To Mod Or Not To Mod ?

[bluescope]

That is the question !

Can a webcam guide well enough for most DSO's without modification to extend exposure times ?

I understand the longer the exposure the fainter the guide star etc ....
that's basic photography ! I just want to know if it really necessary to modify my SPC900NC.

This is only a guiding question, I'm not interested in imaging with a webcam other than probable planetary imaging.

Cheers

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

I use My Toucam Pro II 840K to guide, with no probs, most of the bright stars are easily within reach of some DSO's. I get to around Mag 7 with the webcam and ED80 combination.

[bluescope]

Thanks Andrew ! I'll be using an Off Axis Guider with my Newts so should be fne !

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

British Paints . . . suuuure can!

I use an UN-modified Toucam 840 to autoguide, and the Modded one for image capture.

With the UN-modded Toucam I can always find a guidestar that is bright enough to use. And they don't even have to be very bright! Autoguiding will follow anything that will appear on the screen, even faint stars.

[bluescope]

Cheers Ken !