Guide scope difference

[Gerry Casa Christiana]

Hello 

Just a quick question I  have 2 guide scopes but just been using one of them which is the qhy mini guide scope this one here but I have also the Altair astro 60mm f3.7 which I have never tried but bought in error. My guiding seems ok on my Skywatcher 150pds I usually get around 70-80 Rms on PhD but I'm wondering if it will make a difference? Any thoughts guys and girls? Any insights? 

Thanks 

Gerry

[wimvb]

The 60 mm scope collects more light which makes it easier to guide on dimmer stars. Otherwise it's about matching guiding pixel scale with imaging pixel scale. If I were you, I'd test the larger scope, and use the one that "feels" best, because you can discuss statistics all you want; in the end it's the one that is easiest to handle which will win.

[Gerry Casa Christiana]

7 minutes ago, wimvb said:

The 60 mm scope collects more light which makes it easier to guide on dimmer stars. Otherwise it's about matching guiding pixel scale with imaging pixel scale. If I were you, I'd test the larger scope, and use the one that "feels" best, because you can discuss statistics all you want; in the end it's the one that is easiest to handle which will win.

Ah I see. Yes I was wondering if the image scale would make a difference. I'm not sure but yes might be worth a test and see if there is any improvement. Certainly the mini guide scope is easier because it's smaller and lighter and fits directly into the crosshair scope holder so in that respect seems a lot easier. Just wondered if my guiding would be better.

Cheers 

Gerry

[mikey2000]

If it's any help, I was feeling curious recently and tried my guide camera (QHY5L-iiC) fitted directly into my main 150PDS imaging scope . 

I was wondering if it was worth upgrading to a big/bright guidesceop.

I compared the guiding results to those I normally get using my QHY mini guidescope (same as yours) and saw practically no difference.   So, I'm happy to carry on using this small and lightweight guidescope - it's very practical.  So the difference in focal length/aperture made no difference really.      I soon realised I didn't need to spend any more on guidescopes for my 150PDS for my setup

[mikey2000]

Also, the mini guidescope is 130mm focal length and F4.   So it's quite 'bright' anyway and 130mm gives quite a wide field of view.  I've never struggled to find a decent star to guide.  No tube rings or other fiddly stuff - it just clamps easily into the finderscope holder.  Simple and easy!

[Gerry Casa Christiana]

1 hour ago, mikey2000 said:

If it's any help, I was feeling curious recently and tried my guide camera (QHY5L-iiC) fitted directly into my main 150PDS imaging scope . 

I was wondering if it was worth upgrading to a big/bright guidesceop.

I compared the guiding results to those I normally get using my QHY mini guidescope (same as yours) and saw practically no difference.   So, I'm happy to carry on using this small and lightweight guidescope - it's very practical.  So the difference in focal length/aperture made no difference really.      I soon realised I didn't need to spend any more on guidescopes for my 150PDS for my setup

It’s good then as is. Wonder what I can use the other scope for