Project:
HEQ5 as portable mount

Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Power terminal of HEQ5 changed
3. Installing the 300 mm lens on HEQ5
4. Rewiring the electric cables
5. Connecting the Raspberry
6. Power consumption
7. Battery power cables
8. Tweaking auto guiding parameters
9. Rowan Belt Modification Kit
10. Making the tripod to a low rider
11. Redesign of mount head details
12. Raspberry Pi4 bracket
13. Brackets: temperature sensor, spirit level and stepper motor
14. Transport box
15. Brackets reinforced and adapt it to EQ6
16. HEQ5 and TS130 refractor ?
17. To be continued

Related projects:

1. HEQ5 as portable mount
2. Pentax 645 300 mm ED IF f/4 lens
3. KStars / EKOS and Raspberry Pi4

Note:
I take no responsibility or liability for what are written here, you use the information on your own risk!

8: Tweaking auto guiding parameters

Now all fun has started, I can start using my new equipment. There are a lot of things to setup and optimize. One of them is the auto-guider. With only the standard calibration that Ekos do it doesn't get optimized. The total guide RMS error go from 1" to 2.4", it should do much better. This HEQ5 is modified with a belt drive.

Auto guiding with new parameters:

I test with different parameters in KStars' Configure Guide until I get the errors lower. I had a lot of oscillations that don't damp out. After 30 minutes I got the total RMS error down to 0.8", much better and I don't think I can get it better from the balcony. At a better place maybe I can get it as best down to 0.6". RA get a peak at regular intervals, don't know yet what cause that problem.

I increased the Aggressiveness for both RA and DEC to have a faster response when there is a guide error.

The Integral gain was by default set to 0. I increase both RA and DEC.

And at last I decreased the Max response at RA and DEC. With a better place I can fine adjust them and maybe have the RMS error even better.

All these setting is optimized for my equipment. But you do something similar. When I did this I had the Auto guider in Looping. All the other parameters are not changed.

With all the equipment I have added it now shines like a Christmas tree. I count to 17 LEDs.