Results 1 to 10 of 19

Threaded View

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Celina, TX
    Posts
    226

    Default Lodestar/MaxIm Guide Fade Fade Reprise 3

    Hello All,

    Posting this on Maxim too. The problem: Super bright guide stars fail to be detected by Maxim.

    OK. Hardware.. Lodestar 1 shot binned 2x2 as guider. Full calibration fresh darks.. In ACP a guider S/N of 12 was requested. I moved that up from 6 after guiding simply failed totally. A typical guide star box image has noise of 30 and the star at 23000 counts. SNR in Maxim aperture says > 90/1. Problem.. guide star fade over and over. If Maxim registers a "fade" during actual acquisition not a big problem cause tracking is superb.. My Mach 1 is < 1 arc-sec PE with the 120mm APO.. If fade prevents guiding from ever starting it can be a small problem for 180 sec subs but a big problem for 900 sec subs. The attached zip file is a directory which contains the ACP log, MaximLog, Tracking Log and another folder with all the guide star images over the same period which was about 3:56 til 4:56 UT.

    My inspection of guide star images suggests they are undersampled being binned 2x2 which is about 2.1 arc-sec/pixel. Main OTA is at 1.5 or 1.75 arc-sec/pixel depending on reducer. It is a crazy sharp 120mm APO with the lodestar on the guide port of a QSI583wsg8. Guide chip/path look fairly free of dust and smudges.

    Basically this long standing Maxim guide star fade problem means I cannot reliably use Maxim 6.13 which means I cannot use ACP or Focusmax 4. I can go back to Maxim 4.61 / Focusmax 3 and CCDA which does not have the problem. TheSkX/CCDA is also an option. Both TSX and PHD will guide forever and never fail to see the guide star. It seems a pity to have invested so much money in 3 software packages which have great promise but can be non-productive because a bright guide star cannot be be seen by one of the packages. I LOVE ACP and hate to have to give it up . Really great clear nights are precious and I simply cannot lose subs with a great setup for such a reason.

    Any suggestions appreciated. Does anyone see something to try other than not binning the guider but I know others have tried that to no avail already. I sure wish ACP for just image production without an observatory could escape Maxim 6. Just sayin..

    Best,
    Ron
    Attached Files Attached Files

 

 

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Guider Problem Star Fade (exposure interval -1)
    By Mike Pooler in forum Hardware/Software/Driver Topics Not Directly Related to Our Software
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: Apr 30, 2012, 20:29

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •