Astro Essentials 32mm f/4 Mini Guide Scope

[palatine]

hello 

 does anyone use one of these? 

what are they like?

i hope to maybe use with my Star Adventurer and try my hand at a bit of astrophotography  

[CloudMagnet]

I use this for my guiding paired with the ZWO 120MM mini. it works really well, never had a problem finding a guide star. It can get up to a SNR of 200 with that camera so they make a good combination.

It has a big advantage in its low weight, so if you dont want to add much more stress to your mount, I would recommend it for shorter focal length scopes.

Juts remember to lock the red ring on the scope as this will keep the finder from flexing too much.

[david_taurus83]

Very good little scope. Better build quality than you would expect. I use mine with an ASI120 as well and I also use it to polar align with Sharpcap. I bought mine with the ZWO non rotating helical focuser and it helps to fine tune focusing but not essential. Also, adding a cheap IR/UV cut filter onto the camera really reduces bloating and tightens up stars nicely.

Edited June 11, 2020 by david_taurus83

[CloudMagnet]

15 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Also, adding a cheap IR/UV cut filter onto the camera really reduces bloating and tightens up stars nicely.

I never thought to do this, has it made a difference in guiding performance?

[david_taurus83]

Cant say about guiding performance but it noticeably tightened up stars. Got rid of the bloat halo. Especially noticable in Sharpcap when I was polar aligning.