Woohoo!!! guiding with the EQ3-2 !!

[stan26]

Am I right in thinking that your 200p has the 50mm finder..? If so then yes I think this will be ok, I know others have use the 9x50 finder as a guide scope, the smaller 30 and 20mm finders are useless from what i have read. As long as you can gain good focus on a star then it should all be OK. Im not so clued up on how you would focus the finder with the LVI attached but Im sure a quick search on here/net will help find out. One thing for you need to consider QM is the size of the 200P, its huge! I would imagine that long guided exposures will only be really successful on very still nights with no breeze, although its an F5 its still double the focal length of what Im using (ST102) @ 1000mm, so your guiding will have to be very good to get around any periodic/tracking errors.......

Stan.

[Quatermass]

The 200p is a big scope but if I can get nearly 3 minute subs unguided then its got to improve things plus the EQ5 is a pretty sturdy mount.

I will give the finder scope a try to start off with as you suggest then post my results. From what I have read the LVI smart guider does a good job just need to rig it up first. I allways use mains supply with an adapter to run the ra motor so will do the same for both. Looking forward to seeing how this works out.

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[stan26]

Crickey's 3mins unguided:eek: why do you need to guide for then! Seriously if that the case then you should be fine. Your EQ5 must be better than my EQ3, I could manage 1min @ 500mm at best. Can't wait to see our results.....

Stan

[Quatermass]

That depends on the polar alignment and wind levels many times I found moving the weights a few centimeters back helps the gears get a better tracking hold. But a 5 minute sub would give me loads of detail on galaxys which is what I am very interested in right now. It has to be done. I bet your just itching for the skies to clear now Stan.

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[stan26]

Even if it did clear out I wouldn't bother unless it was for more guiding tests. That big bright white thing currently glowing behind the cloud gives me to many gradient headaches My next target will be Orion starting with ye old favourite M42. It will be my first "return visit" to a target to image as it was my first ever astro image and the one that got me hooked. Now with almost a year gone by and armed with extra knowledge it will be an interesting comparison to see how far things have come.

Stan:)

[Quatermass]

Have to agree M42 is a wondeful subject and there have been so many great shots of it the last few months makes your realize just how much more you could get out of it. It was my first dso and one that I have great affection for cant wait to be able to do longer subs on it and capture more detail. I really want to get a very best effort on it to turn into a wall canvas for our front room so I can admire it all year round. Well the weather forcast was very full of clouds sadly but we might get lucky. I must be having an influence on my neighbours, there little girl knocked on our door this evening with her little red boots on and a small pair of binoculars round her neck, "I cant see the moon" she said, can you tell me where it is..awww.

I gave her a little book on star gazing and showed her the bright patch of light behind the clouds. Sorry I said, but the moon is hiding behind those clouds at the moment but you should find lots of intresting things to read about the moon in this book. She said she was doing a talk at school about the stars and the moon so hopefully that will help her out. Looking forward to star gazing live coming back on our tvs soon as well.

[stan26]

Bless her, I hope my litl'uns will take an interest in a few years. My little boy age 3 next week comes out with me when I set the scope up. He stands there mesmerised by all the twinkling dots in the sky pointing up saying "stars stars". He has seen the moon through the scope but didn't have much to say lol.

yes looking forward to SGL on tv.

[Quatermass]

Top tip, get them to watch Peppa Pig, the granddad in this kids programme has a telescope and knows all about the stars. My granddaughter watched this and now every time the stars and moon come out I have to take her out and show her, great stuff.

[starstuck]

hi, just come across this thread while researching guiding, inspiring! i have the older style eq3-2 mount with dual axis drives and a sw st120. I was looking this afternoon at the kits from shoestring,the gpint pt and the gpusb, my laptop has no parallel port so i am assuming i need the gpusb. or could i use a parallel to usb adaptor? (much cheaper option, ie 4 kids)... any advice to someone considering starting this project!....cheers paul

[angusb1]

my laptop has no parallel port so i am assuming i need the gpusb. or could i use a parallel to usb adaptor?

I would go with the GPUSB. Its one less device to have to troubleshoot. If you do decide to use a parallel to usb adaptor you can't use just any parallel to usb adaptor either, read this for a discussion of what kind you need.

Shoestring Astronomy USB vs Parallel for HEQ5 Pro - IceInSpace

[starstuck]

thanks for reply! I ordered the gpusb kit this morning so i'm in at the deep end, if nothing else it will be a nice learning curve figuring the practicalities of guiding!

[stan26]

Hi Starstuck, I went for parallel port option because my laptop & PC have the D25 pin ports plus its cheaper as you say (dad with 2 kids) and I personally prefer serial port to USB (realiability) plus you don't need any additional software to run it. I think the GPUSB kits requires ascom..? I may be wrong though, either way its still free to download and plenty of support for it etc....

Good luck!

Stan:)

[starstuck]

hi stan, thanks for info!...loads to get my head round!...just looking into using my 50mm finder as guide scope, not got a webcam yet so lots to research!..

paul

[bonzer2u]

I suspect that the LED is showing the response to the guide commands in the same way as if you were manually pressing the direction buttons. If so, yes, this is normal.

I believe that means low battery voltage, swap them out and you should have a steady 'non blinking' light