8
9
Mount
An
equatorial mount with dual
axis motors and a RJ-12 autogu-
ide port is required. Just about
any equatorial mount equipped
with an autoguide port will work
with the
SAGPRO. The SAGPRO
is “ST-4” compatible which uses
the same pin out configuration as
the first generation CCD autogu-
iders. Most computerized goto
mounts also have this autoguide
port. For short exposure deep
space photography (typically 45
seconds or less) the
SAGPRO
can successfully guide with a computerized
altitude-azimuth or fork
mounted telescope, popular among computerized Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescopes.
However, guided exposures longer than one minute in an
altitude-azi-
muth mount will cause field rotation to occur in the image.
PHD Guiding
The
SAGPRO with the use of PHD Guiding (Push Here Dummy) soft-
ware makes the task of autoguiding simple and easy to setup. The cali-
bration and guiding is automatic once you initially find and focus a guide
star. Your telescope must first be prepared for astro-imaging. Make sure
your mount is polar aligned well. Your guide scope should be securely
attached to your main imaging scope; or if you are using a Schmidt-
Cassegrain, the off-axis guider and main camera should already be
attached to the telescope.
Note: Autoguiding can correct for a mount that is poorly polar
aligned. However the image will be harder to initially locate and
center since it will still drift away from the camera’s field of view.
Figure 2.
PHD Guiding software.
A. Connect to Camera: Selects and connects to the autoguider cam-
era. Choose ASCOM camera. Then select the CMOS SSAGPro camera
from the menu.
B. Connect to Telescope: To connect the SAGPRO to your mount, go
to the Mount menu and select On Camera. The SAGPRO will automati-
cally send commands to the autoguide port on your mount once it’s
plugged in.
C. Looping Exposures: Takes continuous exposures for acquiring and
focusing the guide star.
D. PHD Guide: Automatically calibrates and guides. Once your guide
star is found and focused, simply click on the star and click PHD
Guide. The rest is automatic!
E. Stop: Stops either calibrating, guiding, or looping exposures.
F. Exposure Selection: Choose from 14 different exposure times for
the camera.
G. Guide Star Box: When a guide star is selected, a green box appears
around it. PHD Guiding will display the pixel coordinates of the star in
the lower left screen. When the calibration routine starts, yellow cross-
hairs are displayed around the box. When the autoguiding begins, the
crosshairs turn green. This box does not appear until a guide star has
been selected. (See Start Autoguiding)
H. Gamma Adjustment: Adjust the apparent screen brightness level in
the image by moving the slider bar left (brighter) or right (fainter).
I. Advanced Parameters: Control the camera and guiding routine set-
tings. You do not typically have to adjust the advanced parameters. For
very bright guide stars, or for daytime testing, the camera gain can be
adjusted in this menu. (See Advanced Autoguider Settings for more
detail about this menu.)
J. Take Dark Frame: Captures and internally saves a dark frame that
is automatically subtracted from future exposures. Be sure to cap the
scope’s objective when taking a dark frame.
Figure 3.
PHD Guiding key to icons.
