Phd2 pulse guiding failed Jun 24, 2025 · The failures you're seeing are caused by one of two things: 1) PHD2 not getting a response back from the driver that a pulse-guide command has been completed in a reasonable time or 2) a May 13, 2023 · Describe how you are connecting to the mount - have you cabled it for ST-4 guiding instead of ASCOM pulse guiding? Best method to slide a 10" Meade LX3 into a losmandy saddle? May 17, 2018 · A few imaging sessions ago I encountered a problem with my guiding that I can’t seem to resolve (prior to this no problems and excellent guiding). PHD2 returns a meassge like mount connection lost or something alone those lines. Please read How to ask for help with PHD2 for tips on how to ask for help with a guiding problem or to report an issue with PHD2. io Topics phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" Date Date 1 - 11 of 11 phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective". This can be tricky to hunt down: could be connectivity issues (USB cable, port, etc. Can you please give me some troubleshooting tips. Move the mount or This won't have any effect on your actual guiding results, but it will allow PHD2 to know the image-scale for your set-up. To start, ASCOM pulse-guiding specifies that the moves are done at whatever guide speed is set in the mount. In the manual guiding tool of Phd2 I notice the following: The manual guiding impulses in west direction make the Star Adventurer move audibly faster. m. Using the internal guiding, guide camera frames are captured and sent to Ekos for analysis. However, every time it goes to dither, APT throws a 'Dithering timed-out' message and looking at the PHD2 Log it seems that DEC takes a very long time to settle. Avrete il vantaggio di un cavo in meno ed una migliore diagnostica / registrazione Se utilizzate la guida ST-4, utilizzate quella ASCOM per la “Montatura Aux” in PHD2 Date 1 - 10 of 10Pulseguide settings & errors Sep 13, 2018 · PHD2 uses a timeout period of 2 seconds, which gets added to the actual size of the guide pulse. After a few minutes guiding, PHD2 shows a message saying that connection with mount was lost. You would expect that to be completed in 170ms + some small amount of overhead for communication. groups. io Topics phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" Date Date 1 - 11 of 11 Home Hashtags Subgroups MAIN@ESPMC-Eight. 3 seconds? Why don’t you ask ASA to explain that? I would speculate that other guiding applications, including MaximDL, don’t have any timer protection like this so they just happily send guide commands and hope Sep 4, 2024 · Error: PulseGuide1 - 2 of 2 1 Using PHD2 Guiding There are five basic steps to start guiding. 6. I have experienced this both with my autoguider and the simulator camera in PHD2. Then auto select guide star and away it went but was getting a lot of "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" errors, at least once every few minutes. 488 00. 5. However, 3 nights ago, I experienced that occational failure in DEC occurred and that PHD2 reported: PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective. I found this in the logs: 03:12:50. This display can also be used to manually select a guide star by clicking on it although it's better to use the 'Auto-select star' feature. I do hope that you understand that backlash compensation only refers to the DEC axis. May 1, 2022 · Page 2 of 2 - PHD2 guiding assistant and calibration help/advice - posted in Beginning Deep Sky Imaging: You had no backlash compensation in your previous run and the DEC number was pretty good. 8 and KStars. Do you think it’s normal or acceptable for a 300ms guide command to still be active after 2. Oct 15, 2022 · Hi, I´m using PHD2 2. 001 Sep 19, 2021 · The driver appears to have numerous problems. The Pulse commands turn the OAT status to Guiding. Sep 7, 2020 · PHD2 MOUNT CONNECTION HELP! - posted in Beginning Deep Sky Imaging: Hello all, I am very new to guiding and am attempting to OAG with an asi224mc , 9. Could you please post your *debug* log file that contains one of the failed backlash tests? That will let us reconstruct how the mount behaved. Well guiding seemed to settle down to about 1. So in short…Which Version of PHD2 should I use With SGP V 2. All of the fields on these forms include "tool tips", small May 14, 2019 · Also, the failing condition has been triggered by nothing more than a simple test app that mimics PHD2 pulse-guiding using the ASCOM driver – no cameras, no network activity, no extra USB traffic, just a bare-bones test case. . Also do have a lot messages "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective". Currently I have a Saxon EQ6AZ mount using the usb cable to a hub. Users of PHD2 can be confident it will remain committed to the three objectives that made the original application so successful. I attach the log from phd2. Mar 30, 2020 · From there still have many different results in guiding. [Archive] PHD2 Guiding Software and ComputersI've had it on occasion but turned out to be a bad USB port on the mini pc & I know someone else where it was a bad USB on the mount. 25 OTA, and CGX mount. 0. I have downloaded ASCOM celestron driver, I see the celestron telescope driver (ascom) selection and have tried connecting the mount to pc and hand controller to PC. During calibration, PHD2 needs to move the guide star ("dist") by 25 pixels. With your mount – and with virtually all mounts But when trying to switch over to pulse guiding by disconnecting everything including EQMod and CDC and selecting pulse guiding in EQmod setup and EQ5/6 in PHD2, the calibration consistently has failed in RAthe star did not move enough. Guiding In most cases, all you ever need to use PHD2 is the bottom bar. I get the message "The mount's pulse guide command failed" in the GS server alerts. Can anybody help? https://openphdguiding. another. 1 dev 8 last night and I got nothing but calibration errors and pulse guiding failures. These drivers are generally available from the ASCOM web site or, in some cases, from the device manufacturer. Pick an exposure duration from the drop-down list. 9. Only have a very few nights out of the month to image and I sure don’t feel like messing around all night and phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" Home Hashtags Subgroups MAIN@ESPMC-Eight. Stars through the guidescope w/ guide camera are perfect, and PHD2 can easily find and lock onto a star, and I am positive the camera settings/focal length in Aug 14, 2018 · Hi Lee, sorry you’ve run into this problem. Mar 10, 2021 · I can connect all my equipment in PHD2 however I continually get "Pulse Guide Command to Mount has Failed" and get no movement in my mount. phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" Hello, I am new to phd2. To take one specific example, we issued a 169ms guide pulse east at 00:38:13. All caused by bad communications to the mount May 14, 2019 · Also, the failing condition has been triggered by nothing more than a simple test app that mimics PHD2 pulse-guiding using the ASCOM driver – no cameras, no network activity, no extra USB traffic, just a bare-bones test case. May 6, 2016 · The more I download updates to PHD the more trouble I am having. Using an ASI120mini w/ a 80mm Celestron guidescope, connected to my CGEM mount. 5 arcsecs total RMS. I began receiving the following error message in PHD2: “PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective” Jul 18, 2024 · PUlseGuide command failed is a fairly common issue when the mount doesn't respond in a reasonable time. You can adjust the slider control to see even the faintest stars in the field. Looking at the resulting image 60sec exposure at 600mm I can see star trails. ), Mar 15, 2024 · I want to use the PHD2 guiding software and when I tried to start calibrating the mount, i got the error "Calibration failed. EQ mod works fine and now phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" Now, after over 5 years of independent development, PHD2 includes a substantial number of new features and refinements, many of which focus on helping you achieve better guiding results. Everything used to run like a train. I can manually slew within PHD2/ASCOM/CPWI but I cannot get guide pulses to translate down to the mount. Gear Connections Use ASCOM or INDI∗ pulse-guiding instead of ST-4 guiding if mount supports it Get the benefits of one less cable and better logging/diagnostics If you do use ST-4 guiding, use ASCOM for the PHD2 ‘aux mount’ connection Jan 2, 2025 · You want to do your guiding calibration close to 0 declination and the meridian, not at your target location (unless it happens to be close to 0 dec). also the TR disappears from the LED console window for the duration of the pulse. Connessione dei dispositivi Preferite la connessione ASCOM in modalità Pulse-Guiding alla connessione ST4 se la vostra montatura lo consente. How does it fail? Nov 21, 2021 · Pulse guide settings1 - 9 of 9 1 Dec 27, 2021 · When setting up w/PHD2, I am recieving an error which is "pule guide command to mount has failed'. Answers to common questions about PHD2 can be found in the Troubleshooting section of the PHD2 Help or in the PHD2 Best Practices guide. Something interesting too that I have not read anywhere and did not see in the manual for the mount, but per Celestron the Nexstar SE Mounts can not do Pulse Guiding straight from PHD2. The problem is, it takes quite a while for PHD2 to settle and it’s failing between frames. Mar 30, 2025 · Hell I have a huge guiding problem. However, phD2 then started guiding so I waited to see what was happening. If after 60 steps, the guide star has still not moved by 25 pixels, it will report that "star did not move enough. However, internally PHD2 will still have to wait up to 1 second for each guide pulse to complete, and this could introduce delays in guiding. It looks to me like there is something on your PC that is consuming huge amounts of CPU resources, enough that apps like EQMOD and PHD2 can’t work properly. This is used for setting baseline guiding parameters, doing sanity-checks on calibrations, reporting guiding performance, and getting support on our forum. I already looked at several websites and found that I should look at the advanced settings to check that the PC gives a long enough signal [ms]. To get a Nexstar SE mount to pulse guide, it needs to be connected through the CPWI software and the CPWI driver needs to be used. In the attached PHD2 debug log about 20:29:58 PHD2 seems to lose it with "get_exposure" not working. May 28, 2023 · "PulseGuide command to mount has failedguiding is likely to be ineffective". The question is are you getting other errors as well? I had issues like on occasion the mount failed to move when first started & syncing issues from my imaging software. I have looked at all of my settings and cannot seem to work it out. Here’s an example where a pulse command was issued to move the mount south for a period of 114ms: 21:42:23. Thanks in advance. 000 9144 MoveAxis(S, 114, ABG) Internally, PHD2 operates on the raw, un-adjusted data in order to maximize guiding accuracy. Hi! I get error "phd2 pulse guiding failed" when using phd2. Last night, the connect from lost in the early morning, then several hours later it seems to have started pulse guilding again. Home Messages Hashtags ESPMC-Eight | IEXOS100BEGINNER Topics Date Date 1 - 5 of 5 next page PHD2 pulseguiding error Aug 10, 2020 · I think you have an unusual problem here. I think that number is May 1, 2015 · Is pulse drive the only way PHD2 supports guiding with a Paramount (or any other) drive? What are the benefits of Direct Drive apart from one less cable attached to the mount? Mar 12, 2021 · After this change, the ST4 guiding failed. 11dev2 with INDI 1. Is this a driver issue or something else? Now, after over 5 years of independent development, PHD2 includes a substantial number of new features and refinements, many of which focus on helping you achieve better guiding results. 3 seconds? Why don’t you ask ASA to explain that? I would speculate that other guiding applications, including MaximDL, don’t have any timer protection like this so they just happily send guide commands and hope Jul 25, 2024 · #IEXOS100 PHD2 PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective PHD2 Pulseguiding failure#pmc-eight #ASCOM #EXOS2 Aug 17, 2020 · This isn’t a PHD2 problem, PHD2 handles pulse guides the same way for all mounts. Pulse Guide Settings Guiding Enable The Checkbox associated with each Axis Pulse Guide Rate enables (checked) or disables (unchecked) guiding on the associated axis. Aug 26, 2019 · Now that I have managed to achieve good guiding, giving me nice round stars on 6 minute exposures I wanted to use dithering. These anomalies are not present when settling succeeds phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" Jul 19, 2016 · The bad: Mount calibration under PHD2 produces many warnings, usually starting at the very first "West 1" step, something along the lines that Pulse Guiding failed and that guiding will be unreliable. PHD2 has a large set of parameters that can be adjusted to optimize your guiding experience. Because you are dealing with basic problems, you shouldn't be using an image automation app at this point - just restore things by running PHD2 manually. I keep getting an With "Use Pulse Cmd" enabled tracking is more accurate and the movement of the star is very slight. Jul 21, 2014 · I recently discovered that my guiding improved significantly when I lowered my max RA/Dec values to 200. , PHD2 lost pulse guiding to my mount. Youre issue is the RA axis and setting a high DEC backlash will confuse things, IMHO. 3. 4. Alternatively phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" Apr 26, 2022 · The PHD2 Log Viewer shows that immediately following the dither, the mount is sent a series of high amplitude corrections which pull both DEC and RA back to the X axis (or close to it. Instructions for use are in the folder. Feb 6, 2016 · One example would be lack of support for pulse-guiding by an ASCOM telescope/mount driver, something that can occur with outdated drivers. EQR Pro Askar apo120 ASI120mm for guiding PHD2 and gs server Something interesting too that I have not read anywhere and did not see in the manual for the mount, but per Celestron the Nexstar SE Mounts can not do Pulse Guiding straight from PHD2. Pulse Guiding error with phd2#EQ3 Mar 7, 2022 · While PHD2 is calibrating, ASIAIR will display the number of calibration pulses ("steps"), and how much the star has moved in pixels (what ASIAIR display as "dist"). For questions about using the application, general troubleshooting, bug reports, feature requests, and questions about PHD2 development, please post on the Open PHD Guiding Google group. The manual guiding impulses in the east direction, on the other hand, do not seem to reach the motor, at least I cannot hear that the motor is running slower. Ra didn't move enough". Aug 15, 2023 · This tool mimics how PHD2 does pulse-guiding without needing to use a guide star. In these situations, your only recourse is to update the ASCOM driver. There are also several very informative in-depth videos done by the authors that will advance your understanding and help you get the most from PHD2: Aug 7, 2023 · After setting the pulse guiding RA and Dec rates to 0. Yesterday after about an hour of working correctly, PHD2 gave there error "pulse guide to mount has failed, guiding may be ineffective" and ineffective it was, i spen an hour taking trailed images May 13, 2023 · AM5/PHD2 PULSE COMMAND FAILURE - posted in Mounts: Hello all I have a quick question I just received my AM5 for my Mono setup and the first night out I was trying to calibrate phd2 but every time I would get pulse command failed warning I tried resetting and power cycling everything with no joy as soon as I press the button the calibrate the warning pops up the strange thing is the mount will Jul 25, 2024 · #IEXOS100 PHD2 PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective phd2 - "PulseGuide command to mount has failed - guiding is likely to be ineffective" PHD2 Pulseguiding failure#pmc-eight #ASCOM #EXOS2 Aug 17, 2020 · This isn’t a PHD2 problem, PHD2 handles pulse guides the same way for all mounts. Jun 24, 2025 · The failures you're seeing are caused by one of two things: 1) PHD2 not getting a response back from the driver that a pulse-guide command has been completed in a reasonable time or 2) a complete loss of connection to the mount for some period of time. You should be able to hear that, right? Aug 9, 2019 · Just read this today on the Open PHD Guiding Google group from the creators of PHD2 - Do not run PHD2 in Administrator mode as it tends to "mess with" the ASCOM drivers. Also, do you know what size guide-pulse you used for the star-cross test? As you say, that image looks fine so we need to understand the difference. 2. For example, with 2 second camera exposures guide corrections would be issued every 3 seconds (due to the 1 second delay after each correction. The other major problems include all the camera timeouts you got in the first hour of operation. zip Oct 16, 2020 · Help a newbie: PHD2 Dec calibration failed - posted in Beginning Deep Sky Imaging: A very frustrating night trying to get PHD2 to work for the first time. Hit the loop button and look at the available stars, adjusting focus if necessary. Encountering this problem in every session after around 60-80 mins of proper guiding. All drivers and firmware versions are current. Using the Manual Guide tool in PHD2 and the telescope Handset, I can easily observe the scope responding to guide commands at the arcsec level. I have tried to use the manual slew within the program with no movement of guide stars. I didn't have this problem before when I was guiding with the guide scope. All of the fields on these forms include "tool tips", small Feb 3, 2016 · Besides the fewer-cables benefit Joel mentioned, another slight benefit of using ASCOM for guiding is that for most modern ASCOM driver /mount controller combinations (including AP CP3) the guide pulse timings are executed by the mount controller: phd2 says “guide north for 10 milliseconds” and the mount does so, precisely timing the 10 ms. Using this technique, it is apparent that the ASI120 mono will only issue ST4 guide signals when operating in 8 bit. PHD continued to run and show the guiding graph but no corrective pulses were sent to the mount. Resetting everything (PC, mount, PHD2 and NINA) solves it I have a separate powered usb hub which is used for all the connections I am attaching the log from PHD2, any help on why this issue keeps popping up would appreciated PHD2 Log Sep 29, 2025 · I have resolved several problems but last night Phd2 guiding failed repeatedly when working with NINA and TheSkyX. PHD2 never sets that nor should it - it's up to the user and there can be good reasons for using one speed vs. Dec 11, 2024 · We have encounted a problem where pulse guiding simply stops. Dec 13, 2022 · The PHD2 alert means the mount driver has never reported completion of a previous command to pulse-guide it. Any ideas on what I can do to fix this? Do I just need to turn off dithering? Turn down the level of dithering? SGP Log file: PHD2 Log File: From what I can tell, it flagged that I wanted to ‘slew Advanced settings are accessed by clicking on the 'Brain button' in the main display. 9, and connecting PHD2 to my camera (Orion StarShoot) and mount to EQMOD ASCOM HEQ5/6 and using just the EQMOD serial to USB cable (discarding the ST4 cable), I tried to run a calibration. The default guiding parameters calculated by PHD2 reflect the parameters you entered in the new-profile-wizard, so they are already adjusted for your setup. Open the Connect Equipment dialog by pressing the USB-icon button and select the configuration profile you created with the New Profile Wizard. 23? I was running PHD2. May 17, 2018 · Do you happen to know if the guiding accuracy is completely compromised after one of these pulse guide failures occur or does PHD2 continue guiding (I don't know how to properly interpret the log but it looks like it does)? Mar 16, 2025 · Something interesting too that I have not read anywhere and did not see in the manual for the mount, but per Celestron the Nexstar SE Mounts can not do Pulse Guiding straight from PHD2. I had to restart PHD2 and NINA to correct the issue. One of the most common mistakes is to wildly change the PHD2 guiding parameters in a futile attempt to correct for mechanical problems that exist in your setup. My feeling is that it may be an issue with PHD2 since it will become unresponsive at times during these events. " You didn't say how much it has moved Oct 6, 2024 · It happened last night about 3:00 a. Good luck, Bruce May 17, 2018 · Do you happen to know if the guiding accuracy is completely compromised after one of these pulse guide failures occur or does PHD2 continue guiding (I don't know how to properly interpret the log but it looks like it does)? Mar 16, 2025 · Something interesting too that I have not read anywhere and did not see in the manual for the mount, but per Celestron the Nexstar SE Mounts can not do Pulse Guiding straight from PHD2. Ran the calibration routing within PHD2, no warnings or error messages shown. Although these are called "advanced" settings, they are not particularly difficult to understand, and there may be situations when you need to modify them. When you state "several subs after the flip the guiding has totally failed", that implies the guiding worked for some X subs after the flip, but then fails. Depending on the deviations of the guide star from its lock position, guiding pulses corrections are sent to your mount Via any device that supports ST4 ports. ) PHD2 guide -microstep rate shifting1 - 20 of 81 1 2 3 4 5 PHD2 guide -microstep rate shifting1 - 20 of 81 1 2 3 4 5 Introduction Ekos Guide Module enables autoguiding capability using either the powerful built-in guider, or externally via PHD2. , does anyone know why this happens and if it really does affect the guiding? Apr 26, 2023 · Pulse-guiding can't work when the mount is parked. The issue can be corrected if I disconnect from the mount and reconnect. I keep getting the message Failed to send pulse to mount. Camera connection pane: binning level. Feb 20, 2020 · Last night during some imaging I received a PHD2 notification that I've never seen before "ASCOM driver failed pulse guide command" before I got this message my guiding was pretty good for my particular mount. Feb 7, 2023 · pulse guiding with PHD2 - posted in Beginning Deep Sky Imaging: hey guys just got my new 12 Meade LX90 ACF and wanted to connect it to my computer and to some astrophotography, i was trying to set up PHD2 with pulse guiding using the correct ascom driver can you walk me through the process of enabling alt az mounts pulse guiding? Mar 21, 2025 · I have used PHD2 with my iOptron CEM120EC and AG-Optical 12,5'' iDK for a few years without any proiblems. org/logs/dl/PHD2_logs_wo5A. 982 00. In most of the "Settling failed" cases, about 40 seconds after the dither starts, one or both axes experience a sudden displacement for no apparent reason. I cannot connect my mount to PHD2. I have not included a log unfortunately. I am having problems in pulse guiding. Connect to the camera and mount. You should be able to get reasonable results out-of-the-box if the equipment behaves and if you don't, you are probably dealing with operational mistakes or mechanical problems.