PHD Basics Part 2

Part 1: Setup can be found here: • PHD Basics Part #1
Part 2 covers calibration, the drift alignment and guiding assistant tools, overlays, reading the graph, and adjusting the parameters to compensate.
My tutorial on using the drift tool can be found here: • PHD2 Drift Tool Tutorial

[@M31glow]

Finally a video that shows you and explains exactly how to manipulate PHD2 , thanks!!

[@AndrewKingcampingfishingNC]

probably the best 2 videos for guiding i have seen, these give me a good basis to set up my PHD2 . thanks, keep up the videos

[@CyScape]

Great video, this has got to be the best (simplest) explanation for PHD yet. It really helps to understand the different settings in PHD while actually being able to see the changes and effects as they occur. Thank you...

[@markarnold5410]

Thanks for spending the time to put this together. Got my autoguiding setup real quick after watching this. I was having problems with my Celestron Polar Align - I got it dialed in super accurate using the drift align. Thanks again!!

[@jimtaylor5802]

Excellent tutorials - got more out of watching 45 minutes than reading the pdf front to back! Many great tips and tricks. Will develop my checklist from this video and the Best Practices PowerPoint that one of the developers provided in the user groups. The hint on disconnect was particularly helpful in my case - AVX and my laptop don’t play nicely together - seems much better with a few trial and error adjustments. Jim

[@donr6234]

Now, can you do an updated version? 😁 Thanks, it helped a lot!

[@maxtrixbass]

Great info, very helpful. For someone like myself new to autoguiding and PHD this filled a great gap between "plug the AC in here" and "my Paramount is drifting by more than a pixel what can I do?".

[@dgodiex]

Thank you very much for these two videos. I've been having a horrible time with PHD2 so far, but you seem to cover most of my mistakes. I'll try this out tonight. Hopefully it will improve the experience. Cheers!

[@ChristopherKovacsw0anm]

This video really has help me understand and setup PHD2. It does a great job explaining the settings and cause/effect. Thank you!

[@paulwalsh9680]

Thanks for this and part 1. They've helped me understand PHD2 a lot more. All I need now are some decent nights to practice - hopefully in time for when I can start imaging M31 again!

[@8789676]

That’s was very helpful. I am new to astrophotography and don’t know much about guiding. This video has helped me a lot. Really appreciate bro. Nice work

[@stefanb9593]

Thank you for this great explanation of all the features. This will give me a better understanding next time my guiding gets inaccurrate. :)

[@JerHetrick]

Great video, thanks for sharing! Ive been trying to work out some guiding issues through forum conversations, which has been great, but nothing really compares to watching things work.

[@ozzmozizz22]

hey nice tutorial i watched the videos a few times and started guiding, did t have a clue what was what, am guiding tonight and am capturing m81, and the guiding is doing good, but from just re watching the video i learned so much,, i did nt do a polar align drift so i have an error of like 20 arc/min lmao,, but i do now understand how this program works ,, thanks again..

[@vanarchy8037]

Pascal D honestly one of the hardest things about this hobby is “wasting” a night learning your equipment. My suggestion is plan a night around the full moon just as you would plan a new moon imaging session. But instead of trying to get data, spend that night tinkering with your system. I did 2 or 3 of these and my imaging went from “I think this is right” to “holy crap I can’t believe I’m getting perfect starpoints at 600 seconds! Granted every night is different but knowing your equipment and what settings seem to work really does pay dividends.

[@ozzmozizz22]

Vanarchy hi I ended up doing a polar alignment and I tell you it was way better..something like 1.5 arc/min and my graph was way better... thanks for the good advice

[@19Manav80]

Matt! This is what I needed thank you so much! So much information and so many questions :)

[@whenuryoung]

What a fantastic guide to using PHD 2 you video is well presented and very informative and done in a way that makes it very easy to understand. You said at the end requests ....... well could you do a presentation on image acquisition and processing of a easy DSO ? starting with darks flats bias, setting up for a session, the acquisition of data then the processing. Your videos are so good I'd damn pay for it !! lol

[@vanarchy8037]

+whenuryoung Wow hmm I hadn't really thought about it but I suppose I could film/broadcast a typical evening and throw it all together. I'm trying to finish a drift alignment tutorial right now but life has been pulling me away. I'm actually pretty new to all of this so my processing skills are pretty awful still.

[@whenuryoung]

Just need a "decent" tutorial on the" basic" process from takings dark's flats & bias frames, then setting up image train (you have covered the guiding set up already),selecting a guide star, taking subs, maybe a follow up using filters, processing the data to the final image. Could be broken down into parts.... a nice winter project for you !! Thanks again in anticipation.

[@sonnyedmonds9421]

A lot to digest, but Thank You for doing this PHD2 video trainer. It is just what I needed to have to refer to and get things working smoothly. I've been jagging off the graph, but knew it was my lack of understanding. Do you do a remote operation? I'm hoping to find my way into having my Telescope, cameras, and mount outside and my fanny inside nice and warm. ;^)

[@vanarchy8037]

+Sonny Edmonds I do remote guiding lite*. That is I put my scope and laptop out in the yard and then connect to it over my wifi using the free program TeamViewer. It allows me to see and manipulate the laptop from any device so I typically keep an eye on things with my iPhone.

[@Misho89vn]

Thanks for great video!

[@ojodeicaros5950]

Great video !

[@lukesastro2380]

Great Vids, thanks for the info. Clear Skies!!!

[@enachelucianadrian]

Very good job

[@futureworldmedia5519]

So I just got my first guidescope and downloaded the latest PHD. It is different enough from the version you are using in your demo to give me a headache in using it for the first time. I spent a few hours trying to get it down then major dew set in and had to call it a night. Ugh!

[@astronomyeast2966]

Hey Matt, great video - I'm experiencing the same flattening bulls-eye patten on RA that you had here - your seeing looked pretty good at .5s without losing a star so what can you do to improve that RA flattening? I'm experiencing that and not sure if its backlash or PE or other. Its always hard because you have to start out with good seeing. I should note, I'm doing this with a new CGX mount so I'm trying to find out why my RA is flat and not under 1" or .75" consistently... thanks!

[@vanarchy8037]

I find that there's a lot of factors that add into this. Seeing obviously, also your mount, whether there's any wind, etc. Mostly I find that I have to play around with it and look at the images you've taken to see how its going. Sometimes a short duration works best, other times you're better off going longer. If you're not getting the results you'd like, try tweaking it up or down and see things improve.

[@WorgenIce]

Hey, nice video, it's help me a lot but I still dont understand what the "slew to near the merdian and the equator" does that mean that i have to point my telescope the most possible toward the south?

[@alcopa1fan]

I heard that your guide camera was a QHYCCD 5 II C . Did you have any issues with downloading the drivers for it? I recently purchased one and the instructions for the drivers are all over the board. I finally downloaded a driver that does display a frame, but I don;t know if I am doing it right. I am going to try the whole setup in a few days after the wind settles down. BTW, my mount is a Star Watcher Star Adventurer. It only have guiding for the RA, no DEC. Hopefully you can guide me into the right direction.

[@vanarchy8037]

alcopa1fan I remember it taking me a little work to get a driver that played nicely. Once done it’s been completely reliable.

[@alcopa1fan]

I tried the software package and finally got it to work, but not by my genius, by hitting and downloading ALL the drivers and accessories. It worked after that. Thanks again for your help.

[@futureworldmedia5519]

I have a PoleMaster for my CGEM mount, which I love. Using that is the first thing I do in setting up my system. Call me a newbie, but why would you have to adjust your mount after setting everything up for utilizing the auto guider and PHD? I love your commentary by the way. lol

[@vanarchy8037]

There's no need to do a drift alignment using PHD if you've already done it with another method.

[@allen4564]

Is there any reason why you did not do an adjustment for altitude in the video?

[@vanarchy8037]

+Allen Force Only in the interest of time and since from a screen broadcast point of view its the same procedure. Plus I was already very close so I made a snap decision that there was little to be gained by waiting while slewing, etc. I'm actually trying to make another video that will cover just PA but clouds moved in while I was recording it. I'll link it to these videos when its finished or subscribe for an automatic update.

[@M31glow]

Matthew, I don't see the notes that you mentioned you would post? Are they available?

[@vanarchy8037]

+Walter Glogowski The notes I mentioned are actualy in the drift alignment tool popup on the screen. You can type anything in there that you'd like and its separate for azimuth and altitude. Therefore what I do is always choose a star in a particular quadrant in relation to the meridian and equator. So for example your notes might say: Scope on east pointing west, star west of meridian and north of CE. East knob in = red line goes up. Or if altitude maybe: Scope on west pointing east, star north of CE. North knob in = line goes down. By doing this you don't have to guess which adjustment needs to be made. If say, you're not in your normal spot and have to choose a star on the western horizon, just reverse the direction that the line would move. Hopefully that makes sense.

[@jcj-ik8lc]

Interesting video but somewhat confusing because you say things which are in contradiction with what we see on the drift curve.

[@futureworldmedia5519]

I am wondering if I can find the version you have.

[@vanarchy8037]

I believe this video was made on 2.5.0 Dev 5. I'm still using 2.5.0 Dev 7 and the latest version is 2.6.2 Dev 3 so I haven't taken a look at the changes in the newer versions. I'm downloading the most recent build now and will poke around to see what I can do. If you subscribe you'll be notified when I post a new video.

[@vanarchy8037]

At first glance it looks like the biggest change is the Icons but they're all still in the same location. If there's something in particular that's confusing you perhaps I can focus on that first and maybe even answer it here in the comments. If weather permits I'll attempt to put the scope out on the porch and make a new video tomorrow night.

[@futureworldmedia5519]

The BRAIN menu is completely different.

[@futureworldmedia5519]

I really don't care which version I am using to be honest. I just want to get it working right. You know where I can get the version you are showing in your tutorial? I am sure it would be just fine. This is the first time using a guide scope for me, so I am totally green. I was using a Hyperstar before this on a 1100 EdgeHD, which didn't need guiding. Since then I bought a Stellarvue 102mm Raptor and guide scope for a dedicated DSO imaging solution for the long haul trying to take my imaging to the next level. Keeping my 1100 EdgeHD for planetary work, though.

[@vanarchy8037]

I cover these topics in video 1 but here's what I have setup on version 2.6.2. Cloudy tonight so no new vid just yet. Click brain. In new window click Camera tab at the top. Noise reduction 2x2 mean, time lapse 0, Auto Exposure 0.01s/4.0s, Target SNR 12. Guiding tab: Search Region 25, Star mass detection off, Focal length (set this exactly as I describe in the 1st video), Auto restore calibration on, Use Dec compensation on. Shared parameters click all boxes except Always Scale Images. Algorithms tab: RA - Hysteresis drop down, hysteresis 25, Aggressiveness 30, Min Move 0.20 Dec - Hysteresis drop down (I use this now and prefer it compared to my old method), Hysteresis 75, Aggressiveness 30, Min Move 0.20. Use backlash comp on if you have a lot of dec backlash Looks different but all the same stuff is there.

[@LAshotts]

Wow I just connect,refresh,guide on average I get 0.30 to 0.40 total 🤷‍♂️

[@vanarchy8037]

LAshotts that’s awesome. There are a lot of variables so even if you have good success with the default settings, it’s still helpful to understand the program for if/when it doesn’t work.

[@LAshotts]

Vanarchy yes indeed. I’ve only been guiding for about 2 months so yeah a video like this is very informative. I only do the steps I do because I don’t have a clue what everything does. Great video keep it up 👍

[@vanarchy8037]

LAshotts absolutely. I’ve had nights that I literally eyeballed things and had amazing results and others that I had to fight for 5 min subs that weren’t trash. I just wanted to share the things that I learned from multiple forums and many nights of trial and error. We all hope for those “easy” nights. But there’s a certain triumph to be had from acquiring good subs from a difficult night. At the end of the session we all just want our time to not be wasted.