|
Leon,
I will share my view on this. Many others may have other ideas/concepts.
There are two options; Off axis guider or guidescope.
Off axis guiders (OAG) are good for SCTs, Newts. There are some advantages of guiding on the same imaging path for example SCT primary mirror shifts can be remedied (providing the shift isn't too large). The downside of many off axis guiders is that the guide stars can be dim and with many scopes as the pick off prism that redirects the light to the guider is at the field of view edge, the stars are elongated (not pinpoints). In addition to this guide star selection is limited and in some cases you don't want to be guiding at the long focal length you are imaging due to poor seeing conditions. Poor seeing will result in the guider making some major corrections usually with erroneous results.
A separate guidescope gives you greater flexibility and I believe is the best option for you with the FSQ-106N. I would refrain from putting an OAG in the optical path of the FSQ-106N. Doing so will change your 530mm focal length and as you've experienced reaching focus with the FSQ-106N can be at times difficult due to its limited back focus. Finally you've purchased the scope for its fast flat field, don't compromise that with an OAG.
So to get you up and running you're going to need to investigate;
How to mount another scope to your G11 - done via tube rings to mount on to of the FSQ-106N or changing of the Losmandy dovetail plate to accommodate two scopes side-by-side (part number DSBS). A general rule of thumb - the guide scope should be 1/3rd the focal length of your main scope. There are plenty of small low end refractors that will meet this requirement. You're then going to need a guider such as web cam or if you've got some funds a CCD guider (which will allow you to select much fainter guide stars). There is plenty of software around for guiding, depends on your budget. Some software is better than others. Look for features such as guiding aggressiveness configuration and the ability to not worry about aligning your guider's pixel array with your telescope's RA. MaximDL what I would consider to be one of the best packages around. You could also use this to control your 5D, and assist in image processing. Very powerful.
There are plenty of links available on guiding. Don't expect to guide well straight away. It will take sometime to fine tune the your system, but once optimised you'll be able to go very deep in your images with pinpoint stars to the edge.
|