Hi Group, I use the older version of SGPro (3.2.0.660).
I’m troubleshooting a problem that shows up in Sequence Generator, although I believe it is not directly caused by this software. This deals with overall problems when doing an automated focusing.
My problem occurs, and I think this is recent, when starting the sequence.
1. Auto focus executes (with guiding off) and generally puts focus spot on.
2. PHD2 picks a guide star (and locks onto its position).
3. A second autofocus executes (with guiding off) and this is where the problem crops up.
SGPro Auto focus is set for 2 second exposures and 9 data points.
PHD2 Search Region is 15 pxl (default).
Problem:
I’ve noted recently that each of the 9 data point exposures show up in a different RA position than the previous one. They track across the screen. I do not recall seeing this during previous years using this setup.
When PHD2 tries to restart guiding after auto focus, the guide star is now substantially out of the Search Region box and the system cannot recover. This is true (to a lesser extent) when setting the Search Region to 30 pxl.
I’ve recently set this value to 35 pxl but have not had the skies to test it.
One thing I’ve done to mitigate this is to remove the second autofocus at start up (i.e. after guide star selection) and that does eliminate this problem at that time. However, there are autofocus events at temp change and time change (where the guiding is turned off), so the problem likely could occur later.
Question:
The behavior of the auto focus star field creeping across the screen with each exposures makes me suspect that the mount’s tracking rate is not exactly sidereal.
Does this fit the symptoms? Shouldn’t each auto focus display have the star field close to stationary, even though guiding is off?
Thanks for your thoughts
Mark