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Quick guiding scope question for you veterans

Catanonia

By Catanonia
in Imaging - Discussion

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Catanonia

Catanonia

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Handed the PL130M and shoestring back to OpticStar for a full refund.

I tried everything, including MaximDL and AstroArt and still no joy.

The device drivers are very dodgy for the PL130M. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes you get images, sometimes it messes up buffers in native mode and this causes all sorts of problems.

Reading reviews on the web and yet to find any good words on the camera and in one review against other similar cams it was dismissed immediately because of driver / light sensitivity issues.

Oh well, hopefully others will read this and be warned about this as a guide camera. I am sure as a planet camera it is ok, but as a guide, no.

QHY5 is going to be the replacement.

Thanks all. I wanted to see this to the end and prove definatively that the cam isn't up to the job.

Cat

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Catanonia

Catanonia

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I did the same with another Opticstar camera (318) stuck at it and tried eveything before finally getting a refund...or rather an exchange... for something which actually does do what it says on the tin...(or should that be box)...

Peter...

I know of 2 other people this week that are asking for refunds.

It is bundled with PHD but thier words are that you actually need maximdl or astroart to actually give it a fighting chance of working. (See my previous replies in this thread). That is £100 - £400 extra for software and even then it doesn't work well if at all.

The software and drivers are very dodgey and don't always work which adds to the confusion. I went through 30 mins last night just trying to get a standard image in video mode because it had screwed up the drivers.

OpticStar state this as a good guide cam in the package. This is not true. Add £300 or more for software and with patience and luck, you might get 1 guide star out of 10 attempts. If you are LUCKY..

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Catanonia

Catanonia

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Guide Rings arrived today from a member and fitted. Love them and fit the ED80 to a tee and all aligned up now.

Picking up a QHY5 today and the PL130m OpticStar has been returned :)

Hopefully you won't hear anymore on this subject from me :)

Thanks all ;)

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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All these things can be a bit frustrating so its worth spending a bit of time with the forum and nets serach engines so that your hopefully ahaed of the game... very rarely you will get a unique problems but chances are soemone else has already gone through the pain and dissapointment...and having a couple of things ready to try out can help get you up and running ASAP...

One of the common soultions is to get the latest DLL's/drivers from Bern's (modern astronomy's) site...

Fore warned is fore armrmed and all that marlarky...

Peter...

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Catanonia

Catanonia

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All these things can be a bit frustrating so its worth spending a bit of time with the forum and nets serach engines so that your hopefully ahaed of the game... very rarely you will get a unique problems but chances are soemone else has already gone through the pain and dissapointment...and having a couple of things ready to try out can help get you up and running ASAP...

One of the common soultions is to get the latest DLL's/drivers from Bern's (modern astronomy's) site...

Fore warned is fore armrmed and all that marlarky...

Peter...

Indeed mate and I am living proof of the power of forum databases, hence my rapid progression in about 6 weeks :)

I always 'attack' a forum with searches and questions to progress new hobbies and so far this forum has by far been the best. I have spoken and met with quite a few people so far and the help is beyond belief. I can only hope that I can contribute as much in the near future.

Again massive thanks to all. :)

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