What guide scope for 12" Meade LX200 GPS ACF

[Rambler10]

Hi

I am in the process of looking for a guide scope for my meade 12", I have a budget of around £300, this will also include the cost of dovetail rail and rings. The guide scope would also be used for imaging, for this I have a meade DSI II colour CCD and Nikon D300/D200 and a D3 DSLR cameras. At the moment I have in mind 2 particular scopes in mind, i would welcome any feedback or advice or your experiences from members as to the pro's and con's of these or if there is a better alternative to those mentioned. The 2 in mind are:

Opticstar AR80S OTA = £149.00

ADM Meade LX12 mini dovetail system including rings = £181.00

= £330.00

Skywatcher Startravel 80 OTA = £105.00

ADM Losmandy Style mount including rings = £181.00

=£286.00

Would I be better off just using the main scope for imaging purposes and using the guide scopes as guide scopes?

I am not sure if the ADM system will mount the Opticstar, I contacted Opticstar and they said I need the farpoint mount system with a total cost of £414.00, this seems a little over the top!!! any advice?

Thank you for any replies given.

Steve

[r3i]

When imaging at the long focal lengths that the likes of the Meade 12" have, you might want to consider an off-axis guider, though this will lengthen the image train at the back of your scope so you would need to check the clearance to ensure the camera won't crash into the fork base when pointing at high declinations (I'm assuming you're scope is mounted on a wedge).

The Skywatcher ST80 is often recommended as a good choice for a guide scope. However be aware that it is an achromatic scope, so is less suited to imaging due to the chromatic aberration.

[Rambler10]

Thanks r3i

i was looking at the skywatcher ST80 but reviews from this forum on the optic star placed it better value because of its better optics!!!!

I already have a problem with the imaging train on the OTA as it has a 6.3 focal reducer and a Crawford 2 speed focuser attached at the rear. The scope is mounted on a AE mega wedge, so at the moment I am really struggling for a good set up for imaging. My present equipment is as follows:

Meade 12" GPS AFC / AE mega Wedge / Bright Star flip mirror system / Crawford 2 Speed focuser / Meade 5000 eyepiece set / Meade DSI II colour / X2 Barlow / Meade 12mm illuminated wireless reticule eyepiece / Nikon D300 / D200 / D3 cameras / Baader Nebula filter.

Is there a good setup to be had out of this lot or would a guide scope be a good addition for the imaging?

The scope is controlled by laptop via Autostar and Envisage, so I do need to be careful about what I want to look at as you said the base of the fork mount is a problem.

[Merlin66]

If you just want a guide scope then the ST80 will do the job. I used one on the 12" Lx200 for spectroscopy.

If you want a smaller refractor to use for imaging then something in the ED class (probably with a field flattner/ reducer) would be the way to go.

Or consider an ol' 200 f4 telelens - will work as a guider/ electronic finder and/or imaging......

[Davey-T]

I have a 10" SCT and have used ST80, 100mm f6 refractor and currently using an old 80mm f9 refractor as the nearer to matching focal lengths of the guide scope and imaging scope the easier I've found the

guiding. I use PHD and have one lot of settings for each side of the meridian.

You also need counterbalance weights under the scope, I use a set of matching bars top and bottom of the scope from Telescope House.

Dave

You can set the maximum Dec in the hand control to stop the imaging train hitting the base