guiding?

[iwols]

hi just using eqmod ,stellarium scope,stellarium on a heq5 mount to find and track dso objects,just wondered what the benefits were on using the st4 port on the scope mount

[brantuk]

Guiding refines the tracking making very fine adjustments to enable imaging. To do guided tracking you need a second "guide scope" with a second "guide camera" to track a star very near the target  being imaged by the imaging scope/camera. It depends on accurate polar alignment and feeds the guide star position to your computer where "Phd" interprets it's current position and feeds back control movements to the mount via the ST4 port.

Phd is guiding software free to down load (stands for "Push Here Dummy"). Sounds a bit tongue in cheek but it really does work.

[ollypenrice]

Autoguiding is only necessary for long exposure deep sky imaging. It isn't needed either for fast frame camera solar system imaging or for visual observing. However, it can reduce the tracking errors of a mount from thirty arcseconds to about half an arcsecond on a full turn of the wheel. That's rather a big improvement!

Olly

[iwols]

Thanks for  that  ,can anyone suggesti a  small guide scope to secure to my éd80 that isnt too large or expensive

[Tinker1947]

You can use a redundant Finder scope with a Adapter replacing the bit you look through and a CCD attached they work......If your useing EQMod and PHD its recommended to do Pulse Guiding only requires a USB connection......unlike this Photo...

[brrttpaul]

Hoping to start guiding myself soon, main question can I do it on an equinox 80? reason im asking its a small scope and I already got a telrad on there. question 2, is it just plugged in to the HEQ5 mount ST4 one end and the other end to the camera? question 3 what sort of ccd camera would i need and is it a case of strting PHD picking a star and pressing a button to do it or do I need a physics degree

[iwols]

3 hours ago, brrttpaul said:

Hoping to start guiding myself soon, main question can I do it on an equinox 80? reason im asking its a small scope and I already got a telrad on there. question 2, is it just plugged in to the HEQ5 mount ST4 one end and the other end to the camera? question 3 what sort of ccd camera would i need and is it a case of strting PHD picking a star and pressing a button to do it or do I need a physics degree

excellent questions

[iwols]

is it possible to connect anything to the finder scope that came with the ed 80 to guide with

[StevieDvd]

11 hours ago, brrttpaul said:

Hoping to start guiding myself soon, main question can I do it on an equinox 80? reason im asking its a small scope and I already got a telrad on there. question 2, is it just plugged in to the HEQ5 mount ST4 one end and the other end to the camera? question 3 what sort of ccd camera would i need and is it a case of strting PHD picking a star and pressing a button to do it or do I need a physics degree

A standard finderscope, as per the image above from Tinker1947, makes a good guide scope and should not trouble the Equinox/HEQ5 combo. Typically you would use the USB connection on the guide camera which is picked up by the guide software, though using the direct ST4 cable is an option too.

A small camera such as the QHY5L II mono at lower price end or a Lodestar X2 at the higher end can be connected to a finderscope  - adapters can be bought from Modern Astronomy  as can the cameras.  If the finderscope has an eyepiece option then no adapter is required.

Almost a push button experience (PHD software is described as 'Push Here Dummy' ) so no degree needed.

ED80 finderscopes are a much used guide scope

 

 

[brantuk]

You can use a cheap achro like the ST80 which is very popular - or use a finder/guider with a camera attached like this one:

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-60mm-miniguider-with-autoguider-webcam-focuser-tube-rings-multi-purpose-base.html

Some folks modify their finder scope to attach a camera. An off axis guider is also a very good alternative - useful on larger sct's and mak's.

[brrttpaul]

So the camera at the back of the finder is connected to the laptop? ok I get that, I take it thats to connect the PHD  but what connects to the st4 then  

[Tinker1947]

33 minutes ago, brrttpaul said:

So the camera at the back of the finder is connected to the laptop? ok I get that, I take it thats to connect the PHD  but what connects to the st4 then  

There are 2 ways to run a guide scope with PHD, the USB cable only with EQMod, this is pulse guiding, the other system requires a ST4 cable and a USB cable, the ST4 links the camera to the mount ST4 Port, the USB cable the Guide CCD to PHD, The EQMod manual has a piece on guiding from what i remember EQMod runs better in the Pulse Guiding Mode...

http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/tutindex.html

[brrttpaul]

Thx for the help and link, just wondering what are peoples opinion on  ST4 vs pulse guiding

[MARS1960]

17 hours ago, brrttpaul said:

Thx for the help and link, just wondering what are peoples opinion on  ST4 vs pulse guiding

Personally i started like that and had pretty much everything connected up to my laptop, it started to feel like i was distancing myself from what originally appealed to me about astronomy.

All i use my laptop for now is stellarium to check whats where and when it's going to be there, i am now going to invest in one of these, the camera will fit nicely into my ED80 finder with a modern astronomy adaptor and this thing has some great functions and excellent specs.

http://www.365astronomy.com/LACERTA-M-GEN-v2-Stand-Alone-Guider.html