PHD2 (OpenPHD)

News

4 Feb 2014
We are proud to announce the latest release of PHD2, version 2.2.1.

PHD2 is the next generation of Stark Labs' PHD Guiding. PHD2 provides a number of new features and enhancements over the original PHD1, such as
  • A more responsive user interface, with a new multi-threaded design
  • Improved visualization tools for observing guiding performance in units of arc-seconds or pixels
  • Declination-compensated guiding, eliminating the need for recalibrating when switching targets
  • Support for guiding with Adaptive Optics units
  • Equipment profiles for managing multiple guiding configurations
  • Internationalization improvements, with a French translation available
  • A new server interface for controlling and monitoring PHD2 by other imaging applications
  • New tools, such as a polar drift alignment tool and a calibration step size calculator
See PHD2 Enhancements for a more complete list of changes and enhancements in PHD2.

Installation

You can download PHD2 v2.2.1 for Windows and for Mac.

If you are already using PHD1, note that PHD2 installs separately from PHD1 so you can have both applications installed at once. Installing PHD2 will not affect your PHD1 installation or settings.

We also provide development snapshot builds containing the latest bug fixes and enhancements. These builds may not be as well tested as the general releases, but we would welcome your help testing them out.

Older releases: v2.2.0 Windows Mac.

Getting started

PHD2 comes with a built-in help file, which is an excellent way to get started with PHD2.
You can access the help file from the Help menu in PHD2, or you can view the manual here.

For questions about using the application and general troublehooting, please post on the stark-labs-astronomy-software Yahoo! group.

For bug reports, feature requests, and questions about PHD2 development, please join the discussion on the Open PHD Guiding google group.

Known Issues

OpenCV Webcam support is not yet available in the Mac version.

The full list of open issues is available in the PHD2 issue tracker, on the OpenPHD open source project development site.

Change Log

Changes in v2.2.1
  • The Advanced Settings window (the Brain) can now be opened at any time, even when guiding (with "unsafe" options disabled)
  • Fast recovery of guiding after dither
  • Improved layout of controls on the Graph when the window is narrowed
  • AO improvements
  • Drift Align tool improvements, and the simulator can now be used to practice drift alignment
  • Bookmark commands are now available from the menu
  • Mac: disable App Nap for PHD2 on OSX 10.9
  • Mac: added support for KWIQGuider
  • Image logging fixes
  • Updated French translation
  • More detailed error reporting for ASCOM camera errors
Changes in v2.2.0 since PHD2 Beta 3 (v2.1.3a):
  • Changes to improve reliability of interaction with Sequence Generator Pro
  • Fix a bug where it was impossible to disconnect an SXAO without exiting PHD2
  • Update about dialog to point to new home page URL
  • Use subframes during looping and calibrating. When looping, click outside the subframe to switch back to full frames.
  • Performance improvements
  • Changes to focal length and pixel size in the calibration step calculator are reflected on other tabs in the brain
  • Fix a potential hang or crash accessing an invalid memory address when finding star near edge of image
  • Fix some spelling errors in debug log messages
  • Fully rewritten Help files
  • Fixed typos in tooltips
  • Manual guide dialog can now adjust guide pulse duration and can dither
  • Fixed display of declination in calibration restore dialog
  • Updated logging code
  • Disable/re-enable sticky lock position when Drift Align Tool is run
  • Windows installer installs VC++ 2010 runtime when needed
  • "Mini-brain" on graph displays controls in one or two rows depending on window width
  • Fixed number of decimal places for camera pixel size in Brain
  • Updated French translation
  • Provide access to the ASCOM Camera and Mount setup dialogs in the Connect Equipment window
  • Automatically save the image when Auto-Select fails
  • Do not retain guide log file unless something was actually logged
  • Fix possible crash when RA/Dec overlay is selected and no mount is connected
  • Restore Calibration dialog shows useful stuff about what is being restored
  • Update to wxWidgets-3.0.0
  • Mac: renamed app from PHD to PHD2