Experiences with Lodestar Autoguider or equivelant?

[John K]

Hi guys,

I am trying to guide a 12.5" f/5 telescope (1600mm FL) and Canon 400D with a short focus 80mm f3.7 refractor.

Although I have a Skynix 2.0 camera which I use for planetary, and I have tried using Metaguide to guide with it, I have been unsucessful. As such, I have now reverted to PHD and an SPC900 webcam.

However as you can guess, the SPC900 is really very limiting in terms of accuracy and ability to actually find guidstars. I appears that other for really bright star areas such as M42, I am not able to get the accuracy I am seeking in 3-5 mins exposures. As such, I am now in the market for a super dopper guiding camera.

Reading all the threads I can see that the Starlight Lodestar is way up there in performance and price!!

Just wanting to know feedback on using Lodestar with PHD and a short focus refractor compared to other guide cameras as I am trying to justify the $700 price tag for a guide camera which is more than double than what I would like to spend.

My buying criteria is ability to use with PHD and find guidestars without a hassle and accuracy at 1600mm FL when guiding with a short focus 80mm diameter 300mm FL guidescope (which can be beefed up with a 2 x barlow off cource).

Look forward to everyone's advice.

Clear skies.

John K.

[Merlin66]

John,
Not sure my experience is what you're looking for...
I used a QHY5 on my C9.25 (at f10) using a beamsplitter - PHD and Al's reticle to guide a spectroscope. This requires hold the target star image on a 25 micron slt indefinately.
It worked very well on the brighter stars, the moving to the Lodestar has allowed me to go even deeper...far more sensitivity.
It works 100% with PHD (and Al's reticle!) and hopefully will keep me happy for the next few years.
Highly recommended.

[Geoff45]

The lodestar is a great camera. Highly recommended. I used the Orion guide camera previously and sometimes had trouble getting a guidestar. With A lodestar and my 4"refractor using an OAG there is always a guidestar. If you are using a guidescope(with consequent large field of view) you'll never lack for a good guidestar
Geoff

[Poita]

Meru has been borrowing mine, so he might give some advice as a new user.

From my point of view I could never go back to anything else. Never had a problem getting a solid guide or finding a guidestar, and that was on a C9.25 with an OAG.

Highly recommended, and sensitive enough to us an OAG and get rid of guidescope issues.

[DavidTrap]

What the others have already said - far superior to an Orion SSAG or QHY5.

DT

[John K]

Thanks for the comments and advice Gents.

This is what Terry Platt from Starlight Express advised as well:

"Many thanks for considering our Lodestar guider. It is extremely popular
and gives excellent guiding with PHD etc. You should get very good results when guiding with a 300mm FL guidescope, as the algorithms use sub-pixel accuracy. My only reservation is that our 'SuperStar' has smaller pixels and might be slightly more precise, although a little less sensitive."

The other alternative is the SBIG STi. I just wonder how it would compare. It uses a KAI 340 Kodak chip that is 7.4 microns square and 648 x 484 and appears to also allow darks to be subtracted etc.

...mmmmm...decision time.

[Merlin66]

John,
PHD will do darks and dark corrections for you with the Lodestar...or am I missing something?

[John K]

Yeah agree, that's a given, not a major issue, only if in the future I stop using PHD for some reason.

From reading all the threads on the net, the issue now in my mind appears to be more about build quality on the Lodestar. Dont really want to end up with a unit with loose connectors or a chip that has lines through it. Loadstar defenitely appears to be more sensetive that Sti, but with an 80mm 300mm FL guiding a 12.5" F/5 will that matter anynow?

[Merlin66]

John,
I use the TS coupler to "lock" the cables on the Lodestar. Works very well.

[SkyViking]

I'm using the Lodestar and can highly recommend it too. I always have at least several guide stars to choose from no matter where I point the scope. You will not be disappointed.

[blink138]

hello john even though i have no experience with any other guide camera, the lodestar amazes me!
i chose it because from most peoples opinion it is the best and i am not in the least techno savy and did not want to regret spending $400 hard earned on a cam that was more hit and miss
i downloaded phd and i have trouble free guiding!
the price on lodestar in oz is at the mo is equivalent if not better than the US at $650 AUS
my lodestar works brilliantly at 1750fl and a 500mm fl guidescope (see avatar)
pat

[Visionoz]

Hi John

Be aware that you will find quite a bit of hot pixels/lines with the Lodestar since it is not cooled - anyway most of the guiding softwares do allow you to take darks which will give you a "clean" screen to work with and it is very sensitive, like what others have said you get a chance to pick out guide stars always

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[srchadwi]

Hi John

I frequently use it in an OAG with a 3000mm scope so I'm effectively guiding at 3000mm. I've never once had a problem finding a guide star, never needing to go beyond 3 seconds exposure and even at the barest points in the sky.

Best purchase I ever made in terms of guiding.

Steve

[Terry B]

I can't comment about the lodestar but do have an STi. It is also very sensitive and has the advantage of an inbuilt shutter for darks. This is why I chose it over the lodestar when I decided on what guider to get for my spectrograph.

[John K]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Defenitely leaning towards a Lodestar and will be buying locally so that if any faulty CCD/Cable issues etc. arise I can pretty much guarantee it will be going back to the place of purchase for refund/replacement.

Seems that there have been some units out with questionable quality of some sort, but as high sensetivity is what I am seeking then Lodestar looks like the way to go. Will keep everyone posted on progress and unlikely to receive anything before Xmas.



Thanks for this - where can this be purchased? I know that a European dealer is also selling something like this:
http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/de/info/p5029_Strain-relief-for-Lodestar-cable---protects-the-connectors.html

[Merlin66]

John,
Yes, that's the one from Telescope Service. I bought mine while in Belgium....

[alpal]

I have a Lodestar - it works very well - has never let me down.

see here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/8029429824/in/photostream

I had an Orion SSAG & it was hopeless when used with an OAG.

[marki]

You might also like to have a look at the SBIG ST-I. Class 1 chip, shutter for true darks and very very sensitive with a small foot print. Love mine, has never let me down.

Mark

[gregbradley]

It seems Lodestar and STi are the 2 hot guiders at present.

Greg.

[Grimmeister]

Hi John,

I have recently purchased the LodeStar camera as I was using an Orion SSAG for guiding and GStar EX as en electronic finder, I have only had a chance to get first light on it last night due to the weather here in Brisbane but I have to say that I am very pleased with it.

I used to run guiding at 1.0 second exposures on the SSAG in order to see suitable guide stars but am able to run the LodeStar at 0.1 seconds and still see very faint stars, this has significantly reduced some of my egg shaped stars in long exposures (10 minutes).

I use the LodeStar on a 70MM WO Zenith Star scope and can see the nebulasity of Orion even at 0.1 seconds exposure :eyepop:.

I havent used the software that it ships with yet as I haven't had a chance to read the manual to see how it all works but it works flawlessly with PHD. I believe you can also image with these cameras using the Starlight software and am keen to give this a try.

In summary well worth the money.

Cheers

Anthony

[Meru]

Hey John,

I know its an older thread but I thought I'd chime in my opinion too :) As Poita said, I was very lucky to have the lodestar borrowed to try it out on my RC8 as an OAG. Here are my thoughts on the Lodestar, and OAG in general (See the second last post) - http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=102001. In essence, I just wish I shelled out the $600 and bought it in the first place. Its one of those things what no matter what imaging train you use, this thing is practically guaranteed to give you stars. I mean the RC8 has a 50% secondary and even though its a F/8 (1600mm) I *always* found a guidestar.

In your case it's a f/5 so I personally think you *might* be able to get away with the QHY5L-II or the likes since you wont have such dim stars. But I know that at 1600mm with my RC8 the FOV is severely restricted so chances of finding a bright star no matter where in the sky you point is also slim. Also I think at 1600mm you'd be hardpressed to guide with a guidescope. A good OAG costs ~$200; the ST80 is more expensive. A QHY5L-II costs $320. So its not that expensive to go OAG. If it doesnt work worst case sell the QHY5L-II for $40 cheaper (Since its so new and still in demand) and then get the lodestar. A $40 or so loss isnt that big a deal I personally think to have known first hand you tried with a cheaper guidecam :) food for thought.

[allan gould]

John
Have a look at the post re the ASI120MM camera i posted. At half the price of the Lodestar I think as a guider it just as good and I have a Lodestar.
Allan

[John K]

Guys,

Just an update after using the Lodestar camera now several times.

I have not experienced any of the poor chip issues that may have been described by others. If there is any variability in the CCD chips, my camera does not have these and is excellent.

My key buying factors were to get the smallest, lightest and most sensitive guide camera that I could afford.

Over the last weekend, I also switched to an OAG, and this is where I think this camera really comes good, as I did not have any issues with guide stars - I always had 3-4 options.

Attached is a 100% crop of a single 5min exposure near the Tarantula nebula. Nice round stars for the first time in my guiding!

Terry from Starlight Express was excellent in dealing with and responded very quickly to queries.

As such, my experience is that although at the top end from a price perspective, highly recommended and would buy again. Without easy and accurate guiding you simply can kiss any astrophotography attempt goodbye.

Also, in terms of guiding over 1000mm f.l., OAG is the way to go with this guide camera.

John K.

[Merlin66]

+1 from me.
It works well with the on-axis reflective slit plates in spectroscopes.

[gregbradley]

That's good news. I think some of the Lodestar issues were to do with compatibility with different software.

It certainly is a sensitive guider.

Greg.