Hi,
I've been using Ekos for 1,5 years now and I haven't had any real issues with guiding before now. I did quite a bit of imaging in 2020 without problems, then had nothing but bad weather etc until February 2021 where I finally got around to do some imaging again - Nothing had been updated in Ekos in between. However, this time I had soooo many problems with guiding, with RMS way over 4, then dropping to 1.5 or so and then spiking again over 3 or 4. Most problems in R.A but also in DEC. I tried going back from SEP to Smart algorithm and that helped a little, but I still had spikes well over 3 in R.A. My Polar Alignment error was 11".

I managed to get a decent result none the less, but I wasn't happy with my equipment. I decided to update Ekos to the latest in the repository and then test it out when the weather was behaving again. Tonight the weather is good, but my guiding (once again) sucks! I'm back on SEP, but it really isn't working out for me.

The guide star is lost quite often and the RMS is again looking bad. My Polar Alignment error tonight is 4".

My pulse setting is currently at 600 (also tried 400), exposure at 3s (also tried 1s and 2s) and box size is 8 (also tried 16). I've included a screenshot of the guide tab.

Any ideas on what has suddenly happened with my system?

Kstars/Ekos: 3.5.0, RP4 4 GB, HEQ5 mount (belt modded), QHY 5L-IIC guide camera on a 50mm guide scope. Using eqmod as "Via" option.