auto focus v curve just with
random numbers I plugged in.
I will not get a chance to troubleshoot any tonight as my first grandchild
is set to be delivered tonight! Will get those logs to you after things
settle hear.

Regards,
Randy

I guarantee it’s not settling.

I’m happy to report I have had some success the past two nights in getting things to cooperate within SGP. I have been able to run sequences, that slew, solve, autofocus, start PHD2, guide, slew to next target and repeat. It’s a real treat to watch it work. :slight_smile:
I still need to refine my autofocus settings as well as some phd2 settings. It is dithering but I am unsure on what settings to use here for best results.
I have noticed that most of my star images are slightly oblong, and many times, it’s almost like the scope is bumped, leaving a slight blip on one side of the star.
Any ideas where to start on that? My polar alignment is good. Maybe something in the guiding or shutter release?

Regards,
Randy

I would check balance. Ideally you want the east side of the mount to be heavier. This may involve moving counterweights slightly or coming up with some sort of weight mechanism to keep the gears meshed. “Perfect” balance can often cause issues, as can west heavy.

Glad things are looking up!
Jared

Really like how the sequencing works but the autofocus is killing me. Usually spend most of my time now just trying to get a decent curve and waiting on the routine to finish. Wouldn’t be so bad but I rarely get a good curve and have never gotten an HFR below 4.8. It’s so frustrating night after night never making progress with autofocus. No rhyme or reason with the settings, they only go from bad to worse.

Regards,
Randy

Logs from AF runs and AF packs would help. Turn on AF packs in the Auto Focus settings. Send us the logs and the AF packs.

Thanks,
Jared

Just turned on AF packs. I assume the AF log is the general log file that I can view from within the program. Will send them all the next run I make.

Thanks,
Randy

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Sorry, by “AF log” I was just meaning the normal SGP log with AF and the AF Packs turned on so we can correlate. Also you’ll want to turn off the AF packs when not troubleshooting as they store each AF image to the file system.

Thanks,
Jared

Randy,

It's your choice in telescope not the software.  It's hard to focus an SCT automatically.

You have to determine the amount of backlash in your system in order to make it work. I think we’ve talked through this, but if you have any questions, please let me know.

Using the formula for step size, I get 281 steps. Somehow I don’t think that’s right.

Regards,
Randy

You don’t need to use a formula… at least not that one.

  • Find focus manually using a frame that is the same filter, binning and exposure length as an AF frame
  • Have SGPro measure the HFR
  • Use a step size that produces a HFR ~3x your in-focus HFR when at the outside edge of the focus routine (the first frame in AF)
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Ok I will ignore the manual.
Just curious, what is a typical time for the autofocus process?
I am continuing to try and improve autofocus but still cant seem to get it below 4.8 HFR.
It’s interesting that in this post some one person is using a step size of 2 and another 125. I don’t follow that but 125 has seemed to get me as close to something semi usable 4.8 HFW. how anyone gets lower, I don’t know.

Regards,
Randy

My advice was not to ignore the manual. I was simply stating (maybe using different words) exactly what we have written here:

http://mainsequencesoftware.com/Content/SGPHelp/UnderstandingAutoFocus.html

Can’t really say. It is a function of exposure time, download time and data points. Fairly easy to calculate if you have all that data. What I can say is that a typical exposure time for AF is 5-10 seconds. We don’t recommend running AF with a narrowband filter… that’s just trouble waiting to happen.

Minimum HFR is a relative measure based on your equipment and the environment. It’s not impossible (or important) that 4.8 is the minimum, only that you have a “V” or a “U” shaped graph.

Different focus motors do different things. Some motors have a very fine step size and will need higher step sizes. Some motors have very coarse step sizes and need lower step sizes. In terms of physical distance moved, 125 and 2 steps could be identical.