Settings Asiair plus

Nebula42

Hi
Merry Xmas !
I'm using Asiair plus, OAG Zwo, Askar 400 on AVX mount
Quick question : what's the setting on guiding, I saw that it's 2000 Ms everywhere on Asiair plus settings. What's the good value please ?
Thank you in advance

Kevin_A

Nebula42 guide settings are similar to what I stated in my previous comments. The calibration step size will be different from a c8 and probably will be more in the range of 400-500ms for an askar fra400 using an oag. With an AVX… 2-3s guide exposures with 2000ms Ra and Dec durations and 50-75% aggressions.

SFj9LuNr

Good question. I have an ASIAir Plus 256, C8 SCT, Celestron OAG, ASI174MM Mini. I changed my settings down. From the default. I’m playing around with 500 and 300s for DEC and RA and Calibration steps.

I found some YouTube videos that might help. Also download the PHD2 user manual. I’m just starting to read the manual. I’ve read ZWO uses this in ASIAir.

https://youtu.be/RHPAyUSTR4I?si=vpJ_w3vPwR8rCEoG

https://youtu.be/5PX9v6jTN4o?si=QRk7eNyZ08_FqJnm

I can’t say I understand guiding as much as would like. I have just started using guiding with my setup for only a month with my OAG

The only advice I’ve gotten is to “experiment with the settings”

I try to get my guiding to be within 1”. Sometimes DEC is is way under then sometimes RA is way under, with the other being between 1” and 1.5” and sometimes they’re both under 1”. I notice it takes several minutes for the guiding to settle down after switching from calibration. The ASIAir will switch from calibration to guiding even though the cross hairs are not on the star but within the green box. DEC always seems to be off the chart in the beginning then eventually comes zooming down to meet the RA. When that occurs I’ll take a test 120sec test exposure and if looks good I’ll start the sequence.

I wonder what the guide camera exposure setting has to do with these settings? I have my gain set to max, 400, and exposure to 1 sec. Does calibration step setting need to be at the same? If calibration steps is set to 2000ms should the camera exposure be set at 2 secs?

Also, since you have an AVX mount can you try this test? Do you use the Live stacking feature and have noticed mount disconnect error messages. Select a target, start guiding, in ASIAir select the Live feature. Open the hamburger icon and set up a lights sequence, say 60sec exposure for 30 minutes or longer. Start the sequence. As each exposure is taken ASIAir will stack in real time. When I perform this after a random amount images have been stacked I get a “ mount disconnected” error message. When I use Autorun with guiding I don’t see the error.

Thanks

Kevin_A

SFj9LuNr calibration step size is only used during initial guide calibration in the south near the meridian. It is not used during guiging afterwards. Max durations depend on your mount type and guide exposure length. Aggressions are for corrections… more or less.
If you are using a worm gear mount your exposure length should be between 1.5 to 3s and max durations can be between 2000-2500ms. If you are using a harmonic mount then your exposure length can be between 0.5s to 1.0s with max durations between 300-750ms. These are just base settings. For calibration step size phd2 can figure out the correct value but with a c8 and oag it will be low near 200-500ms depending on your guide camera pixel size and your scope focal length.

Nebula42

Thank you for your help and time
I do not use the live stack.
It's weird, the guiding is not really stable. It goes under 1" and suddenly it goes over 1"
That's why I was asking if there is something wrong with my settings.

SFj9LuNr

Nebula42

Can you try a Live stack. If you get a mount disconnect error message I can add you experience to my Bug report. Guiding has to be running while imaging. It would be helpful. I use an AVX mount and have found several interworking bugs with the ASIAir. Thanks.