Quote:
Originally Posted by Hagar
Hi Matt,, consistency is directly proportional to the type of guide mounting and the money thrown at it. OAG's have their place but also have their problems. Again the amount of money thrown at an OAG definitely reflects in the usability and usfulness of an OAG.
Things to consider are the type and size of the pickup prism. it's ability to move around the image and the magnitude of the stars or the magnitude your camera can resolve well. You need to think about the ability to correctly focus your guide camera and your imaging camera at the same time. So the use of a par focal ring on an EP or helical focuser for the guide camera.
Last thing I found a problem with was the amount of in focus travel when using a focal reducer/flattener.
I had a Lumicon 2" and sold it quite quickly as the process of focussing both cameras was a real pain.
In my opinion if flexure is your only concern then bolting a set of fixed rings to the top of your imaging scope and making a simple but strong support for your guide scope focuser and camera is a way easier and way less expensive means of removing flexure. Finding a guide star is always easier with say a 70mm guide scope than an OAG even if it is fixed and bolted down. Save yourself some money and see if you can borrow one for a trial first.
My 2c worth.
Good luck with it all.
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Thanks for the reply Doug. It is great to hear from someone who has had experience with one. The trouble with focusing and finding a suitable guidestar with an OAG seems quite problem some.
I will definitely see if I can get one for a trial run. If not I will see what I can do with securing the guidescope a little better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
Hi Matt
Recently Allan Gould posted a link to MetaGuide and upon following the link, I read that Metaguide:
“ Measures flexure/mirror flop using two telescopes, two web-cams, and two instances of MetaGuide that link to each other”
So, if you have the time, it might be worth running this test on your current set up to quantify the amount of flexure and the potential source(s)?
I’m waiting on a spell of good weather and some motivation before I try this experiment myself, just to add to my knowledge of how my mount and side-by-side system behaves. Oh and from the website…
"MetaGuide is free, easy to use, works with any type of telescope, and most web-cams".
Cheers
Dennis |
Would be a great way to test for flexure however I only have one CCD camera. I don't think it is possible to use my DSLR as the second camera. Looks like a nice program though.
Thanks Dennis.