Mounting a guide scope? What do I need?

[rocketandroll]

Ok...

This is kinda a mounting question and partially a question for any Synguider users out there...

Not having the spare cash at the mo to get an LVI SmartGuider I'm gonna have a stab at getting guiding with a Synguider first....

I am gonna get myself an ST80, but need to work out how I physically mount the guide rig on my HEQ5-Pro?

I have the Meade 127mm on there at the mo, just mounted direct to the HEQ5. The first question I guess is... how much movement do I need in the guide scope, in relation to the main scope, to be sure of getting a bright enough guide star in the fov?

Do I need scope rings? I have been told they won't really work with a scope as short as the ST80?

Can I just get some kind of double-dovetail bracket to mount the two scopes side by side? I assume you can 'scroll' around the FOV of the guide scope with a stand-alone guider like the Synguider and don't need to 'manually' move the scope to get a guide star in the center?

Does anyone have a similar rig and can anyone suggest what I need? Would rather not spend much cash as I'm on a megga-tight budget at the mo.

Ben

[Interested]

I have a similar setup and, asked a similar question.

Will point you to the thread, which may help you.

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/142487-attaching-guide-scope-my-meade-127mm-refractor.html

[rocketandroll]

Cheers mate!

That helps a lot. I can do a little engineering and planned to just mount the ST80 on top of the 127 or on a plate beside it with one fixed bolt and one in a slot. That should give me a couple of degrees of movement in one axis at least.

I know the Synguider is megga sensitive so that should be fine.

I looked at some of the double dovetail mounts and freaked out, almost the same price as the Synguider for an ali bracket??!!!

Cheers!

Ben

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[vulcan]

FLO now do the Skywatcher Guidescope Mount but it's even more expensive than the guidescope rings.

[steppenwolf]

Have to say that I have never found the need for any adjustment to the pointing of my ST80 guide 'scope - the FOV is pretty wide even with a small sensor so you should have no problem finding a suitable guide star.

[brantuk]

Hi Ben - I'm using a side by side rig including ST80 - you can get a dual mount bar from FLO for around eighty squids. Here's a pic - there's a few more from different angles if you fancy a scan around my album.

[ollypenrice]

As I said on the cited post I just bolted my ST80 to 127 the carry handle via a Baader clamp but just a bolt would also do it. Noithing cheaper!

Olly

[LDUNN1]

I got an ST80 & a QHY5 recently - in fact, last Tuesday night was my first time using it.....& my first time autoguiding (I only started astro in feb/mar this year).

I'm using this to guide on my DSLR + long camera lens (have not progressed to a full- on imaging 'scope yet) on an nEQ6.

I bought an altair-astro Losmandy dual saddle mount & plates & guide rings.....then found out that with the ST80 & QHY5 the rings are not really necessary.....I know someone else that uses the ST80 & QHY5 fixed mounted & they advised me they seldom have an issue locating a guidestar, & even if/when they rarely do, a slight re-positioning of what the mount is pointing at usually brings a suitable guide star into view.

So, I did not end up using my guide rings for the ST80 (but have found one ring handy at stabalising my long camera lens as I only had the one tripod screw securing it & the camera before & it was prone to shift slightly).

The ST80 is mounted directly onto a losmandy plate & this drops into one of the dual saddle clamps, & my camera & lens is attahced to a separate losmandy plate & this drops into the other side of the dual saddle......& you can shift the dual saddle from side to side in the EQ6 mounts losmandy clamp, for balance. It is a very neat system.

I started out with the vixen clamp system, but when I upgraded to the dual saddle I decided to bite-the-bullet & switch clamp types.

I much prefer the Losmandy system over the vixen one:-

1) The plates are so wide (& I use long enough ones) that when you place a 'scope plate side down it is very stable - I'd never do this with the vixen system as the dovetail is so narrow the 'scope would probably fall over at some point.

2) the long central slot is more flexible on where you mount - with the vixen system I had to drill through the dovetail & counter sink the hole for the screw head.

3) the vixen clamps (that I had - don't know about others) had a screw head that would mark the dovetail when securing it. The losmandy system has a plate that clamps the dovetail therefore less likely to mark the dovetail.

So i now have my long camera lens permanently connected to a losmandy plate, my ST80 permanently connected to a losmandy plate, I have another losmandy plate with a lens tripod collar mounted to it & I have another plate that I can mount my camera (or a tripod head) directly to. I can then quickly switch my imaging side depending upon what I want to shoot with.

At some point in the future I may add a central pier to the dual saddle plate inbetween the two main scopes & mount a tripod head - & use this for my 2nd DSLR to shoot wide field long exposures of a totally different patch of sky from the main imaging train.