Autoguiding

Our autoguiding setup involves using the PHD2 software.

1. Normal startup procedure
2. Open PHD2
   1. Click on USB Icon
   2. Under Camera, select “ZWI ASI Camera”
   3. Select the icon to the right with squiggly arrows next to the dropdown and select the camera you'd like to use for autoguiding
   4. Click “Connect” to the right of this
   5. Under Mount, select “GuideDream ST4 telescope driver (ASCOM)”
      1. Note: if you get a COM error, reseat GuideDream box, allow LEDs to go out before reconnecting
      2. You'll know things are connected once the center LED is illuminated
   6. Close this menu
3. Select the circular arrow thingy to start looping
   1. This starts collecting frames
   2. You want to have the exposure of at least 1s, but aim for 2s exposure
      1. Otherwise, PHD2 may correct too often and no bueno
4. Select the Star icon for multi-star guiding
5. Once the software acquires a set of guide stars, select the green crosshair icon to begin autoguiding
   1. You'll know it's working if you see vertical and horizontal green bars around the green square that surrounds your guide star(s)
      1. If these are yellow , then the software is calibrating
6. If you want to do single-star autoguiding, you can select an individual star INSTEAD OF STEP 4 above, then proceed to step 5
7. When done with PHD2, disconnect all equipment in the USB menu

• Don't slew while guiding. Onkar will haunt you. And PHD2 will be very upset.