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Old 03-05-2017, 01:07 PM
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that_guy (Tony)
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autoguiding, the cheapest and most effective method?

Hey yall, now that I've upgrade my mount to an HEQ5 pro, I'm looking to autoguide for longer exposures. I dug up an old meade DSI thats still working and ordered the shoestring bluetooth module from binetel. I have everything i need except a method of auto guiding. so my question is, do i use OAG or a premade guidescope or mounting a cheapo refractor from gumtree?
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Old 03-05-2017, 01:56 PM
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Benjamin (Ben)
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I'm probably not one to offer advice on this but with my ED80 and HEQ5 I use a finderguider: a straight through finderscope with the end removed and an adapter (from modern astronomy in the UK) added so I can screw my camera onto it. I've kept the finder mount too, but removed the spring loaded bolt and wrapped the end of the finder tube up in some cloth and tape and jammed it all into the holder and tightened the two screws that are left. Very precise work! Anyway it sits in there very solidly (no flexing) and I can still use the screws to get it in line with the scope. Of course you could mount it all in a much neater way.
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Old 03-05-2017, 01:57 PM
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billdan (Bill)
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Gooday Tony,

OAG is the best long term solution but they are a pain to setup correctly.

I bought the Orion thin OAG and it took me 4 hours to get it to work properly, fiddling around with spacers so as the prism did not intrude onto the main ccd chip, and then getting the guide cam parfocal with the main CCD. That time included the prism falling off at one stage and I re-installed it back to front and wondered why I could never get a picture.

For you to get started, I would use a separate guide scope and as long as its bolted down tight should be OK. You can look at an OAG later if you feel your guiding is not good enough.

When I had the guide scope my total RMS guiding was in the range of 1 to 1.2 arcsec, this reduced to 0.7 -0.9 arcsec with the OAG (using an EQ6).

Cheers
Bill
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Old 03-05-2017, 02:06 PM
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ED80 on EQ5 user here with a finderguider. Cheap and it works really well. ED80 + fiinderguider do not have much weight and there won't be any (much) flexing.

Be careful not to add too much weight with cheap refractors.
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Old 03-05-2017, 02:13 PM
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that_guy (Tony)
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ive been looking to convert a finder scope to guide scope for a while but could never find an adapter aha. I'm assuming you're talking about this?http://www.modernastronomy.com/shop/...rough-finders/ why is an adapter that small so expensive
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Old 03-05-2017, 02:45 PM
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My guide camera is a little different (Prostar LP-guide, much like a QHY5) so the adapter is different. Just a case of getting the right adapter for your camera (Bern there is very helpful). It did still cost me £28 and some shipping but still cheaper than buying a new setup, given I had a straight through finder I wasn't using. Bintel has the whole setup available if you don't have the finder already for $150....

https://www.bintel.com.au/product/or...m-guide-scope/
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Old 03-05-2017, 03:57 PM
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that_guy (Tony)
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just had a fiddle around with the dsi, im no longer sure its fully working aha. I also have a samsung sdc435 that ive been using for video astronomy, will this also work as a guidecam if needed? the problem with this tho is that it is substantially larger than the meade dsi and if i do use it, ill have to use it on something more sturdier than the finder scope mount.
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Old 03-05-2017, 04:48 PM
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Might be more about whether it can connect with PHD or whatever program you are using for guiding? Metaguide might be the answer

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/399445-ieq45-pe/
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Old 03-05-2017, 06:42 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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Shooting with an ED80 I wouldn't bother with hastle of an OAG. A guide scope or modified finder scope is all you need.

One of the "annoying" aspects of an OAG is the constricted FOV and that you're also shooting at whatever focal length you're wimaging with.

Guide scopes are routinely between F/2.75 and F/4 making them quite fast and with a great FOV.
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Old 04-05-2017, 04:25 PM
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good news, the dsi is not broken just needed like two extension tubes. so thats one less thing to worry about. I'll prob just end up getting the prebuilt finderguider, do they just fit where the finderscope would be?
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Old 04-05-2017, 05:33 PM
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also quick question, I ordered the shoestring bluetooth (BT2EQ5) for my heq5 mount. I can use this to connect my mount to my computer to autoguide right?
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Old 05-05-2017, 04:25 PM
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that_guy (Tony)
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UPDATE: BT2EQ5 arrived and is working perfectly (answered my own question regarding autoguiding). Bought a 50mm orion finderguider from a fella on gumtree for $100. Downloaded all the necessary software. I just need to learn how to use PHD2 and EQMOD.
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Old 05-05-2017, 07:45 PM
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Tony what camera is that you're using as a guider?
You gotta love that warning sticker lol.
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Old 05-05-2017, 08:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LostInSp_ce View Post
Tony what camera is that you're using as a guider?
You gotta love that warning sticker lol.
The camera I'm using is a Meade DSI, I probably need an extension tube (needed one for my ed80 for the camera to come to focus.). You can thank jjjnettie for that sticker by the way aha it was her scope before it was mine.
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Old 06-05-2017, 07:17 PM
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Haha nice
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Old 06-05-2017, 08:30 PM
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that_guy (Tony)
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Good news folks, the dsi comes to focus without an extension tube! I just had to push the objective to the very edge of its thread and the dsi nosepiece is half hanging BUT i wont need to spend another dollar . I managed to sort out what to do with phd2 calibration which stumped me for a good 3 hours before the clouds rolled in. Tomorrow is predicted to be a clear night so I'll have another go then. Things to do now is learn how to drift align using phd2.

Quick question, does the guidescope have to be perfectly aligned with the imaging scope? similar to a finderscope?
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Old 06-05-2017, 09:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by that_guy View Post
Quick question, does the guidescope have to be perfectly aligned with the imaging scope? similar to a finderscope?
Short answer not really but I like to have it pointing at the same thing that the OTA is that's just me though. As you get closer to the poles you'll have less movement from your guide star so guiding becomes harder. This is where having it not perfectly aligned to the OTA can help. The sky rotates (well we rotate) the same everywhere so in theory it shouldn't matter where it's pointed so long as the star you're locked on hasn't passed beyond the horizon or is a UFO.
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