Every once in a while I will find a video that provides really good information that is presented slow enough to understand. This video is just one of the very few that do that. I received my ASI220MM-Mini 18-days ago. In the past 18-days, tonight will be the second night without clouds, rain, etc. Setting up PHD2 has been quite a problem for me; but, your video is extremely helpful. I was very weary over what to do with that ST4 cable. Now, I must tell you that I will not torch it, but I will put it back in the box and leave it. Thank you for a very clear and informative video presented at an appropriate pace for mortals to understand.
As usual, well done, and I love your humorous cut-aways! So sorry to hear about the loss of marketing status. Yes, the corporations don't care about status, so much as "What have you done for us lately?"
I've bee avoiding PHD2 for a while now. But I just got it all working, thanks to you! No more trying to keep my target in the center of the shot. Thank you and I'll tag you in my pics when I get them finished.
Great presentation ... Thank you so much for your time and spirit to share your experience and knowledge with everyone around. All the best, clear skies and shine on from Chile.
I’m just about to figure all of this out, having now wedged my Evolution 8 EdgeHD, added a guidescope and cam, loaded PHD2 and ASCOM. Lots to go wrong but if it all goes right, I’ll be getting some longer exposure images soon! Thanks Dylan!
Man, thank you so much. I was fighting seeing with corrections much less than 1 second. This should really help, I appreciate it! I will think of you every time I press the button now 😉
This newbie only considered guiding after the Aussie dude said it was necessary for dithering. Until today, I had heard of PHD but didn't know it was specifically for guiding. Hopefully now, I will be "locked on". This was a helpful video.
Very helpful, I'm brand new to guiding and understand how it works, I need help with getting setup and using the software. Glad I watched because I would have been hooking my guide camera right to the mount lol. Thanks again!
Awesome! PLEASE do some tutorials on the actual workings of PHD2. It's sorely needed on youtube. I haven't seen an adequate one at all. Tutes on aggression, MinMo etc would be very useful for a lot of us
Thanks. Very informative. I feel dumb asking this but am sort of overwhelmed. I have a Celestron 8 inch telescope (Schmidt-Cassegrain) and it came with a beefy tripod and the CGEM DX Computerized mount. I built a permanent mount and have my telescope using this mount without tripod and it is fairly well-polar aligned. I tried PHD before version 2 and noticed that I got about the same quality prime focus photos with or without it...not trying to criticize PHD either because I really didn't know what I was doing ( I am not even convinced that signals were even being sent to the mount.) Anyway, the way I had it set up was the guide camera (CCD), in the guide scope, was connected to my laptop via a USB cable directly. Then a cable (4 pin phone-looking cable much like the one you exploded) is connected from bottom of Nextar hand-controller to a serial-to-USB cable then to my laptop. To shorten previous sentence, the hand controller was connected to my laptop. If I understand correctly, you are advising against this in first part of your video, right? I understand that you are saying that there is no need for the mount to talk directly to the guide scope. In that case, how do I get the mount to talk directly to my computer? Specifically, what physical connection should I use? Is the correct way to physically send the mount ASCOM information to my computer via the hand controller, as I was doing it previously? Or, is there a way to connect the mount directly to my computer? The mount has two unused ports (look like phone cable female ports); one labeled AUX, the other labeled AUTO GUIDE. If you have time, I sure would appreciate any insight you have, assuming I wasn't too long-winded.
Just watched your video. Brand new here, williams optics zenithstar73 doublet, asi120mm mini guide camera, zwo 30 x 130 guide scope, exos 2 pmc-eight mount. Zwo asi 294mc-pro dedicated camera. All brand new. Your video was extremely easy to follow, and I thank you immensely for providing it! Cant wait to experiment tonight with PHD2. Nice logo by the way!
Thanks, this was very useful, despite using PHD2 for a couple of years I hadn’t upgraded to the latest version and I’ve had the ST4 cable plugged in. I also aligned the guidescope with the OTA which seemed to improve things.
Thanks for clearing this issue up for me! Was wondering why I shouldn’t just connect straight to the mount. Finally found it in this video. New subscriber!
There are uses for an st4 port. I am programing an arduino to move the telescope in an spiral way to help my locate objects when the go-to leaves me almost but not quite there. The nice thing is that there is no software or connection to the computer. Just push a button to start the spiral and push it again when you see what you are looking for.
Thanks greatly! I have a Meade w/ Starlock scope. I have had nothing but guiding issues. Mount is polar aligned with Sharcap and scope is balanced in any position. Taking Starlock off tomorrow and trying PhD2. I am interested in seeing if it makes a difference. I was going to build an ST-4 cable so thanks for that tip! Enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing!
I figured if I came back and watched this you'd explain my "classic mistake" of thinking "Yeah, total RMS error of 0.01! Amazing!" Guiding on a hot pixel! Excellent video Dylan.
Thanks for the video, I recently bought a Explore Scientific iEXOS-100 tracker. I am looking forward to playing with it. This will help me with long exposures at 600mm.
Maaaaate!! I've been using PHD since about August 2018. Wish I seen this video then! I'm about to go and burn a guide cable - just as soon as I've finished imaging Rho Ophiuchi - cheers
Very refreshing to see an Aussie making such high quality tutorials. I have found your videos to be some of the most informative and entertaining on this subject so far. Can I ask where you got your observatory dome from?
Hey thanks Jarred! 🇦🇺 I was lucky to get a second hand one by asking the authorised vendor here in aus (link below). I got an email from them recently saying they have one unclaimed from a recent shipment which might be going cheap, not sure. Otherwise it's a 3-4 month wait between shipments (they aren't small!) from Canada. I'm thinking of changing the top dome to something more automated but can reuse the walls which is good. www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/skyshed_pod_astronomical_observatory.htm
I just got my guide scope and camera a few days ago, and I'm really glad I didn't burn my ST4 cable because I was constantly getting all sorts of different errors when just using the USB, I was getting pulseguiding errors, timeout, conversation, telling me my cables were faulty, and whoknowswhat, with the mount jumping all over the place. And when I connected on-camera with the ST4 cable it all worked reasonably well. I'm sure it was just me doing something stupid, but I'll probably wait a while before burning my ST4 cable.
@@DylanODonnell I don't use a hub, but now that you mention it, I think one of the USB ports on my laptop is shared with the internal Wi-Fi adapter because the Wi-Fi totally disappeared a few times after I installed USB drivers on that port. And I had to totally uninstall them to get the wifi back. And I'm controlling the mount wirelessly with the Synscan app so it might actually be an "internal" hub. The laptop is kind of crappy though, only a single USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 port, but I have a mini pc on the way so I'll see how it goes when that arrives, and then I can get a bonfire setup for that ST4 cable..
I really appreciated this video. I have ES EXOS2Goto mount and I was ready to use the ST4 cable, with the "on camera option" the guiding part with PhD2. However since there is already a "bridge" between the mount and the USB port on the computer and since in the set-up you are selecting the guide camera and the mount in PhD2 there is no reason to use the ST4 cable. Thank you very much for clarifying this topic.
Thanks for the video. Every guide I find is either too simple or too complicated. Yours seems right down the middle. I’ve gotten it working before, but with your help I think I actually understand what it’s doing now. Side note: don’t destroy that ST4 cable! It’s great for tracking a planet using Firecapture. Seems to work much better in that application than ASCOM guiding. At least for me!
Dennis C hehe cheers Dennis! It might have been a little theatrical .. heh. Probably good to have a cable spare in case of emergencies or for planet tracking as you suggest!
Apologies for what may be old news, but I've been looking for minimum, or recommended computer specs for use specifically with the Star Adventure and unable to locate. Appreciate what you do and enjoying my hobby as never before. Thank you.
Hi Dylan, thanks for all your videos. I’m new to the hobby and they’ve been a huge help. I just bought a CGX Mount and a ASI071MC camera, I’m waiting on a ZWO 30F4 guide scope and ASI174MM guide camera to arrive which I’m hoping will be this week. I’ve never tried guiding before and I just want to make sure I’m on the right track. To connect it all up do I connect the main camera and guide camera direct to the laptop via USB and then connect the mount to the laptop via USB also? So just 3 USB cables all straight into the laptop?
Thanks Dylan. Simple and great explanation of PHD2. I want to start imaging with following setup: iEQ30 Pro mount, and the FS102 Takahashi APO refractor. Because i currently don't have a guide scope, i am thinking to use my finder scope a Stellarvue F50M2 (fl: 200mm, Apert.: 50mm, f/4) with a Bresser guide camera for guiding. Do you think that will be enough for correcting any mount errors?
Hey Dylan, Do you thing you could do a quick video that explains the setup of Dithering in PHD2 and what I should know so that I can set it up correctly ? I'm a newbie and trying to set up a new rig. Thanks!
Great tutorial. Thanks. So, i want to look at the Orion Nebula(complete beginner with new gear and no idea) Find Orion first and then lock onto a star near Orion with PHD. 2. Thanks v much
the north south tab in phd is for declination direction control , it has nothing to do with hemisphere , it makes phd use the dec motor more like ra tracking, so if you choose north it will only move the dec motor in that direction, this eliminates the backlash issues a lot of people have ..
I wish you explained how to connect the computer / mount / camera. You said destroy the ST4 cable, but surely the auto-guider is connected to something (mount, computer, ?) Which one and how / what cable. Thanks. Good video.
Dylan, I would love to get rid of the telephone cable from my camera to the mount, but my mount just does not want to work with Ascom software. My mount is a CEM 40 from Ioptron and even the manufacturer can't help, can you? Bill
Hi Dylan! Thanks a lot for all your tips. I´m gonna burn my ST4 cable LOL! I´ve been doing exactly what you are suggesting not to. I have a ZWO 174 MC camera, which sends corrections via ST4 to the guiding port on the mount (Celestron CGEM). I have a Celestron OAG which works great BTW (no flexure! :D) I understand that I only need to connect the mount to the computer via USB (or RS232 cable)? I have the latest PHD2 version, does the Predictive PEC works automatically? What about the PEC option in the mount? Is it really necesary (specially with this new PHD2 PEC feature)?
Dylan, Please comment as to the correct cable connections / management. I am new to this astrophotography world. Switching from on camera via ST4 setup to a camera direct to PC should be accomplished with what cabling? I blew up my new ST4 as you have suggested. Thank you.
Thanks for the vids - great practical advise for a newbie like me. I've been PHD2 guiding using the 'on camera' option and I'm trying to get it working in the way that you describe with the 'Celestron Telescope Driver (ASCOM)' (I've got a CGX mount). I have been running PHD2 natively in MacOS X but when I try the the ASCOM way I don't get the option of connecting via ASCOM in the PHD2 menu I'm assuming as there is no ASCOM driver for MacOS X - I believe? So, I'm running a Windoze 7 guest on VirtualBox for all of the other astro stuff that only runs on Windoze (sigh!), BUT my ZWO ASI guide camera is USB 3 and won't connect to the Windoze 7 guest, so I'm stuffed both ways. I'm guessing that I'll need to shell out for a later Windoze version. What version of Windoze are you using as your VM guest? I loved your mozzie slapping on the Polar Align vid. I lived in Oz for a year and it brought back memories :-)
ASCOM question. I use a similar configuration to what you’ve shown here. Is it possible to connect the mount to PHD2 and planetarium software at the same time? As usual, a great overview.
Thank you thank you. I have everything working but I have one problem that I hope you can help me with. I have a good camera image but it is like I'm looking down a paper towel tube, just a round image in the center. Not certain what I am doing wrong.
Hey Dylan, so do you start autoguiding immediately after your star alignment? as I understand it, the process is to 1. Perform polar alignment, 2. Perform star alignment (in my case using NexStar hand controller) so this could be 1 or 2 star alignment, 3. Slew to object of interest using hand control, then 4. Start autoguiding using PHD2 as shown in video? (then I guess 5. take photos from astro camera) Thanks
This great Dylan, thanks. I recently switch from SCT mount to Orion Atlas mount. My guiding was great before and bad now. Any tips? Also, can you link the cable/adapter needed for ASCOM connection.
Hi Robin! I don't have any experience with the Orion Atlas unless it's the Skywatcher EQ6 which I *think* is rebranded in the USA as orion atlas.. I'm not sure though. The cable for that is a serial-to-usb one called "shoestring" for some reason. Ask the shop where you bought the mount because it's not a standard usb/serial cable... it has a particular wiring for that mount.
Dylan, could you be kind enough to write here the 2 additional apps that you mentioned/recommeneded in the video? Couldnt quite understand...many thanks..
How doe you connect the autoguider to the computer? I have a Lodestar. It has a power jack and the phone cord looking one. I have it plugged into the side of the mount that says “autoguide”. No idea how to connect it to computer though.
Hey Dylan. Great vid. With regard to the predictive PEC you mentioned which is in the latest version of PHD2, is that a feature which has to be enabled/configured or is it automatically applied to the algorithm? Cheers
Matt Watson hey Matt thanks! In the brain 🧠 section there is a drop down with the available guiding algorithms.. if you have a new enough version the PPEC one will be in there from memory !
Found it. Thanks, mate. Might give it a try next time to see how it goes. At the moment I use hysteresis which most people tend to use. But I'm always happy to experiment. I can always switch back if it doesn't work out.
How often should I collimate my telescope? When I focus with a batinov mask it looks in good focus but I’m having a lot of trouble making out the cloud bands on Jupiter even with relatively good seeing. Thanks
Hey Dylan, loving and learning lots from you channel so far, thanks! One problem I'm having is not knowing how to connect my computer to HEQ5 Pro (to avoid ST4 guiding). In some forums I see ASCOM Driver (HEQ5/6) as an option in the "Equipment Connection" for mount, which sounds like what I need, but I'm not even seeing that option, nor can I find where to download the ASCOM drivers for my HEQ5 Pro. I plan to get the shoestring bluetooth module for the mount, is this the right choice? How can I get PHD2 to talk to my mount (without HC)? Thanks!
Thanks Brendan! I think there are a couple of ways to do it but the best way is with EQMOD .. which is software I actually miss having now that I don't use a skywatcher mount. Check this thread for clues : stargazerslounge.com/topic/304963-ascom-driver-for-heq5-pro-synscan/
Thanks for replying Dylan, I had little expectation that you would, so much thanks!! Ah perfect! That's the clarification I need! Because when I looked at the list of drivers, it only has SW SynScan drivers, and I intend to use the bluetooth module instead of HC (removing HC all together), but no obvious driver was listed on ascom. Just ordered the BT-EQDir from Bintel, can't wait to try it out!
Impressive how you helped design this app!! Quick question, Im new to this, I have a normal star tracker (star adventurer), so I'm using that St4 cable. Once I selecte my star in phd2, my autoguiding button doesn't turn green and can't press it. Any idea why? Thanks
Hey Dylan, great video and nice music for the intro! Can you tell me the name of the track? All I listen to is trance/hard trance when viewing through scope. It fits perfectly.
Hey mate :) The track is : "Moving the Ocean (Aerologic Edit)" by Blastculture. .. At the Star Stuff event I run here we play hard trance / EDM like this all weekend !
Yeah brother!! Great minds think alike. Thanks for the track info. It’s great music. Next time Your in the Los Angeles area again, hit me up so we can hang out. I’m all late that you were here in town at Celestron which is about 5 miles away from were I stay. Cheers 🍻
1 small question i have skywatcher eq5 with syscan you burned the cable lol , i understand that camera goes to laptop but what ones go where sorry if i sound vauge i have always plugged that cable into hand set
is there a particular cable needed to plug the camera in to the computer? Or does a basic ST4 to USB work? I know on amazon, some of those cheap cables can cause a lot of issues, or not even be real.
Thanks Dylan for the detailed video, you always rock!! I am very new to astrophotography and having trouble with PHD2 guiding.. could really use your help. Equipment: Celestron AVX mount Orion ED80T CF Orion Starshoot Autoguider with 50mm guide scope After polar and start alignment, when I start PHD loop exposures, the image is full of noise and unable to see any star to select as guide star. Tried 2x2 mean, dark library and different gain and SNR values, but nothing is working out.. Not sure what I am doing wrong.. Can you point me to any troubleshooting videos or provide some suggestions?
Dylan, thanks a lot, the best PHD2 reference video!! I'm just missing something, you say we should use the ascom driver directly to the mount instead of "on camera". For the cgem II what cable would that be and where I may find it? In the cgem manual says the auto-guide port is a RJ-12 connector, and I don't find anywhere that particular cable so it connects to the computer USB port, thanks !!
Dylan, I have noticed you have a relatively large guide scope on your RASA 11 and a smaller one on your RASA 8. Beside the size matters joke how critical is the size of the guider. I would think the light gathering ability is more important than focal length aligning with your comment on camera sensitivity. Lastly, how does this change if at all if your in a metro area with a lot of light pollution. Thanks for your thoughts.
My father studied for more than a decade to get his PhD. Never knew what it stood for till today. Thanks Dylan!
I never understood why people make such a big deal out of getting their PHD either. I downloaded mine and had it installed in mere minutes!
Every once in a while I will find a video that provides really good information that is presented slow enough to understand. This video is just one of the very few that do that. I received my ASI220MM-Mini 18-days ago. In the past 18-days, tonight will be the second night without clouds, rain, etc. Setting up PHD2 has been quite a problem for me; but, your video is extremely helpful. I was very weary over what to do with that ST4 cable. Now, I must tell you that I will not torch it, but I will put it back in the box and leave it. Thank you for a very clear and informative video presented at an appropriate pace for mortals to understand.
Thx Will!
Finally! Someone explains PHD2 guiding in an easily understandable fashion! Thanks Dylan!
This was very helpful. When in doubt, swap cables, I just learned.
As usual, well done, and I love your humorous cut-aways! So sorry to hear about the loss of marketing status. Yes, the corporations don't care about status, so much as "What have you done for us lately?"
Thanks for doing this. I like the way you have taken time to structure your session and used the 13 minutes to share a lot of tips to get me going.
Hey thanks Sean I'm glad it helped!
I've bee avoiding PHD2 for a while now. But I just got it all working, thanks to you! No more trying to keep my target in the center of the shot. Thank you and I'll tag you in my pics when I get them finished.
Sweet video loving the cuts and added comedy bits you're getting so much better at making these videos
Eddy D'silva hehe thanks cuz .. little more effort but also a good dose of quick and dirty just using iMovie because I’m still very time poor 😆
Great presentation ... Thank you so much for your time and spirit to share your experience and knowledge with everyone around.
All the best, clear skies and shine on from Chile.
I’m just about to figure all of this out, having now wedged my Evolution 8 EdgeHD, added a guidescope and cam, loaded PHD2 and ASCOM. Lots to go wrong but if it all goes right, I’ll be getting some longer exposure images soon! Thanks Dylan!
Dylan, I'm finally ready to follow you on my journey of deep sky objects.. This video looks awesome. I just need clean skies. I can't wait
Nancy Ricigliano thanks for watching a few of my videos Astromom!
Man, thank you so much. I was fighting seeing with corrections much less than 1 second. This should really help, I appreciate it! I will think of you every time I press the button now 😉
Dylan, great Video. Just ordered a ASI120mm and going to start auto guiding. Great information, it was very helpful!
TheButzkrieg that’s great to hear ! Let me know how you go :)
This newbie only considered guiding after the Aussie dude said it was necessary for dithering. Until today, I had heard of PHD but didn't know it was specifically for guiding. Hopefully now, I will be "locked on". This was a helpful video.
Very helpful, I'm brand new to guiding and understand how it works, I need help with getting setup and using the software. Glad I watched because I would have been hooking my guide camera right to the mount lol. Thanks again!
Awesome! PLEASE do some tutorials on the actual workings of PHD2. It's sorely needed on youtube. I haven't seen an adequate one at all. Tutes on aggression, MinMo etc would be very useful for a lot of us
Thanks Bumpkin! I may do a deeper dive on the finer details at some point!
Thanks. Very informative. I feel dumb asking this but am sort of overwhelmed. I have a Celestron 8 inch telescope (Schmidt-Cassegrain) and it came with a beefy tripod and the CGEM DX Computerized mount. I built a permanent mount and have my telescope using this mount without tripod and it is fairly well-polar aligned. I tried PHD before version 2 and noticed that I got about the same quality prime focus photos with or without it...not trying to criticize PHD either because I really didn't know what I was doing ( I am not even convinced that signals were even being sent to the mount.)
Anyway, the way I had it set up was the guide camera (CCD), in the guide scope, was connected to my laptop via a USB cable directly. Then a cable (4 pin phone-looking cable much like the one you exploded) is connected from bottom of Nextar hand-controller to a serial-to-USB cable then to my laptop. To shorten previous sentence, the hand controller was connected to my laptop. If I understand correctly, you are advising against this in first part of your video, right?
I understand that you are saying that there is no need for the mount to talk directly to the guide scope. In that case, how do I get the mount to talk directly to my computer? Specifically, what physical connection should I use? Is the correct way to physically send the mount ASCOM information to my computer via the hand controller, as I was doing it previously? Or, is there a way to connect the mount directly to my computer? The mount has two unused ports (look like phone cable female ports); one labeled AUX, the other labeled AUTO GUIDE.
If you have time, I sure would appreciate any insight you have, assuming I wasn't too long-winded.
This is great to know, About to take delivery of a little QHY5 guide cam, so this has been priceless, D-dawg!
Good luck!
@@DylanODonnell What could possibly go wrong, LOL!
Just watched your video. Brand new here, williams optics zenithstar73 doublet, asi120mm mini guide camera, zwo 30 x 130 guide scope, exos 2 pmc-eight mount. Zwo asi 294mc-pro dedicated camera. All brand new. Your video was extremely easy to follow, and I thank you immensely for providing it! Cant wait to experiment tonight with PHD2. Nice logo by the way!
Thanks mike!
Thanks, very informative!
Updated my PHD2 to latest version to take care of that PEC issue.
Good to hear!
Thanks, this was very useful, despite using PHD2 for a couple of years I hadn’t upgraded to the latest version and I’ve had the ST4 cable plugged in. I also aligned the guidescope with the OTA which seemed to improve things.
Yeh to be honest I unlearned a few things while putting the video together heh.
Thanks for clearing this issue up for me! Was wondering why I shouldn’t just connect straight to the mount. Finally found it in this video. New subscriber!
Oh good! Glad it helped :)
Great tips I'm getting my guide cam today, good to know to go straight to the PC! Cheers
There are uses for an st4 port. I am programing an arduino to move the telescope in an spiral way to help my locate objects when the go-to leaves me almost but not quite there.
The nice thing is that there is no software or connection to the computer. Just push a button to start the spiral and push it again when you see what you are looking for.
Thanks greatly! I have a Meade w/ Starlock scope. I have had nothing but guiding issues. Mount is polar aligned with Sharcap and scope is balanced in any position. Taking Starlock off tomorrow and trying PhD2. I am interested in seeing if it makes a difference. I was going to build an ST-4 cable so thanks for that tip! Enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing!
I figured if I came back and watched this you'd explain my "classic mistake" of thinking "Yeah, total RMS error of 0.01! Amazing!" Guiding on a hot pixel! Excellent video Dylan.
Haha we’ve all been there! Thanks!
Thanks again Dylan. Another very helpful video as I am about to try guiding for the first time.
I hope it goes well for you!
@@DylanODonnell Cheers thanks it worked a treat on the Moon all night.
th-cam.com/video/gaWhNwYm4og/w-d-xo.html
Sawwwweeeet! you would believe how many videos I sat through that didn't cover this method! Thank you and Cheers! From Kansas in the US...
That looks gorgeous! Well done.
Awesome vid bro!!! Thank you very much for the info
Thanks for the video, I recently bought a Explore Scientific iEXOS-100 tracker. I am looking forward to playing with it. This will help me with long exposures at 600mm.
Thanks Dylan a really good explanation. It is good to have an Aussie!
Thanks for the clear speech and information! - Good job!
Thanks for the info. I will give the ASCOM driver a go rather than ST4 and see how I go. Great video!!
G Grech glad it helped !
Very nice Dylan. Thank you. Really good tips.
Maaaaate!! I've been using PHD since about August 2018. Wish I seen this video then! I'm about to go and burn a guide cable - just as soon as I've finished imaging Rho Ophiuchi - cheers
Man I just learned a couple of things!!!! Can’t wait to give them a shot!
That's good to hear :) Thanks Nick!
Thank you for your good quality explanations!
Very refreshing to see an Aussie making such high quality tutorials. I have found your videos to be some of the most informative and entertaining on this subject so far. Can I ask where you got your observatory dome from?
Hey thanks Jarred! 🇦🇺 I was lucky to get a second hand one by asking the authorised vendor here in aus (link below). I got an email from them recently saying they have one unclaimed from a recent shipment which might be going cheap, not sure. Otherwise it's a 3-4 month wait between shipments (they aren't small!) from Canada. I'm thinking of changing the top dome to something more automated but can reuse the walls which is good. www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/skyshed_pod_astronomical_observatory.htm
Thanks for the reply mate.
I just got my guide scope and camera a few days ago, and I'm really glad I didn't burn my ST4 cable because I was constantly getting all sorts of different errors when just using the USB, I was getting pulseguiding errors, timeout, conversation, telling me my cables were faulty, and whoknowswhat, with the mount jumping all over the place.
And when I connected on-camera with the ST4 cable it all worked reasonably well.
I'm sure it was just me doing something stupid, but I'll probably wait a while before burning my ST4 cable.
Maybe a traffic problem on the usb? Common when using a hub with a camera on it. Make sure your cameras are plugged direct to pc.
@@DylanODonnell I don't use a hub, but now that you mention it, I think one of the USB ports on my laptop is shared with the internal Wi-Fi adapter because the Wi-Fi totally disappeared a few times after I installed USB drivers on that port. And I had to totally uninstall them to get the wifi back.
And I'm controlling the mount wirelessly with the Synscan app so it might actually be an "internal" hub.
The laptop is kind of crappy though, only a single USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 port, but I have a mini pc on the way so I'll see how it goes when that arrives, and then I can get a bonfire setup for that ST4 cable..
Thanks Dylan. Great info
Much appreciated. Soon upgrading to automate.
Finally a real tutorial video for starters thank you
Glad you liked it!
I really appreciated this video. I have ES EXOS2Goto mount and I was ready to use the ST4 cable, with the "on camera option" the guiding part with PhD2. However since there is already a "bridge" between the mount and the USB port on the computer and since in the set-up you are selecting the guide camera and the mount in PhD2 there is no reason to use the ST4 cable. Thank you very much for clarifying this topic.
Thanks for the video. Every guide I find is either too simple or too complicated. Yours seems right down the middle. I’ve gotten it working before, but with your help I think I actually understand what it’s doing now. Side note: don’t destroy that ST4 cable! It’s great for tracking a planet using Firecapture. Seems to work much better in that application than ASCOM guiding. At least for me!
Dennis C hehe cheers Dennis! It might have been a little theatrical .. heh. Probably good to have a cable spare in case of emergencies or for planet tracking as you suggest!
Might be an idea to update with the multi-star guiding function - I'm still getting into guiding, but wow, what a difference
Love your style of backyard Barbecuing
Nothing like snags at 1000 degrees.
Apologies for what may be old news, but I've been looking for minimum, or recommended computer specs for use specifically with the Star Adventure and unable to locate. Appreciate what you do and enjoying my hobby as never before. Thank you.
Hi Dylan, thanks for all your videos. I’m new to the hobby and they’ve been a huge help.
I just bought a CGX Mount and a ASI071MC camera, I’m waiting on a ZWO 30F4 guide scope and ASI174MM guide camera to arrive which I’m hoping will be this week. I’ve never tried guiding before and I just want to make sure I’m on the right track. To connect it all up do I connect the main camera and guide camera direct to the laptop via USB and then connect the mount to the laptop via USB also? So just 3 USB cables all straight into the laptop?
Great job. Good tip on remembering not to use ST4
Thanks Dylan. Simple and great explanation of PHD2. I want to start imaging with following setup: iEQ30 Pro mount, and the FS102 Takahashi APO refractor. Because i currently don't have a guide scope, i am thinking to use my finder scope a Stellarvue F50M2 (fl: 200mm, Apert.: 50mm, f/4) with a Bresser guide camera for guiding. Do you think that will be enough for correcting any mount errors?
Nice video, very informative.
Hey Dylan, Do you thing you could do a quick video that explains the setup of Dithering in PHD2 and what I should know so that I can set it up correctly ? I'm a newbie and trying to set up a new rig. Thanks!
Right! time to get out the petrol! Love the cable burning, good info mate.
Andrew Wall hehe thx man
Very helpful, thank you.
Great tutorial. Thanks. So, i want to look at the Orion Nebula(complete beginner with new gear and no idea) Find Orion first and then lock onto a star near Orion with PHD. 2. Thanks v much
Great tips. Thanks.
Glad it helped!
Great tutorial.Thanx!!
Cheers Dino!
Thanks for the awesome tips! I have a question.... Is it possible to polar align with eq3 mount? I'm using a manual mount, not motorized!
That is so cool that you design that
the north south tab in phd is for declination direction control , it has nothing to do with hemisphere , it makes phd use the dec motor more like ra tracking, so if you choose north it will only move the dec motor in that direction,
this eliminates the backlash issues a lot of people have ..
Good to come back and re-watch this video. Mental note (2 second exposures... I had 1.5)
I’m using 3s these days :)
Well done. Thanks.
No worries Rick!
Very useful, thanks
Great job! FYI, I like the intro music
Thanks Walter! I know it's not for everybody. *high-five*.
I wish you explained how to connect the computer / mount / camera. You said destroy the ST4 cable, but surely the auto-guider is connected to something (mount, computer, ?) Which one and how / what cable. Thanks. Good video.
Dylan, I would love to get rid of the telephone cable from my camera to the mount, but my mount just does not want to work with Ascom software. My mount is a CEM 40 from Ioptron and even the manufacturer can't help, can you? Bill
Hi Dylan! Thanks a lot for all your tips. I´m gonna burn my ST4 cable LOL! I´ve been doing exactly what you are suggesting not to. I have a ZWO 174 MC camera, which sends corrections via ST4 to the guiding port on the mount (Celestron CGEM). I have a Celestron OAG which works great BTW (no flexure! :D)
I understand that I only need to connect the mount to the computer via USB (or RS232 cable)?
I have the latest PHD2 version, does the Predictive PEC works automatically?
What about the PEC option in the mount? Is it really necesary (specially with this new PHD2 PEC feature)?
Thanks Dude!
Anytime :)
Dylan, Please comment as to the correct cable connections / management. I am new to this astrophotography world. Switching from on camera via ST4 setup to a camera direct to PC should be accomplished with what cabling? I blew up my new ST4 as you have suggested. Thank you.
Thanks for the vids - great practical advise for a newbie like me. I've been PHD2 guiding using the 'on camera' option and I'm trying to get it working in the way that you describe with the 'Celestron Telescope Driver (ASCOM)' (I've got a CGX mount). I have been running PHD2 natively in MacOS X but when I try the the ASCOM way I don't get the option of connecting via ASCOM in the PHD2 menu I'm assuming as there is no ASCOM driver for MacOS X - I believe? So, I'm running a Windoze 7 guest on VirtualBox for all of the other astro stuff that only runs on Windoze (sigh!), BUT my ZWO ASI guide camera is USB 3 and won't connect to the Windoze 7 guest, so I'm stuffed both ways. I'm guessing that I'll need to shell out for a later Windoze version. What version of Windoze are you using as your VM guest?
I loved your mozzie slapping on the Polar Align vid. I lived in Oz for a year and it brought back memories :-)
ASCOM question. I use a similar configuration to what you’ve shown here. Is it possible to connect the mount to PHD2 and planetarium software at the same time? As usual, a great overview.
The most important button in an imaging night!
Reading the warning lines is helpful...lol...
Excellent advice
What cable do I use to connect to pc for my older eq6 pro !???
Hi and thanks for the vid. Do you have a portable air conditioner in you sky pod? I'll be it works, I use them in my apartment.
Thank you thank you. I have everything working but I have one problem that I hope you can help me with. I have a good camera image but it is like I'm looking down a paper towel tube, just a round image in the center. Not certain what I am doing wrong.
Thanks Dylan
Hey Dylan, so do you start autoguiding immediately after your star alignment? as I understand it, the process is to 1. Perform polar alignment, 2. Perform star alignment (in my case using NexStar hand controller) so this could be 1 or 2 star alignment, 3. Slew to object of interest using hand control, then 4. Start autoguiding using PHD2 as shown in video? (then I guess 5. take photos from astro camera)
Thanks
Very helpfull. Thank U
Chris 570 glad it helped!
Hi, great video and explanation.....one question, Will PHD2 work with an AZ Mounting?
This great Dylan, thanks. I recently switch from SCT mount to Orion Atlas mount. My guiding was great before and bad now. Any tips? Also, can you link the cable/adapter needed for ASCOM connection.
Hi Robin! I don't have any experience with the Orion Atlas unless it's the Skywatcher EQ6 which I *think* is rebranded in the USA as orion atlas.. I'm not sure though. The cable for that is a serial-to-usb one called "shoestring" for some reason. Ask the shop where you bought the mount because it's not a standard usb/serial cable... it has a particular wiring for that mount.
Dylan, could you be kind enough to write here the 2 additional apps that you mentioned/recommeneded
in the video? Couldnt quite understand...many thanks..
Hello Dylan..
Great tutorials man 👍🏻
How have you got ascot drivers on your mac?
or are you running parallels?
Thanks man ✌🏻
Thanks! Parallels. I have a video about this somewhere :)
Dylan O'Donnell thank you Dylan.. keep on keeping on 👍🏻✌🏻
How doe you connect the autoguider to the computer? I have a Lodestar. It has a power jack and the phone cord looking one. I have it plugged into the side of the mount that says “autoguide”. No idea how to connect it to computer though.
Love ya Dylan!
Why thankyou!
Hey Dylan. Great vid. With regard to the predictive PEC you mentioned which is in the latest version of PHD2, is that a feature which has to be enabled/configured or is it automatically applied to the algorithm? Cheers
Matt Watson hey Matt thanks! In the brain 🧠 section there is a drop down with the available guiding algorithms.. if you have a new enough version the PPEC one will be in there from memory !
Found it. Thanks, mate. Might give it a try next time to see how it goes. At the moment I use hysteresis which most people tend to use. But I'm always happy to experiment. I can always switch back if it doesn't work out.
Matt Watson cool .. let me know how it works out for you!
How often should I collimate my telescope? When I focus with a batinov mask it looks in good focus but I’m having a lot of trouble making out the cloud bands on Jupiter even with relatively good seeing. Thanks
Wooooo the first time of the intro…… súper like
Hey Dylan, loving and learning lots from you channel so far, thanks! One problem I'm having is not knowing how to connect my computer to HEQ5 Pro (to avoid ST4 guiding). In some forums I see ASCOM Driver (HEQ5/6) as an option in the "Equipment Connection" for mount, which sounds like what I need, but I'm not even seeing that option, nor can I find where to download the ASCOM drivers for my HEQ5 Pro. I plan to get the shoestring bluetooth module for the mount, is this the right choice? How can I get PHD2 to talk to my mount (without HC)? Thanks!
Thanks Brendan! I think there are a couple of ways to do it but the best way is with EQMOD .. which is software I actually miss having now that I don't use a skywatcher mount. Check this thread for clues : stargazerslounge.com/topic/304963-ascom-driver-for-heq5-pro-synscan/
Thanks for replying Dylan, I had little expectation that you would, so much thanks!! Ah perfect! That's the clarification I need! Because when I looked at the list of drivers, it only has SW SynScan drivers, and I intend to use the bluetooth module instead of HC (removing HC all together), but no obvious driver was listed on ascom. Just ordered the BT-EQDir from Bintel, can't wait to try it out!
Oh cool! I think I saw that order go through today :) QLD? I look after their website :) Hopefully you can get it worked out!
Yea mate, oh nice! I'm all new to this, so my first bintel purchase. Cheers!
Impressive how you helped design this app!! Quick question, Im new to this, I have a normal star tracker (star adventurer), so I'm using that St4 cable. Once I selecte my star in phd2, my autoguiding button doesn't turn green and can't press it. Any idea why? Thanks
Hey if I'm using the ASIAIR, do I need that st4 cable or not? Using a cgx with 2 zwo cams
This video has a good ratio of helpful info vs useless stuff.
Hey Dylan, great video and nice music for the intro! Can you tell me the name of the track? All I listen to is trance/hard trance when viewing through scope. It fits perfectly.
Hey mate :) The track is : "Moving the Ocean (Aerologic Edit)" by Blastculture. .. At the Star Stuff event I run here we play hard trance / EDM like this all weekend !
Yeah brother!! Great minds think alike. Thanks for the track info. It’s great music. Next time Your in the Los Angeles area again, hit me up so we can hang out. I’m all late that you were here in town at Celestron which is about 5 miles away from were I stay. Cheers 🍻
1 small question i have skywatcher eq5 with syscan you burned the cable lol , i understand that camera goes to laptop but what ones go where sorry if i sound vauge i have always plugged that cable into hand set
is there a particular cable needed to plug the camera in to the computer? Or does a basic ST4 to USB work?
I know on amazon, some of those cheap cables can cause a lot of issues, or not even be real.
THX!!
Thanks Dylan for the detailed video, you always rock!!
I am very new to astrophotography and having trouble with PHD2 guiding.. could really use your help.
Equipment:
Celestron AVX mount
Orion ED80T CF
Orion Starshoot Autoguider with 50mm guide scope
After polar and start alignment, when I start PHD loop exposures, the image is full of noise and unable to see any star to select as guide star. Tried 2x2 mean, dark library and different gain and SNR values, but nothing is working out.. Not sure what I am doing wrong.. Can you point me to any troubleshooting videos or provide some suggestions?
Hey thanks mate :) It’s the Orion starshoot .. I used to have it and it’s awful. Try the zwo 120mm .. it’s amazing by comparison.
Dylan, thanks a lot, the best PHD2 reference video!! I'm just missing something, you say we should use the ascom driver directly to the mount instead of "on camera". For the cgem II what cable would that be and where I may find it? In the cgem manual says the auto-guide port is a RJ-12 connector, and I don't find anywhere that particular cable so it connects to the computer USB port, thanks !!
Thanks! Check the handcontroller .. some of them have a mini USB port at the bottom
@@DylanODonnell Woww, it worked !! So easy, sorry! I'm a newbie. I'm so grateful. :)
I love the exploding wire!!!
Haha I’m making a point ! 😆
Dylan, I have noticed you have a relatively large guide scope on your RASA 11 and a smaller one on your RASA 8. Beside the size matters joke how critical is the size of the guider. I would think the light gathering ability is more important than focal length aligning with your comment on camera sensitivity.
Lastly, how does this change if at all if your in a metro area with a lot of light pollution. Thanks for your thoughts.
thank you, I have a HEQ5 ,but the computer keeps crashing with one cable.