Guide Cameras & Scope

[Mav359]

Hi guys

Im ready to purchase a guide scope for my C9.25. I was thinking a Sky Watcher Star Travel 80 & a Starlight Express CoStar CMOS Autoguider.

Is there a better combination for the money?

Will this work with PHD?

I'd like to buy these tomorrow so if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions it would be most helpful

[Freff]

Hi Alan.

The ST80 is a very popular and proven guide scope. I am not familiar with the Starlight camera, but the QHY5 camera here is again a very popular combo with the ST80.

At about £190 with the ST4 cable inc P&P it may well be worth considering.

[Mav359]

Cheers for that

Does it matter/whats the preference on Mono/Colour for a guide camera?

[RikM]

Mono is more sensitive. The QHY5v Mono is a great guide cam and an ST80 is just the ticket to point it through.

[Mav359]

Rang them and spoke to Bernard, he recommended the QHY5 as i am only using it for guiding so i have gone with that but he was addimant that this camera plugged into the finderscope under testing was good enough for very accurate guiding. I wasn't buying the 80 from him anyway and he wasn't up-selling so i felt i was getting good advice.

If it turns out that its not enough then i can buy the Startravel 80 anyway next week, if it does work however it seems a neat solution and will have saved me money & weight off the scope.

[RikM]

I actually have my QHY5v on a 9x50 finder as well and generally have no trouble getting round stars on 10 min subs with 750mm focal length.

[malc-c]

I use the ST80 + QHY5 combo and it works very well. Bernard also makes adapters to connect a QHY5 (and other cameras) to a standard SW / Celestron finderscope, which some have reported work amazingly well. I'm no expert, but beleive that the longer the focal length of the guidescope the better the tracking accuracy?

Three days before I got my QHY5 / ST80 combo I purchased an adapter to use a Phillips SPC880 with a SW 8 x 50 finder... but never actually used it for guiding...

[Freff]

Rang them and spoke to Bernard, he recommended the QHY5 as i am only using it for guiding so i have gone with that but he was addimant that this camera plugged into the finderscope under testing was good enough for very accurate guiding. I wasn't buying the 80 from him anyway and he wasn't up-selling so i felt i was getting good advice.

If it turns out that its not enough then i can buy the Startravel 80 anyway next week, if it does work however it seems a neat solution and will have saved me money & weight off the scope.

This is what I have done with my SW 9x50 finder scope.