Synguider or QHY5?

[russ.will]

Having been surprised at how (relatively) successful some of my initial dabbling with the 450D and WO ZS80 has been, I've decided to get a bit more serious at this imaging lark!

Unfortunately, I sold my SW 9x50 finder and as another one isn't much less than an ST80 second hand, I bought one of those for the dual purposes of guiding and maybe a holiday scope.

A Synguider has the obvious attraction of simplicity, but as I'm planning on getting the laptop involved anyway, it seems sensible to at least consider a QHY5, or some such. I'm presuming that it also opens up possibilities for lunar/planetary imaging too?

Just dealing with DSLR imaging for the moment, what do you gain by going for the QHY5, considering that there's not much in the two price wise?

On a related note, I'm planning on going to Astrofest for the first time. Is it worth keeping my powder dry, if there are show 'bargains' to be had?

Cheers,

Russell

[malc-c]

With the Qhy5 you have the option of using the ST4 port or USB and software such as PHD, so your guiding options are not as limited as using a standalone guider.

The Qhy5 also makes for a good luna / planetary imaging camera as well

[Carl M]

What I always seem to see is people saying that the synguider can work great or it won't work. There also doesn't seem to be much support for the synguider either. If you get the QHY5 you will be able to kill 2 birds with one stone as stated and can use it as both a guide cam and planetary. If you are planning on taking a laptop out anyway it would make sense just to use the QHY5 + PHD as it is a popular setup opposed to a synguider and should be easier to diagnose any problems.

[RikM]

I use a QHY5 on a finder-guider and it seems to work okay for me. Not bad as a lunar cam either.

[Psychobilly]

If your going to have a "PC" around then I would definitely go down the QHY5 route its a much more flexible solution...

My synguider is my guider of last resort...and will normally only be used for widefield work... It does work well on a decent guidescope the ST80 is an almost perfect match to its requirement spec.. but the need to center the guidestar on the synguider makes accurate framing of longer fl setups more fiddly...

Peter

[ollypenrice]

As above, don't put all your eggs in one basket with the standalone. With the QHY5 you have a solar system camera and a guide camera which can run in a variety of software packages. If you want to drizzle guide one day then you need the QHY5 type camera.

Olly

[russ.will]

Okay. This is what I sort of expected to hear, so it's nice to have that confirmed. QHY something, or similar, it is then.

For the £200 (give or take) available, is there any other cameras I should consider? There are 3 QHY5 variants, even before considering other manufacturers. I'm guessing the standard 5 is about the sweet spot, but I'm open to persuasion from the old hands!

Russell

[RikM]

I have the basic QHY5 mono guide cam. (and I believe that my ones faster than your's Mr Bond, 'cus mine's a red one )

[ollypenrice]

Sorry, I meant 'dither guide' because drizzle stacking is what you then do after dithering.

Olly

[jgs001]

If you're looking at possibly wanting to do Lunar/Planetary with the camera, then the 5v is probably the best of the three for you. The global shutter is better for imaging with than the rolling shutter of the others. I agree with Olly also, the QHY cam's allow you to dither (move the scopes a little to shift target slightly between frames) easily and that's very worthwhile.

[russ.will]

Sorry, I meant 'dither guide' because drizzle stacking is what you then do after dithering.

Olly

Forgiven, what with me having no idea what you're talking about (yet!) anyway.

Russell

[russ.will]

If you're looking at possibly wanting to do Lunar/Planetary with the camera, then the 5v is probably the best of the three for you. The global shutter is better for imaging with than the rolling shutter of the others. I agree with Olly also, the QHY cam's allow you to dither (move the scopes a little to shift target slightly between frames) easily and that's very worthwhile.

I'm not so concerned about lunar/planetary - It's more of a happy coincidence that this will be possible, but I take your comment on board.

The dithering issue is not something I've heard of yet, but now I have (and will read up on it), it's nice to know it's catered for.

Russell

[jgs001]

It's not an issue... but it can help in the processing stage, things like hot pixels get removed in stacking as they do not align perfectly between each frame (but the stars do).

[russ.will]

Indeed, I noticed that whilst Googling the subject. So, that's another thing to remember...I suppose that like most subjects, it starts to make more sense when you're actually doing it, rather than just reading about the theory.

I'll ping MA and see if they're doing any show discounts, or pre-order specials.

Russell

[russ.will]

I emailed Bernard and the show offer doesn't extend to much more than getting the ST4 cable for free or, if you prefer, a tenner off.

However, I did get to choose the colour and so mine will be in tarts handbag red.

I'd better get reading up before it arrives....

Russell

[dph1nm]

need to center the guidestar on the synguider makes accurate framing of longer fl setups more fiddly

My synguider happily auto-locks on stars which are not at the centre. Isn't there also a manual lock option?

It won't guide my HEQ5 mind you, but that is a separate issue!

NigelM

[Psychobilly]

My synguider happily auto-locks on stars which are not at the centre. Isn't there also a manual lock option?

It won't guide my HEQ5 mind you, but that is a separate issue!

NigelM

Interesting.. my confusion coems from this statement in the manual...

Adjust the guide scope to bring the star to the center if it is too close to the edge of the Image zone on the SynGuider. This is only necessary when the ZOOM level Is set at 1 ...

If you use the fact that it doesnt matter wher ethe satr is onthe other zoom levels this would sort of suggest that it possibly needs to be in the centre 128x128 pixel area..

Then again I guess it all depends on what they mean by too close to the edge...

Any idea whats wrong with your HEQ5? It guides Mine fine and my EQ3 Pro now its go the later MC hardware...

Peter...

[Ags]

I thought a new version of the synguider is coming out soon, so if considering getting one it may make sense to wait a little?

[dph1nm]

Any idea whats wrong with your HEQ5? It guides Mine fine

Nope - but imaging is worse with the guider on than off, although the synguider itself seems to keep the guide star in the centre of the cross hairs ok. But I end up with double images, trailed images in weird directions (i.e. both RA and Dec) etc etc - you name it, I get it! And that is in 1min exposures. I still have more testing to do ...

NigelM

[russ.will]

I've been reading up on this subject, in preparation for picking up my QHY5 at the weekend, so I count myself as a next-to-know-nothing on the subject, but...

I'm sure I saw a thread (or a blog) where someone was having similar issues and found that his guide camera was fighting with his PEC training profile.

Like I say, I don't know one way or the other, but it has the 'feel' of logical.

Russell

[paul101]

Hi

I posted your exact question last week, I opted for a qhy5 and am so glad I did!

It's so easy to set up and use and got 5min subs straight away no probs. I use it with a modest notebook running xp and it's fine. I have the same mount as you and they both seem to work flawlessly. It's a no brainer really, I was up and running 5 mins after polar aligning my mount after the normal 3star align.

Go for the qhy5 you will love it

[russ.will]

Thanks for that. To hear it from someone only a couple of weeks up the learning curve, is good stuff.

Russell

[russ.will]

I picked my QHY5 up at Astrofest last weekend, not to mention about £200 worth of other stuff that I hadn't intended...

Anyhoo, I've spent most of the last week getting to know it all indoors and tonight is the first chance I've had to get it all outdoors. Wish me luck!

Russell