ZWO 30F4 miniguider scope Q

[vineyard]

Hello,

With the ZWO sale that's now running, I'm thinking about possibly dipping my toe in to guided imaging.  And so was wondering whether SGLers had any view on the ZWO 30F4 miniguider scope.  I've run that on astronomy.tools against EvoGuide50 and Altair Astro 60 miniguiders, and it seems to have a nice big FOV (all the better for getting a good guide star in light polluted skies?).  Its nice and small and light.  What is it like to focus in practice - and can its focus be locked for future use (I don't think so guessing from the photos)?

My main scope is a 102mm f8.6 - is that miniguider too small for that?  I suspect the Evo or the Altair would be better, but just in case...

Thank you!

Vin

[CloudMagnet]

I use a version of this finder due to the low weight, it does the job and I haven't had trouble finding a star for PHD2 to use. Focus for me with a ZWO 120MM mini means I need to unscrew the finder by about 6cm to get focus (without any spacers)- this can take a couple of minutes because of how long it takes to manually turn it. You can't lock the focus but you could simply store it at the right focal position to save time and then fine tune it when you start looping exposures.

Overall, if you need something small and lightweight, it would be a good option but it would put a bit of strain on your tracking as most people would recommed a longer focal length guidescope to match up with your telescope FL.