PHD2 Guiding - Setup, Troubleshooting & Tips 

My father studied for more than a decade to get his PhD. Never knew what it stood for till today. Thanks Dylan!

Every once in a while I will find a video that provides really good information that is presented slow enough to understand. This video is just one of the very few that do that. I received my ASI220MM-Mini 18-days ago. In the past 18-days, tonight will be the second night without clouds, rain, etc. Setting up PHD2 has been quite a problem for me; but, your video is extremely helpful. I was very weary over what to do with that ST4 cable. Now, I must tell you that I will not torch it, but I will put it back in the box and leave it. Thank you for a very clear and informative video presented at an appropriate pace for mortals to understand.

Finally! Someone explains PHD2 guiding in an easily understandable fashion! Thanks Dylan!

This was very helpful. When in doubt, swap cables, I just learned.

As usual, well done, and I love your humorous cut-aways! So sorry to hear about the loss of marketing status. Yes, the corporations don't care about status, so much as "What have you done for us lately?"

This newbie only considered guiding after the Aussie dude said it was necessary for dithering. Until today, I had heard of PHD but didn't know it was specifically for guiding. Hopefully now, I will be "locked on". This was a helpful video.

Great presentation ... Thank you so much for your time and spirit to share your experience and knowledge with everyone around. All the best, clear skies and shine on from Chile.

I've bee avoiding PHD2 for a while now. But I just got it all working, thanks to you! No more trying to keep my target in the center of the shot. Thank you and I'll tag you in my pics when I get them finished.

Sweet video loving the cuts and added comedy bits you're getting so much better at making these videos

Thanks for doing this. I like the way you have taken time to structure your session and used the 13 minutes to share a lot of tips to get me going.

Man, thank you so much. I was fighting seeing with corrections much less than 1 second. This should really help, I appreciate it! I will think of you every time I press the button now 😉

Sawwwweeeet! you would believe how many videos I sat through that didn't cover this method! Thank you and Cheers! From Kansas in the US...

Dylan, I'm finally ready to follow you on my journey of deep sky objects.. This video looks awesome. I just need clean skies. I can't wait

Awesome! PLEASE do some tutorials on the actual workings of PHD2. It's sorely needed on youtube. I haven't seen an adequate one at all. Tutes on aggression, MinMo etc would be very useful for a lot of us

Very helpful, I'm brand new to guiding and understand how it works, I need help with getting setup and using the software. Glad I watched because I would have been hooking my guide camera right to the mount lol. Thanks again!

I’m just about to figure all of this out, having now wedged my Evolution 8 EdgeHD, added a guidescope and cam, loaded PHD2 and ASCOM. Lots to go wrong but if it all goes right, I’ll be getting some longer exposure images soon! Thanks Dylan!

Dylan, great Video. Just ordered a ASI120mm and going to start auto guiding. Great information, it was very helpful!

Just watched your video. Brand new here, williams optics zenithstar73 doublet, asi120mm mini guide camera, zwo 30 x 130 guide scope, exos 2 pmc-eight mount. Zwo asi 294mc-pro dedicated camera. All brand new. Your video was extremely easy to follow, and I thank you immensely for providing it! Cant wait to experiment tonight with PHD2. Nice logo by the way!

This is great to know, About to take delivery of a little QHY5 guide cam, so this has been priceless, D-dawg!

Thanks for clearing this issue up for me! Was wondering why I shouldn’t just connect straight to the mount. Finally found it in this video. New subscriber!

Thanks. Very informative. I feel dumb asking this but am sort of overwhelmed. I have a Celestron 8 inch telescope (Schmidt-Cassegrain) and it came with a beefy tripod and the CGEM DX Computerized mount. I built a permanent mount and have my telescope using this mount without tripod and it is fairly well-polar aligned. I tried PHD before version 2 and noticed that I got about the same quality prime focus photos with or without it...not trying to criticize PHD either because I really didn't know what I was doing ( I am not even convinced that signals were even being sent to the mount.) Anyway, the way I had it set up was the guide camera (CCD), in the guide scope, was connected to my laptop via a USB cable directly. Then a cable (4 pin phone-looking cable much like the one you exploded) is connected from bottom of Nextar hand-controller to a serial-to-USB cable then to my laptop. To shorten previous sentence, the hand controller was connected to my laptop. If I understand correctly, you are advising against this in first part of your video, right? I understand that you are saying that there is no need for the mount to talk directly to the guide scope. In that case, how do I get the mount to talk directly to my computer? Specifically, what physical connection should I use? Is the correct way to physically send the mount ASCOM information to my computer via the hand controller, as I was doing it previously? Or, is there a way to connect the mount directly to my computer? The mount has two unused ports (look like phone cable female ports); one labeled AUX, the other labeled AUTO GUIDE. If you have time, I sure would appreciate any insight you have, assuming I wasn't too long-winded.

Awesome vid bro!!! Thank you very much for the info

I figured if I came back and watched this you'd explain my "classic mistake" of thinking "Yeah, total RMS error of 0.01! Amazing!" Guiding on a hot pixel! Excellent video Dylan.

Great tips I'm getting my guide cam today, good to know to go straight to the PC! Cheers

That looks gorgeous! Well done.

Thanks, very informative! Updated my PHD2 to latest version to take care of that PEC issue.

Maaaaate!! I've been using PHD since about August 2018. Wish I seen this video then! I'm about to go and burn a guide cable - just as soon as I've finished imaging Rho Ophiuchi - cheers

Thanks Dylan a really good explanation. It is good to have an Aussie!

Thanks for the clear speech and information! - Good job!

Very nice Dylan. Thank you. Really good tips.

Thanks again Dylan. Another very helpful video as I am about to try guiding for the first time.

There are uses for an st4 port. I am programing an arduino to move the telescope in an spiral way to help my locate objects when the go-to leaves me almost but not quite there. The nice thing is that there is no software or connection to the computer. Just push a button to start the spiral and push it again when you see what you are looking for.

Thanks, this was very useful, despite using PHD2 for a couple of years I hadn’t upgraded to the latest version and I’ve had the ST4 cable plugged in. I also aligned the guidescope with the OTA which seemed to improve things.

Man I just learned a couple of things!!!! Can’t wait to give them a shot!

Thanks Dylan. Great info Much appreciated. Soon upgrading to automate.

Thanks greatly! I have a Meade w/ Starlock scope. I have had nothing but guiding issues. Mount is polar aligned with Sharcap and scope is balanced in any position. Taking Starlock off tomorrow and trying PhD2. I am interested in seeing if it makes a difference. I was going to build an ST-4 cable so thanks for that tip! Enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for your good quality explanations!

Thanks for the video, I recently bought a Explore Scientific iEXOS-100 tracker. I am looking forward to playing with it. This will help me with long exposures at 600mm.

Finally a real tutorial video for starters thank you

Thanks for the info. I will give the ASCOM driver a go rather than ST4 and see how I go. Great video!!

Very refreshing to see an Aussie making such high quality tutorials. I have found your videos to be some of the most informative and entertaining on this subject so far. Can I ask where you got your observatory dome from?

Hi Dylan, thanks for all your videos. I’m new to the hobby and they’ve been a huge help. I just bought a CGX Mount and a ASI071MC camera, I’m waiting on a ZWO 30F4 guide scope and ASI174MM guide camera to arrive which I’m hoping will be this week. I’ve never tried guiding before and I just want to make sure I’m on the right track. To connect it all up do I connect the main camera and guide camera direct to the laptop via USB and then connect the mount to the laptop via USB also? So just 3 USB cables all straight into the laptop?

Thanks Dylan. Simple and great explanation of PHD2. I want to start imaging with following setup: iEQ30 Pro mount, and the FS102 Takahashi APO refractor. Because i currently don't have a guide scope, i am thinking to use my finder scope a Stellarvue F50M2 (fl: 200mm, Apert.: 50mm, f/4) with a Bresser guide camera for guiding. Do you think that will be enough for correcting any mount errors?

I just got my guide scope and camera a few days ago, and I'm really glad I didn't burn my ST4 cable because I was constantly getting all sorts of different errors when just using the USB, I was getting pulseguiding errors, timeout, conversation, telling me my cables were faulty, and whoknowswhat, with the mount jumping all over the place. And when I connected on-camera with the ST4 cable it all worked reasonably well. I'm sure it was just me doing something stupid, but I'll probably wait a while before burning my ST4 cable.

Wooooo the first time of the intro…… súper like

Love your style of backyard Barbecuing

Nice video, very informative.

Thanks for the awesome tips! I have a question.... Is it possible to polar align with eq3 mount? I'm using a manual mount, not motorized!

Great job. Good tip on remembering not to use ST4

Thanks for the video. Every guide I find is either too simple or too complicated. Yours seems right down the middle. I’ve gotten it working before, but with your help I think I actually understand what it’s doing now. Side note: don’t destroy that ST4 cable! It’s great for tracking a planet using Firecapture. Seems to work much better in that application than ASCOM guiding. At least for me!

Hi Dylan! Thanks a lot for all your tips. I´m gonna burn my ST4 cable LOL! I´ve been doing exactly what you are suggesting not to. I have a ZWO 174 MC camera, which sends corrections via ST4 to the guiding port on the mount (Celestron CGEM). I have a Celestron OAG which works great BTW (no flexure! :D) I understand that I only need to connect the mount to the computer via USB (or RS232 cable)? I have the latest PHD2 version, does the Predictive PEC works automatically? What about the PEC option in the mount? Is it really necesary (specially with this new PHD2 PEC feature)?

Very helpful, thank you.

Apologies for what may be old news, but I've been looking for minimum, or recommended computer specs for use specifically with the Star Adventure and unable to locate. Appreciate what you do and enjoying my hobby as never before. Thank you.

Dylan, I would love to get rid of the telephone cable from my camera to the mount, but my mount just does not want to work with Ascom software. My mount is a CEM 40 from Ioptron and even the manufacturer can't help, can you? Bill

Right! time to get out the petrol! Love the cable burning, good info mate.

I really appreciated this video. I have ES EXOS2Goto mount and I was ready to use the ST4 cable, with the "on camera option" the guiding part with PhD2. However since there is already a "bridge" between the mount and the USB port on the computer and since in the set-up you are selecting the guide camera and the mount in PhD2 there is no reason to use the ST4 cable. Thank you very much for clarifying this topic.

That is so cool that you design that

Great job! FYI, I like the intro music

ASCOM question. I use a similar configuration to what you’ve shown here. Is it possible to connect the mount to PHD2 and planetarium software at the same time? As usual, a great overview.

is there a particular cable needed to plug the camera in to the computer? Or does a basic ST4 to USB work? I know on amazon, some of those cheap cables can cause a lot of issues, or not even be real.

Thanks for the vids - great practical advise for a newbie like me. I've been PHD2 guiding using the 'on camera' option and I'm trying to get it working in the way that you describe with the 'Celestron Telescope Driver (ASCOM)' (I've got a CGX mount). I have been running PHD2 natively in MacOS X but when I try the the ASCOM way I don't get the option of connecting via ASCOM in the PHD2 menu I'm assuming as there is no ASCOM driver for MacOS X - I believe? So, I'm running a Windoze 7 guest on VirtualBox for all of the other astro stuff that only runs on Windoze (sigh!), BUT my ZWO ASI guide camera is USB 3 and won't connect to the Windoze 7 guest, so I'm stuffed both ways. I'm guessing that I'll need to shell out for a later Windoze version. What version of Windoze are you using as your VM guest? I loved your mozzie slapping on the Polar Align vid. I lived in Oz for a year and it brought back memories :-)

Dylan, Please comment as to the correct cable connections / management. I am new to this astrophotography world. Switching from on camera via ST4 setup to a camera direct to PC should be accomplished with what cabling? I blew up my new ST4 as you have suggested. Thank you.

Good to come back and re-watch this video. Mental note (2 second exposures... I had 1.5)

This video has a good ratio of helpful info vs useless stuff.

How often should I collimate my telescope? When I focus with a batinov mask it looks in good focus but I’m having a lot of trouble making out the cloud bands on Jupiter even with relatively good seeing. Thanks

Hey Dylan, so do you start autoguiding immediately after your star alignment? as I understand it, the process is to 1. Perform polar alignment, 2. Perform star alignment (in my case using NexStar hand controller) so this could be 1 or 2 star alignment, 3. Slew to object of interest using hand control, then 4. Start autoguiding using PHD2 as shown in video? (then I guess 5. take photos from astro camera) Thanks

So if we arent supposed to be using the ST4 cable, and using ASCOM, does this include the SkyWater Sky Adventurer 2I? I see on their site they have ASCOM drivers, so I install these, plug the mount into my PC and which would be my option under that drop down, Generic Hub?

Great tutorial.Thanx!!

So are ascom and EQMOD more programs that I need to download to make all of this work? I just got a ZWO 120mm mini and hoped it was just as easy as plugging it in the phd2 and “push here”.

I'm stuck with the ST-4 cable for now with my QHY 5-ll and don't have access to explosives. Can you tell me what 'mount' selection I should pick in PHD2? I have a Celestron AVX mount. I have ordered the QHY 5-lll (USB lll) but as you know getting equipment is very slow right now.

How doe you connect the autoguider to the computer? I have a Lodestar. It has a power jack and the phone cord looking one. I have it plugged into the side of the mount that says “autoguide”. No idea how to connect it to computer though.

If you eliminate the ST4 cable, the one that goes from the guide camera to the mount's ST4 guide port, aren't you supposed to utilize a serial usb adaptor with one end plugged into your laptop and the other into your mount? My iOptron mount has an RS232 port as well as a guide port (ST4). I'm thinking of plugging in the serial adaptor cable into the RS232 port, thus eliminating the ST4 cable. I'm still a little confused about steps to convert to ASCOM pulse driving.

Might be an idea to update with the multi-star guiding function - I'm still getting into guiding, but wow, what a difference

Hi and thanks for the vid. Do you have a portable air conditioner in you sky pod? I'll be it works, I use them in my apartment.

Great tips. Thanks.

Thank you thank you. I have everything working but I have one problem that I hope you can help me with. I have a good camera image but it is like I'm looking down a paper towel tube, just a round image in the center. Not certain what I am doing wrong.

Excellent advice What cable do I use to connect to pc for my older eq6 pro !???

Hey if I'm using the ASIAIR, do I need that st4 cable or not? Using a cgx with 2 zwo cams

Dylan, could you be kind enough to write here the 2 additional apps that you mentioned/recommeneded in the video? Couldnt quite understand...many thanks..

1 small question i have skywatcher eq5 with syscan you burned the cable lol , i understand that camera goes to laptop but what ones go where sorry if i sound vauge i have always plugged that cable into hand set

Great tutorial. Thanks. So, i want to look at the Orion Nebula(complete beginner with new gear and no idea) Find Orion first and then lock onto a star near Orion with PHD. 2. Thanks v much

Very useful, thanks

Hey Dylan, Do you thing you could do a quick video that explains the setup of Dithering in PHD2 and what I should know so that I can set it up correctly ? I'm a newbie and trying to set up a new rig. Thanks!

Impressive how you helped design this app!! Quick question, Im new to this, I have a normal star tracker (star adventurer), so I'm using that St4 cable. Once I selecte my star in phd2, my autoguiding button doesn't turn green and can't press it. Any idea why? Thanks

Hi, great video and explanation.....one question, Will PHD2 work with an AZ Mounting?

How does the Mount (in my case a CGEMII) connect to my laptop when my laptop is only connected to my ZWO MC183 pro camera? I connect my ZWO 120mini guide camera to my 183. I am asking because my guide camera keeps disconnecting. When I somehow manage to achieve guiding the guiding is all over the place. When I use my ZWO ASIair plus guiding it is perfect. I like to use SharpCap but I am limited to 30 second exposures without good guiding.

I have a question about dithering: I am using MaximDL to acquire images (DSLR) and PHD2 for guiding. In which program should I enable dithering, since both of the programs have such function. If I enable it in PHD2, how will it know, that I just finished a sub-exposure and I am downloading the image? And if I enable it in MaximDL and MaximDL will slightly move the mount between exposure, then I presume that PHD2 will go crazy! What do you recommend?

This great Dylan, thanks. I recently switch from SCT mount to Orion Atlas mount. My guiding was great before and bad now. Any tips? Also, can you link the cable/adapter needed for ASCOM connection.

Presumably you start PHD and guide star selecting after you have got your main scope set up on your target? I can't get beyond a message which says its disconnected the camera at the moment.

silly question but are you connecting both the camera and the mount via usb to the PC/laptop so 2 usb cable to the in my case laptop ?

So if you use this set up you don't need to connect the camera to the mount, just the camera to the laptop? I've done guiding twice recently through ASCOM controlling the mount, but I still used an ST4 cable to connect the mount to the camera.

Thanks Dylan for the detailed video, you always rock!! I am very new to astrophotography and having trouble with PHD2 guiding.. could really use your help. Equipment: Celestron AVX mount Orion ED80T CF Orion Starshoot Autoguider with 50mm guide scope After polar and start alignment, when I start PHD loop exposures, the image is full of noise and unable to see any star to select as guide star. Tried 2x2 mean, dark library and different gain and SNR values, but nothing is working out.. Not sure what I am doing wrong.. Can you point me to any troubleshooting videos or provide some suggestions?

Hey Dylan. Great vid. With regard to the predictive PEC you mentioned which is in the latest version of PHD2, is that a feature which has to be enabled/configured or is it automatically applied to the algorithm? Cheers

I have a question Do I need to recalibrate-- for each target-- or am I only doing this once on the PHD2 program each time I set up ?

What are the physical connections from guide cam to photo cam to hub to PC to hand controller to mount, since you are not going from guide cam to St4 connection on mount? Do you publish a schematic. I have seen videos going from guide cam ST4 to mount, guide cam to image cam via usb, image cam to usb hub, hub to ST4 etc. what is your recommendation.

Hey Dylan, loving and learning lots from you channel so far, thanks! One problem I'm having is not knowing how to connect my computer to HEQ5 Pro (to avoid ST4 guiding). In some forums I see ASCOM Driver (HEQ5/6) as an option in the "Equipment Connection" for mount, which sounds like what I need, but I'm not even seeing that option, nor can I find where to download the ASCOM drivers for my HEQ5 Pro. I plan to get the shoestring bluetooth module for the mount, is this the right choice? How can I get PHD2 to talk to my mount (without HC)? Thanks!

The most important button in an imaging night! Reading the warning lines is helpful...lol...

Hi is it possible to use my azgti mount for this phd2 auto hiding too ? And how and where to connect it on the mount ? Thanks

Hi Dylan. Very informative! Sorry if you already answered this but how do I physically connect my mount to my computer if my computer does not have a serial port but only has USB? I've seen these proprietary GPUSB devices but can I not just use a USB to serial converter? Thanks!

Hi all. I have an Orion Sirius EQ-G mount and I am not sure which driver I should have as I cannot find one that is specific for this mount. Would "Generic Hub (ASCOM)" work or something else.... or does anyone know where I can find a specific ASCOM driver for this mount?