+Stu Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Hi folks. Just been looking at a new ST4 guide cam cable, but then came across a load of forum posts about using pulse guiding instead of the ST4 connection. Is this easier/simpler? Ditching a cable would obviously be a benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 I assume you are pulse guiding at the moment using PHD? If so you won't loose a cable. With ST4 guiding you have a USB cable between the PC and the camera plus the ST4 cable between the camera and the mount. With pulse guiding you still have the USB cable to the camera and a USB cable to the mount. One of the main disadvantages of ST4 guiding is that it provides no mount positional information to PHD so you need to recalibrate PHD whenever you move target. With pulse guiding their is no need to as the mount tells PHD where it's pointing and PHD automatically adjusts the calibration to suit. (Of course, for best accuracy, the initial calibration should be done on a star close to the celestial equator and meridian) +Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 I've never used Pulse guiding either, always ST4! +Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 I think I'm more confused now. I currently have the guidecam USB to the hub (PC), the ST4 cable from guidecam to mount, and the cable from mount to hub for EQMOD. The way I read it is, that if the mount is ASCOM compliant, there's no need for the ST4 cable because it's all ASCOM devices talking to eachother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 1 hour ago, Stu said: I think I'm more confused now. I currently have the guidecam USB to the hub (PC), the ST4 cable from guidecam to mount, and the cable from mount to hub for EQMOD. The way I read it is, that if the mount is ASCOM compliant, there's no need for the ST4 cable because it's all ASCOM devices talking to eachother. If your driving your mount from EQMOD then guess you've already downloaded the ASCOM driver for it, so no need for for the ST4 cable? What are you using to control the guiding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ibbo Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Not uesd ST4 for about 10 years. I would say get swapped over. +Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 48 minutes ago, Clive said: What are you using to control the guiding? PHD2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottletopburly Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Loose the cable , pulse guide 👍 +Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 (edited) Is it literally just a case of ditching the cable, if everything is running via ASCOM driver? Settings are: RA x0.60 DEC x0.60 Min pulse width 20 DEC backlash 0 Edited March 3, 2023 by Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ibbo Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 I use PHD 2 let guiding assistant run and it will help you get near optimum settings +Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 11 minutes ago, Bottletopburly said: Loose the cable , pulse guide 👍 I see where you are coming from in loosing a cable now. Yes, you effectively have a redundant ST4 cable since you already have a USB cable to the mount. It should be fairly simple to switch PHD2 to pulse guiding rather than ST4. +Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 Excellent. Saved me some pennies and tidied things up a bit 😁 Thanks all 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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