Guiding

[Manuel Shaw]

Guiding will not stay locked on guide star.

[Manuel Shaw]

On Tue, Oct 7, 2025 at 10:07 PM Manuel Shaw <manue...@gmail.com> wrote:

Guiding will not stay locked on guide star.

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[pollya...@gmail.com]

Hello Manuel,

I'm still a learner myself, but I'll give you a couple of my suggestions. Your guiding scale of about 10 arcsec/pixel is a big issue. The 120mm FL guidescope isn't optimal with a 5.9 micron ASI174 camera. I think you might have to change one or other.  Use the Calibration Assistant (CA) to set everything up. Your guidelog suggests you've calibrated at inappropriate locations and without taking up Dec backlash. The CA will help with all this. To get a better feel of things, I'd also suggest that following an acceptable calibration, you should run the Guiding Assistant (GA) for several worm cycles. Analysis of the results will be very informative. The latest edition of PHD2 is recommended (v2.6.13dev7)  https://openphdguiding.org/development-snapshots/

When seeking help, always upload both the Debug and Guide logs as indicated here: https://openphdguiding.org/getting-help/
Good luck,
- Jack T

[Brian Valente]

Hi Manuel

Can you provide more details on your equipment?

First thing is it appears you are struggling to achieve a good calibration. you finally did that towards the end of your guidelog. 

The problem you are experiencing is your mount RA axis is not responding to corrections, as shown here (RA in blue), not that PHD is failing to lock on a star. 

This seems to have started with you slewed to the opposite sky (pier side east, pointing west) so you may want to check for any obstructions or cable snags.

You should upgrade to the latest dev release found here: https://openphdguiding.org/development-snapshots/

Use the calibration assistant, and then run a guiding assistant for 3-5 minutes to get recommendations. Check for proper guiding on both sides of pier. 

In addition, you should use a dark library for your guide camera to avoid hot pixels

Brian

On Tue, Oct 7, 2025 at 10:07 PM Manuel Shaw <manue...@gmail.com> wrote:

Guiding will not stay locked on guide star.

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To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to open-phd-guidi...@googlegroups.com.
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Brian 

Brian Valente

astronomy portfolio https://www.astrobin.com/users/bvalente/ 

[Manuel Shaw]

Brian, I have the following equipment 

ZWOAM3

2 x Redcat 51 WIRD dual rig - side by side

2x ASI2600MM

2 x EFW

1 x 32MM Guide Scope w/ASI174MM Mini

MELE 4C

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-phd-guiding/CAJa45i712d-G_Ws5YfFX9%3D%2B71%2BdYjsgup6wrdD3M8YKV6ST%2BCg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Rick Cohen]

The recommended max payload without counterweights for the AM3 is about 17 lbs.  Is your setup getting pretty close to that?

[Manuel Shaw]

I will be weighing it very soon. I thought about that last night in reference to the RA issue. I do have s counterweight install.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-phd-guiding/2ac55f3b-ffed-47f0-adad-20a4befb922bn%40googlegroups.com.

[Brian Valente]

The mount's weight capacity is independent of the issue you are having. Over capacity may affect performance, but we are seeing a mount that is unresponsive to guide commands. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-phd-guiding/CADrPC5OfEBaaPVJo7NsnY4qXY2j-n_jJceseiwa%3DWXBxAg6a5Q%40mail.gmail.com.