Using live view to auto guide

[Smrjscott]

Hi All. This is my first post so please by gentle! I am keen to get into astrophotography and I was wondering whether you can autoguide using a DSLR piggybacked on a Skywatcher 150PDS. The reason I ask is that I own 2 good Canon DSLRs and have been able to use a piece of software called extrawebcam to use one of them as a webcam under windows. This has allowed me to see liveview via PHD. I am in the process of buying some kit to get me started and obviously want to keep the cost down (where possible!) I should also say that I have an Eq5 mount with twin motors (and replacement legs) and have ordered the 150PDS tonight. Any advice is much appreciated. Cheers

[Kevdan]

Hello,

I have asked the same question to be told by many others that you need long exposure of between 2 - 4 seconds due to seeing conditions. So I have just ordered a QHY5 camera from Modern Astronomy.

Hope this helps,

Kev.

[pel]

Hi ,

This is a great thread for autoguiding on a budget, I am going down this path myself. £180 for a guide camera is a bit steep for me.

http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-astronomer/172701-guiding-conversion-project-200p-eq5.html

Perry.

[Kevdan]

Thats how im doing mine but with a qhy5 instead of an LV smartguider - unfortunately it doesnt answer his question.

[Psychobilly]

Doesn't live view timeout after 30 mins? I have been checking the camera manuals ... SO far the 1000D , 450D , 500D and 7D manuals all say that live view will switch off after 30 mins

[Smrjscott]

Thanks for the responses guys. In terms of live view, once you have the camera connected to a laptop, live view runs and runs. I want to try this setup before buying a dedicated guiding camera if it will save me some money!

I am surprised that no one has tried this.

[Smrjscott]

Oops sorry psychobilly. Just re read your post and see what you mean. To be honest though, at this point. Guiding would be great even if it could only be done for 30 mins at a time