PhD2 wont calibrate- not enough movement

[jsna...@att.net]

Hi all, I am new to PhD guiding, and cant seem to get it to work. I just downloaded the software and tried using it for the first time last night. I repeatedly tried but always got the message that calibration failed due to not enough star movement. I tried repeatedly but it just wouldn't calibrate and I kept getting that message. It took really tiny, slow movement steps as it tried to calibrate westward, but it just wouldn't calibrate.

Finally, after trying maybe 20 times, it managed to complete the calibration process once, but it took a really, really long time to calibrate, again taking really tiny step movements (maybe 15-20 min?). Then after it was running I went to use the guiding assistant, and the RA and Dec graphs were WAY far apart. At the end of this guiding assistant run I answered yes to make the calibrations it recommended, and then it took a REALLY long time to step through its backlash adjustments (maybe 20 min)?  Then, when I started it up again to use it, again gave me the message that calibration failed due to lack of movement. I tried repeatedly again but I kept getting that message.  

Can someone please let me know what the problem could be? If anyone has a troubleshooting checklist, or can recommend a fix I sure would appreciate it! 

[wave...@talktalk.net]

Hello jsna....
I'd advise you to upload the guide log and the debug log files that are saved after every session. This is done automatically using the 'Upload log files' option in the 'Help' menu and selecting the appropriate session.  The Help menu is located at the top of the PHD2 interface. The PHD2 experts will then be able to see everything that's going on.
Hope this helps.
- Jack

[jsna...@att.net]

Hi Jack, thanks for the tip. Here are the log files from my last session. Hopefully someone can assist! John

https://openphdguiding.org/logs/dl/PHD2_logs_XTZ4.zip

[Donald Polidori]

From your calibration:

Mount = EQMOD HEQ5/6 (ASCOM), Calibration Step = 1400 ms, Calibration Distance = 25 px, Assume orthogonal axes = no
RA Guide Speed = 1.5 a-s/s, Dec Guide Speed = 1.5 a-s/s

I'm no expert, but your guiding rate at 1.5arcsec/sec is 0.1x sidereal speed which is really slow.  Most guide speeds I've seen have been about 0.5x sidereal.  So you are making really small steps.  That would be controlled by the mount.  I would check there.  

--Don

[Bruce Waddington]

Welcome to PHD2 guiding.  It sounds like maybe you just plunged into all this without doing much preliminary study.  I strongly recommend that you spend some time reading the major sections of the manual, especially the sections on basic use, equipment connections, and trouble-shooting.  If you're relatively new to the hobby, you can also learn by reading the supplementary info section of the manual.  The manual is available in PHD2 via the 'Help' menu and is also available on line here:

http://openphdguiding.org/man-dev

You should also become familiar with a couple of other important documents:

https://openphdguiding.org/phd2-best-practices/

https://github.com/OpenPHDGuiding/phd2/wiki/EQASCOM-Settings

The second one, among other things, keeps you from trying to guide at the excessively low guide speed.

Good luck,

Bruce

[John Natale]

Thanks Bruce. I am not new to astronomy, but I did "plunge in" to PhD2 in a hurry! I was anxious to get my system running and didn't take the time to do a whole lot of research first. Your documents are very helpful, and I really appreciate all the info!  By the way I managed to get PhD 2 running by changing the RA and Dec rates in EQMOD from 0.1 (the default) to 0.5. Evidently they were set too low.

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[bw_m...@earthlink.net]

The 0.1x settings are the default EQMOD values and they are incredibly annoying and cause repeated problems for people just getting started with guiding.  But there’s nothing we can do about them really, it’s an EQMOD issue.

 

Bruce

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