Folks,
Last weekend I found myself getting satisfactory 5+ minute subs with my little Zenithstar (~340mm, f/4.7) unguided on my EQ6.
So I thought I'd give my little C8 Edge a ride, running around 1400mm or so with the 0.7x reducer. 1 minute subs were the best I could muster. I added my little makeshift autoguider kit - an old favourite but sharp and solid 60mm Tasco f/5 refractor with my QHY5L-II. This little lot was secured onto the OTA using a Celestron piggy back adapter...don't laugh too hard
I then fired up my netbook and started Metaguide, calibrated it, found a guide star and clicked GUIDE.
Needless to say, I couldn't get longer exposures without horrid star trails
So IISers, I beg you, where do I start? Obviously I'd like to get longer subs from my C8 as I have a growing list of targets that could use the focal length. However, I'm financially constrained right now, so unless I get a winning lottery ticket an OAG is out of the question. Should I just be happy and focus on wider targets with my setup until that situation changes?
Or are there settings in Metaguide that anyone could recommend I try?
I appreciate my guide scope is not mounted ideally, but the guide star stayed pretty much centred when the wind wasn't interfering and the error graph would turn into something out of a physics class. Of course I'm open to suggestions for low/no cost options there. I'm not afraid to use gaffer tape
I just feel a bit like I'm on the precipice of getting an exciting new source of data, maybe I'm not, maybe just a hard landing awaits
Any pearls of wisdom for an autoguiding dummy greatly appreciated...