Guidescope and guide camera

[Slim]

I currently use my finder scope with a webcam as a finderguider and have had success with PHD. Would there be any benefit to buying something like a SW 80ST and dedicated guide camera? I'm not adverse to spending the money if it is going to improve my images. I have seen a lot of people mention the SW 80ST, is this a good choice or do people have other suggestions?

[nmoushon]

The ST80 is a very standard and common scope that is used. With a dedicated guide cam it would surely improve your guiding results. That is probably the cheapest way to get a dedicated guide scope/cam setup. You wont be disappointed. It will allow you to track on fainter stars than the finder scope which in turns lets you image more objects easier. The only other thing you could go with is a longer FL guide scope but thats not really needed unless you have a long FL imaging scope.

[Daniel-K]

an st80 and a QHY5 is the standard what most people use for guiding but alot of people are using the QHY5 with a 9x50 finder

[dmahon]

A qhy5 or lodestar on you finder will be better than the webcam on an st80 if you want to upgrade one bit at a time.

[Merlin66]

+1 for the ST80/QHY5 combo.

The next step up would definately be to go for a more sensitive guide camera - I like others went for the Lodestar solution.

[ollypenrice]

Yup, I agree all round. I use ST80s and CCD cameras (Lodestar and Atik 16ic). In terms of the upgrade the camera is far more important than the scope.

Olly

[Slim]

Thanks guys. A camera it is first then!

[Slim]

One final question. As I said above I've had great success with PHD, is there any great benefit to using the guide port on a QHY5 or would using in conjunction with PHD as I do now still be just as effective?

[Tinker1947]

One other thing, the Lodestar and the Titan, both only need a USB lead as the power comes from that, and the guideing work fron the CCD to the ST4 port so that's is another lead but its only from the CCD to the Mount, not trailing to a Laptop ect,,,and there both a bit more sensitive, than other products,,,

[pete_l]

I currently use my finder scope with a webcam as a finderguider and have had success with PHD. Would there be any benefit to buying something like a SW 80ST and dedicated guide camera? I'm not adverse to spending the money if it is going to improve my images. I have seen a lot of people mention the SW 80ST, is this a good choice or do people have other suggestions?

Personally I'd say that if you're getting satisfactory guiding accuracy with a webcam + finder, there's no point buying another guider. If you are seeing round stars in your subs and are able to find a sufficiently bright guide-star then a bigger guider or a better camera won't make your final images any better.

All you'll be doing is adding extra weight to your mount and getting no additional benefit. In fact, depending on how close you are to the mount's payload "limit" you could end up making things worse.

[Kenza]

+1 for the ST80/QHY5 combo.

The next step up would definately be to go for a more sensitive guide camera - I like others went for the Lodestar solution.

I also plan on using the ST80 but i won't be imaging with a CCD ( I use a DSLR). So do i need anything more than an QHY5. I only need it for guiding, not imaging. Thanks!

[dmahon]

Signal has to get to the mount somehow. That can be with an ST4 cable from the camera or computer (Shoestring GPUSB), or via USB cable to the mount (EQMOD). I would recommend that everyone use EQMOD for Skywatcher mount control anyway, so why complicate matters adding unnecessary ST4 cables?

You still need PhD whichever control option you choose.

[Sp@ce_d]

I use PHD & EQMOD without ST4 cable and I started out with an ST80/Philips webcam. Then I upgraded to a QHY5, that made quite a difference with sensitivity. Next I switched to 9x50 finder with QHY5 & then a CoStar (wider FOV & Mac compatibility). Now I've got my obsy up and running I've gone back to guiding with my st80/qhy5 after a year or so using 9x50 finder/CoStar. I'm finding star shape is better with the longer FL guiding so the only subs I'm loosing now are to clouds!

[Slim]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I've almost got the go ahead for a roll off obsy so funds will be spent on that before anything else