Lodestar with Orion mini guider

[Hitesh]

Hi all, ive recently tried my hand at guiding but hit a bit of a wall, hoping you guys may have a few suggestions.

I've had no luck focussing the camera so that I can get phd2 to work, I tried using a Barlow without the lense, this helped but not enough, my question is do I need an extension tube or something? Or am I going about this all wrong[emoji33]?

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[Owmuchonomy]

Now then, is it the Lodestar Mk 1? If so I had this problem with my Altair Astro guide scope. The back focus is 140mm in my set up which means I have to add a nose piece to the Lodestar. Baader make them to screw directly into the Lodestar. The AA guide scope then has an adjustable straight extension/focusser tube and these items combined give me good focus.

[Hitesh]

Yes it's the original one, I've no idea how much back focus I need, how do I work that out?

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[Owmuchonomy]

Same Lodestar as mine then. I'm just reporting what I found with my set up. My guide scope is F4.1 FL 328mm. Is that similar to yours? If so I guess the back focus will be similar and you will need extensions to reach that.

[Hitesh]

Mine has a f/l of 162mm at f3.2

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[Owmuchonomy]

I just experimented with mine in the daytime with various tubes and Heath Robinson arrangements until I got focus and then measured it up. I then contacted the dealer and they sourced the Baader nosepiece which adds about 18mm to the length of the Lodestar.

[Hitesh]

How do you get focus during the day?

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