Guide scope and camera advice

[icebergahed]

Hi

so i have a alt/az mount and a dslr which i have been able to get some basic imaging done 5 secs or so. I would to get some longer exposures. Would it be beneficial to buy a guide camera and scope? Or just not bother?

I enjoy the simple setup of these mounts compared to GEM mounts, and i dont have funds for a AVX. I have had a look at wedges but thr general consensus seems to be these are a waste of time.

I am aware of the field rotation you get on these mounts even if you have a guide star tracking. 

I have a Nexstar SE6 mount.

 

Thanks

[Demonperformer]

I used to have a 6SE and I am not sure that 'guiding' works terribly well unless you use a wedge.

My experience was that there is an inverse relation between the number of useable subs and the exposure length, the balance point of which I found to be between 15 & 20 seconds. One thing I found that made a lot of difference was the direction at which you approached an object. Following the advice in the manual (and thus reducing sloppiness in the gear train) was the single biggest contributor to getting (slightly) longer subs with this mount.

Another thought is that scts do not work optimally with separate guide scopes. There is a certain amount of 'slop' in the mirror as the scope moves and so they work best with an Off-Axis Guider (OAG).