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Old 17-04-2020, 07:42 AM
Emuhead (Andrew)
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Guide scope help - which of these?

Hi guys,

Looking for a recommendation on whether to go with an Orion 60mm 240mm f/4 guidescope or a SkyWatcher Evoguide 50ED 50mm 242mm f/4.8. I'm guessing the 60mm will find more stars, especially as it's larger and faster, but the Evoguide could have sharper stars.. looking for the best guiding possible.

The main scope has a 550mm focal length.

Cheers,
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Old 17-04-2020, 08:00 AM
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The_bluester (Paul)
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I can't comment on those two but I have been using my Evostar 72mm as a guidescope (Using the 0.85 reducer for about F5 at 350mm) and it provides heaps of guidestars. I started out imaging with that scope as an exercise in dipping my toe in the water and it is acting as a guider on my new scope until the new off axis guider I have coming arrives. I needed an upgrade there as the OAG I was using before lacked rigidity.

It does perfectly well and aside from the usual caveats about flexure between the guide and imaging scopes I don't expect any benefit from the OAG except for better integration of equipment and a lighter imaging rig. I would think within the same limits both the Orion 60 and Evostar 50 should do pretty well so long as the focal length suits what you are trying to guide with it. At 550mm I would reckon it should be able to work well.
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Old 17-04-2020, 08:19 AM
glend (Glen)
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Is cost a consideration? Many folks use the ZWO 60mm guide scope, it may have a cost advantage over those other two. Usually available from Bintel.
There are also a range of new Mini-guidescope, made by Orion and ZWO, which are well suited to the small cameras from ASI like the 290 mini. If you main scope has a focal length of just 550mm, a mini guide scope might be a good match. The mini guide scopes usually just slide into a finder scope bracket, which is another plus in that you Don't need a top rail to mount them.
Stay away from OAG setups when your just starting out.

https://www.bintel.com.au/product/or...v=322b26af01d5

https://www.bintel.com.au/product/zw...v=322b26af01d5


Note the low stock levels on these miniguidescopes, they are very popular now and sell out quickly.

And as far as finding more stars goes, your best bet is to buy a good sensitive guide camera like the ASI290mini, but they are not cheap. The ASI120mini is much cheaper.
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Old 17-04-2020, 08:31 AM
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Astronut07 (Ben)
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Just to add on to Glen’s post

I’m using the ZWO 30F4 on my TS Optics 71mm Quad (450mm) with no issues at all


It’s a small compact unit
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Old 17-04-2020, 10:26 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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I’ve been using a 60mm Orion guide scope with helical focuser ( FL 240mm ) with a ZWOASI120MM- S for 3 years , no issue at all running PHD2 . Main scope 1000mm FL
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Old 17-04-2020, 11:20 AM
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Camelopardalis (Dunk)
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The EvoGuide is very sharp... I use mine with an ASI290 mono and get beautiful pin-point stars for guiding
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Old 17-04-2020, 02:05 PM
Emuhead (Andrew)
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Ok it seems that either will work well. Thanks for the responses.

And Glen, yes Ill be getting the 290MM (now just to work out if i need the USB 3.0 version or if the USB 2.0 Mini will be just as good as a guider).

Last edited by Emuhead; 17-04-2020 at 03:04 PM.
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