Guiding Nightmare

[riogrande100]

I have both guidescope and off axis guide setup. And whilst i only spent a short while with off axis a few nights back i did actually get to see stars to track. However with a sepearte guide scope i could never get the thinbs in focus even after 1 1/2 hours using it.

I heard that off axis was suppsoed to be harder, but i think it's easie rusing the orion off axis guider. the only issue i had was getting the camera into focus, but that was my first try and took minutes.

Any techniques people use would be helpful.

[Merlin66]

Glad you had some success with your OAG! Once the cameras are focused - majic happens.

With the guide scope you should have had no problems with focusing....

What was your set-up? If you're guiding straight through you'll need a 50mm extension to compensate for the diagonal...

Ken

[BlueAstra]

Set up your OAG and telescope/camera in daylight. You may need to use a very fast exposure time on the guide camera if it is very sensitive, otherwise it will overexpose. As Merlin says, you will probably need an extension tube to focus once you have taken out the diagonal. Focus the imaging camera, then adjust the guide cam focus until in focus.

This was my experience with the OAG:

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-discussion/90916-orion-oag-first-light.html

[riogrande100]

I will use off axis over guide scope, as tink its easier. quicker setup etc. but will let you know how it goes. Any tips for how to setup during the day?

for example if i focus the DSLR on an object far away and the QHy5 sees the same object that would be sufficient.

UPDATED: Just saw the link above and that seems to answer my question above.