· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Mounts Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 UniversalMaster sage Reged: 11/20/08 Autoguiding in dec?       #3022439 - 04/03/09 04:57 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi! I'm imaging with a LXD75 which is giving me some trouble. I did a few test tonight, and found that it was better to turn off dec. guiding in PhD. 4min frames looked then ok. But, if I don't guide in dec, should I then 1. Do the normal 2 star alignment (as usual) which will likely result in autostar doing some small ammount of dec-tracking due to imperfect polar alignment or 2. Use only RA tracking (no alignment), and forget about dec all-thogether? What do you think? Do you use dec guiding at all? Søren Post Extras:       Tim C scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 11/11/07 Loc: Marietta, GA Re: Autoguiding in dec? [Re: UniversalMaster]       #3022515 - 04/03/09 05:46 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I don't think the lxd75 tracks in declination - only in RA. So, if you have dec guiding off you should only be moving the mount in RA. Just make sure you drift align to get a good polar alignment so you can turn dec guiding off (that's what I do). Post Extras:       UniversalMaster sage Reged: 11/20/08 Re: Autoguiding in dec? [Re: Tim C]       #3023186 - 04/04/09 01:50 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Ok, I thought it would track in dec. since the autostar system is used in both alt/az and Eq setup. It also does satellite tracking, so it IS capable to track in bot RA and Dec. I don't really like drift alignment... How long do you spend on this? And do you use software like EQAlign to do it? Søren Edited by UniversalMaster (04/04/09 01:54 AM) Post Extras:       Tim C scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 11/11/07 Loc: Marietta, GA Re: Autoguiding in dec? [Re: UniversalMaster]       #3023435 - 04/04/09 09:13 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi Soren - I just do it the old fashioned way with a crosshair eyepiece (no drift over 5 minutes at 300x). It takes 30-40 minutes total but usually it's still too light to shoot anyway during most of that time. It becomes second nature with a little practice and you get better at guessing the amount of adjustments with practice. Lot's of folks guide in dec but it can be problematic at times so I figured I'd eliminate one potential source of trouble and just turn it off after doing a very good drift alignment. I know a lot of folks don't like doing drift alignment but call me weird I guess but I sort of enjoy it. I used to have an lxd 75 and when I had the polar scope aligned really well inside the RA axis I frequently was so accurate with using the scope that drift alignment wasn't necessary. I always had trouble keeping that polar scope aligned though so was always afraid to trust it. Edited by Tim C (04/04/09 09:15 AM) Post Extras:       jgraham Postmaster Reged: 12/02/04 Loc: Dayton, Ohio Re: Autoguiding in dec? [Re: Tim C]       #3023491 - 04/04/09 09:51 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   That's correct, the LXD75 only drives in dec, the dec alignment is only used for GoTo's. I don't drift align, I just use the polar scope, so I usually have a bit of residual drift. With PHD I have it correct the dec in north-only or south-only depending on which one works. How can you tell? Select one or the other, if the guide star drifts in dec then select the other mode. A slight off-balance in dec helps as well if your mount has a bit of backlash. 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