Question Poor guiding results - M-Zero

Hi,

When I first got my M-Zero running, my guiding would average 0.38"~0.48" total RMS (PHD2), however for the past few months, the best I can manage is 0.8" total RMS and sometimes as bad as 1.1"~1.15" total RMS.

The only change to my whole setup has been the addition of a focal reducer, however my guiding went bad before the focal reducer was added.

The setup is:
M-Zero EQ
Askar 65PHQ (with and without the 0.75x reducer)
Player One IMX294 camera with OAG
Imaging with NINA, Guiding with ASI120MM mini and PHD2.

Ra & Dec guide rates are 0.35x
Max Movement for RA and Dec is 800
Min Movement for RA and Dec is 0
RA and Dec aggression is 90%
Algorithm is Lowpass 2 for both RA and Dec.
Guide Exposures are between 1s and 1.5s (I use longer exposures in poor seeing to reduce high frequency star movement) 
Calibrations seem OK, but guiding is all over the place.

RA is decidedly worse than DEC (RA is usually 0.8" RMS or worse, dec is 0.5" ~0.6" RMS)

I can supply guide logs from both earlier guiding sessions where results were 0.4" RMS and from last night where it was as bad as 1.5"
Any suggestions? 

Alex
 

Oh, its worth mentioning, the guider resolution is 2.3" per pixel, the main imaging camera is 3.05" per pixel, so my images are still coming out quite reasonable... but I can't understand why the guiding went from 0.3~0.4" to 0.8~1.15"

Hi Stefano.

Imaging Scope : Askar 65PHQ with and without the 0.75x reducer (312mm - 416mm focal length)
Guider setup : OAG with ZWO ASI120MM mini camera (2.48" per pixel)

I uploaded 4 log files to google drive:
19 April 2024 - Great guiding, no focal reducer.
2 June 2024 - Average/poor guiding, no focal reducer.
13 June 2024 - Average/poor guiding, no focal reducer. (I changed some settings to try to aleviate the issues, but with little to no improvement at all)
17 June 2024 - Average guiding, focal reducer fitted (I changed more settings, again, no decent improvement in guiding)

Log Files are here : drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IX_XOzTL...aGmo5?usp=drive_link

Balance is quite good... There is a slight imbalance in the system because the ZWO EAF weighs 300g and hangs off the left and side of the scope, so there is a minor 3rd axis imbalance that I'm working on resolving, however that existed in the first log file where guiding was 0.5" RMS or better, so I don't think that is the problem. Dec is balanced quite well otherwise, and RA is as close as I can get it to being EXACTLY balanced, but it is hard to tell exactly because one side of the scope is heavier than the other. Again - this is unchanged from the first log file where guiding was good.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide. 

Regards
Alex.

Oh, Telescope dimensions,

The scope is 63cm long from the front of the dew shield to the back of the camera, the width overall is thinner than the M-Zero Declination arm, but the ZWO EAF hangs out the left hand size by 4.4cm and weighs 377g.