PHD2 Guiding

PHD2 is the enhanced, second generation version of the popular PHD guiding software from Stark Labs. PHD2 is free and open source, and development is community-driven.

Links

• Project website / news: openphdguiding.org
• User support + development forum: Open PHD Guiding forum (Google Groups)
• Source code repository (upstream): github.com/OpenPHDGuiding

Features of this fork

• Multi-guider plumbing: This fork adds infrastructure to support selecting between multiple guider implementations at runtime (via Advanced Settings) without destabilizing the rest of the app. The intent is to make it easier to develop, test, and compare alternative guider strategies in parallel with the existing guider(s).
• Experimental multistar2 guider: This fork adds GuiderMultiStar2, an opt-in experimental multi-star guiding implementation designed to avoid multistar’s “primary star” single-point-of-failure and to preserve guiding solution continuity as stars are lost/reacquired. It also adds UI overlays and status text so users can see contributing vs lost stars and confirm they’re running the experimental implementation.
  • To enable the new multistar2, open the Guide/Advanced Settings menu, then select the Guiding tab, then select the "Use multiple stars" radio button and finally "Multistar2" from the dropdown menu.
  • Multistar overview: multistar_description.md
  • Multistar2 overview: multistar2_description.md
  • Development phases (A/B/C): multistar2_development_phases.md

Fork status

• Windows version only for now. Beta 3 installer works.
• First night of initial testing: One crash and several small bugs were fixed.
• Lost/gained-star solution appears to be working well with no jumps or drifts in the target aiming.
• Added some debug logging for easier testing analysis.
• First night was very poor seeing. During decent seeing periods, autoguiding RMS looked good.
• Two additional nights of testing were completed, both still wtih poor seeing.
• During 3rd night of testing, found an edge cases were the solution was jumping between two points. Guiderail improvements in Beta 2 should fix this.
• Ready for additional testing. Wanted: an average or better seeing night.

Installing and running this fork

• Download phd2-v2.6.13dev8-multistar3-beta3-installer.exe from Releases and run it.
• Required dependency: You should not see any errors related to missing dll files, but if you do you may need to install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio (x64). Microsoft Redistributable Downloads
• For NINA users, change the Equipment/Guider/PHD2/gear-icon PHD2 Path setting to point to this phd2.exe then connect your guider in NINA as you normally would.

Important: beta pre-flight checklist

• Take screenshots before first run: Save screenshots of your Advanced Settings pages and your guiding algorithm settings (especially both Min Move (MnMo) values) before launching this beta.
• MnMo reset risk on first launch: This build uses a newer Visual C++ runtime than stock PHD2. In some setups, existing MnMo values can be cleared and replaced with large defaults (for example 5.0 / 20.0).
  Before guiding, verify and re-enter both MnMo values manually if needed.
• Recalibrate before first autoguiding session: Run a fresh calibration the first time you use this beta on your setup, then begin guiding.
• Quick verify before guiding: Start looping exposures and confirm your expected profile/settings are loaded (especially MnMo) before enabling guiding.

License

See LICENSE.txt.