dbk 21au618 as an autoguider?

[toc]

Hi all :)

Quick question - Will the ImagingSource 21au618 work as an autoguider? Im guessing as long as windows can see it, PHD should be able to use it?

[iceman]

Absolutely.
I've used my DMK21AU04 as a guide camera, with PHD.
The 618 will work just as well.

[toc]

Thanks mike :) If I get the colour version of the 618, will that cause problems? I see that most autoguiders are monochrome.

[iceman]

No that will be fine. It won't quite as sensitive but it'll still work.

[gregbradley]

That's interesting Mike.

Did you have to use autodarks or was it fairly clean?

What sort of exposure times did you need to use?
What guide camera?

Are any of these models cooled?

That would be really handy as buying a separate guide cam is not great value when you can get a top of the line planetary cam like this at the same time.

Greg.

[iceman]

I tried it both with auto darks and without, it really just depended on how bright the guide star was.

It's clearly not going to be as sensitive as a dedicated astro cam, but you could still use anything up to 1s exposures with the DMK.

I used the DMK21AU04, none of them are cooled.

It's definitely handy that it doubles as a planetary imaging camera!