In relation to guiding, if you have a webcam both Guidemaster and PHD guiding work excellently. I was surprised by the both of these programs to be able to register with faint stars as they appear to stack the number of images taken during the guidetime to give better amplification of the guide star. Guidemaster is now very stable with a new version (1.8.100) at
http://www.guidemaster.de/guidemaster_demo_en.asp
Regards, Allan