PHD2, EQMOD, and maybe Orion EQ-G mount
- Star Dad
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PHD2, EQMOD, and maybe Orion EQ-G mount
Three sessions ago my laptop stopped dead in it's tracks while imaging my last object for the night. I had to reboot and repair windows to get it back running. I don't if the temperature contributed to the total shutdown - it was a 0F night. In any case after restarting the imaging session PHD2 would not guide properly. I figured it had to do with a northerly object I was tracking. Did not give it a second thought.
Two sessions ago I had a horrible night. I watched as PHD2 would try to correct the mount and then keep on correcting as the guiding passed zero into the opposite direct. I ended up doing all my imaging without guiding.
It dawned on me that perhaps PHD2 needed recalibration. So my last session I determined to do a calibrate. But it wouldn't. Again, PHD2 was sending a signal but the mount wasn't reacting. I manually slewed the mount using EQMOD to a point near the celestial equator. No problem. Weird, I thought. PHD2 would not calibrate. So I went online and found a snippet that suggested trying to manually control the mount via PHD2. The mount wouldn't budge. OK, so I had set the mount to rapid slew via EQMOD, so I set it to speed 1. Still, PHD wasn't able to keep a target star long enough for calibration to finish. Then for some unknown reason, I thought to set EQMOD to sidereal tracking. Voila' suddenly it could not just track but also calibrate.
I do not know what happened during the power down of the laptop, but something changed in EQMOD. I do not know if this behavior (ie sidereal tracking enabled) is unique to my mount, but it's something to keep in mind if your system suddenly goes bonkers.
Orion 203mm/f4.9/1000mm, converted TASCO 114mm/f9/1000mm to steam punk, Meade 114mm/f9/1000, Coronado PST, Orion EQ-G, Ioptron Mini-Tower and iEQ30, Canon 70D, ASI120MM,ASI294MC, Ioptron SkyHunter
- starfield
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Re: PHD2, EQMOD, and maybe Orion EQ-G mount
Camera: 294 MC Pro, 224 mc, 2600mm
Guiding: ZWO 290 mini on 120mm guide scope
Mounts: EQ6R-Pro, EQ Platform.
Filters: Optolong L-Pro & L-Enhance, Chroma 36mm LRGB, 5nm HA, 3nm OIII, 3nm SII.
Software: SharpCap, SGP, StarTools 1.7, Photoshop, Pixinsight
The Death Star Observatory
Astro Photos:https://www.astrobin.com/users/starfield/
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