suggestion may help speeding up troubleshooting

[Ali]

Hello,

I was thinking if (only if) its possible to create a tool in PHD2 to test the correction pulse and the mount response to that corrections .

Its hard to make all my gears setup and connected under clear sky to test that kind of troubleshooting.. while if there is a way to test it indoor it will more convenience .

Sorry If this abelity is already in PHD2 but I didn't recognized .

Thanks

Ali 

[wave...@talktalk.net]

Hello Ali, if I understand your question correctly, I think the Manual Guide Tool is what you're looking for. This is the first option in the Tools menu. It can be run in the daytime using pulse lengths of almost any value.in any direction.

Hope this helps.

- Jack

[Ali]

Thanks Jack,

Yes it does indeed but how can I judge the mount response ?
A tool must have measurement ability , for instance gives pulses with different lengths and calculate the mounts response like backlash etc. .. may be gives additional measurements that give you hints what issues do your mount suffer of.
So, by this tool we widen the tests that can done indoor .. and that is much easier.

Per in mind, I am talking as a simple user that doesn't have any idea about software development.. So, maybe this suggestion is not applicable in PHD2-> <-Mount setup.

BR,
Ali 

[wave...@talktalk.net]

Hello again Ali,

You asked: Yes it does indeed but how can I judge the mount response?

I use the Handset RA and Dec readouts to confirm the mount is indeed moving from the starting position.

I agree this isn't particularly quantitative, but the test is basically to confirm the mount is receiving commands and that it responds. If you need a quantitative response I guess that would require a more complex software routine. I suppose you could work it out on paper from the pulse lengths and the RA and Dec shifts.

- Jack

[bw_msgboard]

Hi Ali.  I appreciate the value of a daytime testing tool but we don't think these sorts of things fall within PHD2's charter.  We don't want to turn the app into a Swiss army knife for telescope use even though the implementations would usually be easy.  We would end up with a very confusing and cluttered user interface that would just get in the way of guiding.  We implemented the GA backlash measurement as a way to tune the PHD2 dec backlash compensation feature - not as a hardware testing tool.  And the other basic tools like Star-cross and Manual Guide use the guide camera to replicate normal PHD2 activities that people struggle with.

 

That said, hardware-oriented tools like you're talking about are easy to write and are probably available.  Here's one you can try that will work during the daytime (on Windows):

 

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Amy5FkXK3OuQgnI-GyR1Wx0rwbUF?e=sT9km5

 

Instructions for using the tool are in the directory.  The only positional feedback mechanism here is to look at the RA and Dec coordinates as the mount is being guided.  But depending on the mount, these may not reflect what the mount is actually doing.  If the positions are being computed in the mount firmware based on stepper-motor counts or motor-mounted encoder feedback, those don't necessarily reflect what is happening with the actual telescope axes.  Backlash is a perfect example - the Dec motor is running, the gears are turning, but the axis is not.  So the measurement is dependent on the details of the particular mount you have and the value of daytime testing is limited.  Only when you're using star movement as a metric can you be sure you're seeing what the mount is actually doing at the level of precision you need for guiding.

 

Hope this helps,

Bruce

---

From: open-phd...@googlegroups.com [mailto:open-phd...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ali
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2022 3:46 AM
To: Open PHD Guiding
Subject: [open-phd-guiding] suggestion may help speeding up troubleshooting

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