Very weird mate not sure what's happening there. Must be getting a headache having this come back again. Hope you figure it out and hope you're doing well now 👍
Cheers Ollie, frustrating is an understatement. I'm feeling good thanks, all things considered, just letting the meds do their thing and not doing anything strenuous, so no digging pier holes, or mad quad biking at the minute!
Hello Dave, Did you get the issue with the cgxl mount sorted out? I have the same problem with my cgx mount, polar alignment is great, I can get a 3 min exposure unguided. The scope and guide scope are balanced correctly and yet the PHD2 guiding graph is all over the place. Be interesting to know if you solved your problem.
Hi there Wayne, yes, I did manage to get it sorted tweaking the gear mesh screws (now guiding typical 0.6-0.7" total), I posted a follow up video to this with the details of what I did, here is the video id: 9lujc3y74Hg
Hey Dave, long time no speak! I'm sure you're well aware of this and maybe even addressed it but the CGX's have adjustable tension in the worm gears and those can sometimes come loose. Have you tried reseating the worm gear by adjusting the grub screws?
Thanks Agapios, yeh, I'm aware of those grub screws, and will be going back to check them and adjust the flex distance out and in and see if that helps a bit. Just need to get some clear nights again to test, looks like rain for the next week now! How's the new observatory build coming along? Can't wait to see the next progress update from you.
I was having issues guiding and calibration when I swapped my scopes last week. It actualy went as high as 54 then I some how managed to get it down to 1.3??? I thought it may be a balance issue but wasn't sure. After watching the video Im thinking it could be the cable im using as I have changed that recently as well, so think will try a few things out next session if it happens again. Thanks for sharing Dave and hope your well mate. Oh nice captures too, love M42!!!
Cheers Ben, hope you get it sorted as well! I find it strange that it calibrates using one method and not on the other, when it is the same software and same mount and cables. 'On Camera' vs ' direct'
Hi there, it makes sense, but there must be a huge amount of backlash that is causing the Dec/RA angle to vary so much, the fact that it keeps doing it is the surprising bit. I would expect the back lash to eventually 'catchup'. I wonder if there is something spinning freely, like a drive wheel or tooth worn on the belt and skipping etc.
@@DavesAstrophotography it doesn't move much during calibration so it's not necessarily a huge amount of backlash to have your graph look like this. Try to off balance your Dec a bit to the back (just a bit) to keep your backlash seated to one side of the gears and see if it calibrates better.
@@DavesAstrophotography also, mind the tension on your clutches. They need to be tight enough that your scope doesn't fall over but if they're too tight they can cause binding and your drives won't move the scope freely.
Hi Dave . Remind me , how are you powering the Mount ? Inverted Solar DC to the standard 12vdc Power Supply modules ? Do you have any way to continuously monitor the DC supply to your Mount ? Maybe you've got a failing Power Module throwing some AC ripple onto an otherwise clean DC signal . Just a long shot I'm sure . Cheers/SRK
Very weird mate not sure what's happening there. Must be getting a headache having this come back again. Hope you figure it out and hope you're doing well now 👍
Cheers Ollie, frustrating is an understatement. I'm feeling good thanks, all things considered, just letting the meds do their thing and not doing anything strenuous, so no digging pier holes, or mad quad biking at the minute!
Hello Dave, Did you get the issue with the cgxl mount sorted out?
I have the same problem with my cgx mount, polar alignment is great, I can get a 3 min exposure unguided. The scope and guide scope are balanced correctly and yet the PHD2 guiding graph is all over the place.
Be interesting to know if you solved your problem.
Hi there Wayne, yes, I did manage to get it sorted tweaking the gear mesh screws (now guiding typical 0.6-0.7" total), I posted a follow up video to this with the details of what I did, here is the video id: 9lujc3y74Hg
@@DavesAstrophotography Thats what I was thinking this morning, so will make adjustment and see how it goes tonight. Thank you for your reply.
Hey Dave, long time no speak! I'm sure you're well aware of this and maybe even addressed it but the CGX's have adjustable tension in the worm gears and those can sometimes come loose. Have you tried reseating the worm gear by adjusting the grub screws?
Thanks Agapios, yeh, I'm aware of those grub screws, and will be going back to check them and adjust the flex distance out and in and see if that helps a bit. Just need to get some clear nights again to test, looks like rain for the next week now! How's the new observatory build coming along? Can't wait to see the next progress update from you.
I was having issues guiding and calibration when I swapped my scopes last week. It actualy went as high as 54 then I some how managed to get it down to 1.3??? I thought it may be a balance issue but wasn't sure. After watching the video Im thinking it could be the cable im using as I have changed that recently as well, so think will try a few things out next session if it happens again.
Thanks for sharing Dave and hope your well mate.
Oh nice captures too, love M42!!!
Cheers Ben, hope you get it sorted as well! I find it strange that it calibrates using one method and not on the other, when it is the same software and same mount and cables. 'On Camera' vs ' direct'
Only made it 5 minutes into the video, I'll watch the rest later but that calibration graph says excessive Dec backlash at first glance
So it's calibrating, not really moving it, and it's just floating in the backlash and counting drift as the movement
Hi there, it makes sense, but there must be a huge amount of backlash that is causing the Dec/RA angle to vary so much, the fact that it keeps doing it is the surprising bit. I would expect the back lash to eventually 'catchup'. I wonder if there is something spinning freely, like a drive wheel or tooth worn on the belt and skipping etc.
@@DavesAstrophotography it doesn't move much during calibration so it's not necessarily a huge amount of backlash to have your graph look like this. Try to off balance your Dec a bit to the back (just a bit) to keep your backlash seated to one side of the gears and see if it calibrates better.
@@DavesAstrophotography getting a proper calibration will be the first step in troubleshooting your guiding issues.
@@DavesAstrophotography also, mind the tension on your clutches. They need to be tight enough that your scope doesn't fall over but if they're too tight they can cause binding and your drives won't move the scope freely.
Hi Dave . Remind me , how are you powering the Mount ? Inverted Solar DC to the standard 12vdc Power Supply modules ? Do you have any way to continuously monitor the DC supply to your Mount ? Maybe you've got a failing Power Module throwing some AC ripple onto an otherwise clean DC signal . Just a long shot I'm sure . Cheers/SRK
Coming from the DC-DC converter on the Solar system, output is constant 12.5v
Images and stars looked pretty good to me Dave.. I'm no help at all, I have nothing to suggest. 🤦♂
Cheers Jason, I was surprised how well they came out all things considered!