Looking for a guide camera

[olander08]

I've got a HEQ5 Pro SynScan with an Explorer 200p and plan on doing some imaging with my new Canon 1100d. To the point, I'm thinking of purchasing the ST80 for use as a guidescope and will be needing a cheap guide camera.

First of all, will my mount be able to handle this gear? I would assume so, but I might as well assert that it will work.

Secondly, what cheap guiding camera should I get? I will be using my laptop while imaging on location, so hooking the camera up to a computer will not be a problem.

Thanks in advance.

[ollypenrice]

An 8 inch Newt for imaging on an HEQ5 has come up quite a few times. Responses gravitate towards 'just' I'd have said, with a distribution of views either side. I've only tried an 8 inch Newt on an NEQ6, which handles it easily.

For the camera, a QHY5 or second hand Meade DSI pro, maybe? The Meades come up used as people move on to better imaging cameras.

Olly

[Psychobilly]

You can aslo use the Colour Meade DSI IC's and IIC's I have used both on an f8 guidescope and never failed to find a guidesatr in their FOV (500mm f8 camera lens)

Peter...

[Stephen]

I am currently using a DSI I colour as mentioned by Peter above. In my humble opinion it is better than a QHY5, and costs less too

About £80 is the going rate I think, they can't be bought new any more due to their age.

[Black Knight]

I own a QHY5 and have used (but don't own) a DSI. I believe the DSI is more sensitive, but the QHY5 is fine.

[Merlin66]

The only issue with the DSI etc is there's no direct guide ST-4 connection for the mount.

This means using some other method of communicating the guide signals to the motors....

The QHY5 is a good performer....

[Psychobilly]

If its a skywatcher eq syntrek or synscan mount then then the lack of a guideport output isn't an issue if you use eqmod...

Peter...

[Stephen]

If its a skywatcher eq syntrek or synscan mount then then the lack of a guideport output isn't an issue if you use eqmod...

Peter...

Just the comment I was about to make. My guiding has been much more successful since I moved to pulse guiding rather than ST4 guiding.

[olander08]

Thanks for the quick responses, the QHY5 looks promising and cheap. Time to do some research

[olander08]

What additional equipment is needed to use the QHY5 as a guiding camera with the ST 80 that isn't included when you buy the camera and telescope? I assume I need the ST 4 cable, what else? As stated above I have a laptop and the HEQ5 Pro mount.

[dmahon]

You don't need the ST4 cable if you use EQMOD with pulse guiding. I'd definitely recommend EQMOD to everyone. For EQMOD you need an EQDIR cable that costs about 30 quid, or you can make one yourself quite cheaply.

If you want to save weight, you could use a finder guider rather than an ST80. I had no problems at all when I went down that route with a QHY5.

If you want to save even more weight, you could get an OAG with a Lodestar - easily done with a CCD, but more difficult (though doable) with a dSLR due to backfocus issues once you start with coma correctors and reducers.

[olander08]

You don't need the ST4 cable if you use EQMOD with pulse guiding. I'd definitely recommend EQMOD to everyone. For EQMOD you need an EQDIR cable that costs about 30 quid, or you can make one yourself quite cheaply.

If you want to save weight, you could use a finder guider rather than an ST80. I had no problems at all when I went down that route with a QHY5.

If you want to save even more weight, you could get an OAG with a Lodestar - easily done with a CCD, but more difficult (though doable) with a dSLR due to backfocus issues once you start with coma correctors and reducers.

Could I use my 9x50 finder? What additional equipment would be needed to attach the QHY5 to the finderscope? Will I get the same tracking result from the finderscope, compared to using a ST80?

[dmahon]

Yes, a standard Skywatcher 9x50 finder.

To attach a QHY5, you need one of these (T mount version):

http://www.modernastronomy.com/accessories.html#accAdapters

[dmahon]

I never failed to get a guidestar with my QHY5 and finderguider and 1 second images in PHD. I suspect the even more sensitive (and expensive) Lodestar (be careful, you'd need a C mount adapter) would give you even more.

You might not have quite as much star choice as you would with an ST80, but you only need one and it saves you a lot of weight.

[olander08]

Thanks for the help.

I did go ahead and purchase a QHY5 along with an adapter for my finderscope. I may decide to get the ST80 in the future, just because it looks so much cooler with a second scope mounted on the main scope. For now, it's probably smarter to start with the finderscope as guidescope and make sure that I know my way around my setup for when the real season starts.

[dmahon]

You have to turn up one of the settings in PHD to about 3500 to get it to calibrate using a small scope.