What goes where????

[ronaldo999]

Finally got all i need for my guiding setup, comprises of the following,

Celestron C6 XLt

CG5 mount with synscan upgrade ( has autoguide port)

Astro engineering guide scope ( 400mm Focal 80mm aperture)

Meade DSI 2 colour

Canon 450d

Mounted side by side, plan on using Phd for guiding. Also bought the serial to usb connector.

Basicall i need to know how all this connects together for guiding. I know the DSi is connected to laptop with USB but its the guiding part and how it connects back to the mount etc. Had some good results with no guiding with the 450d but want to look at longer exposure and better results in the long term. Any help appreciated

Andy

[Cornelius Varley]

The part you are missing is an autoguide interface Shoestring Astronomy Autoguide kit. One side of the interface plugs into a USB port on your laptop and the other side plugs into the ST4 port on your mount. The interface uses optocouplers to electrically isolate the laptop from the mount.

Peter

[ronaldo999]

does phd guiding not use the interface in the hand controller instead or am i not understanding correctly????

[jgs001]

I think, with the synscan setup you can connect the laptop to the hand controller on pc direct mode. I can't personally comment on how easy that might be a I have the syntrek version and replaces re handset with the lappy.

[Cornelius Varley]

If you don't wish to use an autoguider, you can also autoguide using EQMOD and EQASCOM without an extra cable to the mount.

Peter