starlight express loadstar/superstar

[higgins]

I am looking to guide my sw ed80 on a neq6. I will probably go for the st80 as a guide scope.  As for the guide cam i was wondering what the

pros and cons between the superstar and loadstar x2 would be as they are closely priced.  Any advice greatly appreciated.

[petevasey]

If you want to read some reviews on the Lodestar, google around.  But get the spelling right- you won't find the SX guide camera if you call it a 'Loadstar'

I have an X2 and I'm very pleased with it.  I have no experience with the Superstar.  But the majority preference would seem to be for the Lodestar.  The X2 has an upgraded guide port which is much more robust than that in the version 1 and the Superstar.

The Superstar has smaller pixels, so higher resolution than the Lodestar.  That might make for more accurate guiding, but may also make it less sensitive.

Cheers,

Peter.

[higgins]

Thanks for your advice Peter.

[f15p5]

I would get the mono X2, great guider and can be a decent imager using LL

[laser_jock99]

The Lodestar X2 is a marvellous guide camera- in a completely different league to others I have used. They can pull a guide star seemingly out of any situation (I recently used one to pick up the brightest (magnitude 20!) galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field challenge in just 180s).

A thought on the guide scope- I have recently moved away from separate guide scopes started using Off Axis Guiding (OAG). You could buy an OAG assembly from E-bay for less than half the price of an ST80.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-NEW-High-Quality-Off-Axis-Guider-with-Extra-Extension-Tubes-RRP-239-50P-/371316831988?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item56743536f4

The trick with getting one of these OAG's cheap is to bid about £45. Even if you are outbid the seller 'Joy' always gives you a second chance offer at your bid price (I got two of these this way- even though 'winners' paid well over £50!).

Combined with a sensitive camera like the Lodestar X2 these cheap OAG's have doubled my trail free tracking to over 30 mins and I have been able to take some load off the mount by removing the guide scope.

[Horwig]

A second vote for Lodestar and OAGs. I've got two Mk1 Lodestars, on different camara/oag setups.

The second I bought for a very good price from someone upgrading to a mk2. I've never failed to find a guide star with it, so personally, I'm not tempted by the mk2.

Huw

[Steve 1962]

Another vote from me for the Lodestar ( I have the Mark 1 ) and an OAG. I swapped to the OAG from a separate guide scope a year or so ago, and find it really good. I've never had a problem finding a guide star.

[Sleepy Kiki]

I'm guiding my AZEQ6 with a Lodestar and never misses a beat. I use a 10x60 finder (mounted on top of ED80) so there's always plenty of guide stars to choose from

[Physopto]

Loadstar quite the best for guiding I'm sure. I have the mk1and now the x2. There have been several quoted problems with the x2 type. Check it out before you buy. Personally I will just fit a stainless steel support on the camera to support the USB cable and socket. That should sort out any worry over that aspect. (Haven't used it yet).

[Horwig]

Personally I will just fit a stainless steel support on the camera to support the USB cable and socket. That should sort out any worry over that aspect. (Haven't used it yet).

Agree with Physopto regarding cable management. This is my solution on a mk1 Lodestar:

Right angle usb connectors are a must for me, I'm clumsy. I've done the same with my imaging camera and filterwheel.

BTW, I went over to pulse guiding from ST4 when I 'compromised' the cable, haven't looked back

Huw

[ollypenrice]

I've several Mk1 Lodestars here and haven't found that any one cable management solution really solves the problem of the underspecified socket. I've done all the usual things like add a support, or loop the cable back on itself, but sooner or later I get a glitchy spell and removing the first solution usually provides the second solution - for a while! Then the original solution goes back on and that works for a while...

For all that, it's a good guide camera but the new socket ought to be an improvement. I haven't tried one.

I can see the point in OAGs for reflectors but I've nevr felt the need on refractors.

Olly