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Old 03-11-2009, 05:59 PM
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Bodie (Stan)
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Guide camera recommendations

Hi all,

Been out if this game soooo long I haven't kept up with the latest in imaging equipment.

What I want is a guide camera to be used with my HEQ5-Pro. I want minimum fussing about with adapter cabling etc (don't we all! hehe). What is currently out there and that comes highly recommended? I see alot of talk about the QHY5. Is this the way to go? If so, where can I get one in OZ? Anything extra I would need to get it going with my mount?

How about the Orion guide camera?

Thanks all!
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Old 03-11-2009, 06:15 PM
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jjjnettie (Jeanette)
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I'm just starting off with the QHY5, using it with my HEQ5Pro.
I've found it reasonably simple to load the software and such, no problems once some hic ups were sorted.
Night before last I was taking my first test shots.
Tonight I'll be taking my first images with it. (they won't be much chop though, it's full moon)
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Old 03-11-2009, 06:32 PM
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Terry B
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodie View Post
Hi all,

Been out if this game soooo long I haven't kept up with the latest in imaging equipment.

What I want is a guide camera to be used with my HEQ5-Pro. I want minimum fussing about with adapter cabling etc (don't we all! hehe). What is currently out there and that comes highly recommended? I see alot of talk about the QHY5. Is this the way to go? If so, where can I get one in OZ? Anything extra I would need to get it going with my mount?

How about the Orion guide camera?

Thanks all!

Try here
http://web.aanet.com.au/gama/index.html
The orion is identical to the QHY but with different firmware.
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Old 03-11-2009, 06:34 PM
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Bassnut (Fred)
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QHY5, period.
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Old 03-11-2009, 06:41 PM
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Bodie (Stan)
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That settles it for me! Thanks all

My teaching duties are coming to an end soon so I will have a whole summer to play with this. I let you guys know how well it goes.
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Old 03-11-2009, 06:56 PM
dpastern (Dave Pastern)
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Originally Posted by Bassnut View Post
QHY5, period.
Out of curiosity Fred, why? (too late for me now, I've got an orion unit).

Dave
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Old 03-11-2009, 07:03 PM
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Merlin66 (Ken)
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I used the trusty ol' ST-4 as a guide system for many years and "converted" last year to a QHY5...
Much lighter, larger FOV, direct connect to the HEQ5pro mount, works very well with PHD software and just does the job. An easy straightforward reliable solution.
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Old 03-11-2009, 07:09 PM
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Bassnut (Fred)
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I think the orion is the same?. Its cheap, mono, easy to fit, reasonable (ample) res, drivers for everything, adjustable gain, locally available and has an ST4 guide socket, all thats required. Not particularly low noise, but low enough for less than 5 sec exposures at least. I dont know of any other guide cam with these features for the price (given there are many other brands that are just clones of each other).
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Old 03-11-2009, 07:29 PM
dpastern (Dave Pastern)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut View Post
I think the orion is the same?. Its cheap, mono, easy to fit, reasonable (ample) res, drivers for everything, adjustable gain, locally available and has an ST4 guide socket, all thats required. Not particularly low noise, but low enough for less than 5 sec exposures at least. I dont know of any other guide cam with these features for the price (given there are many other brands that are just clones of each other).
Ah good. I believe the Orion and QHY5 units are identical (other than maybe firmware).

Dave
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Old 03-11-2009, 09:07 PM
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Yes, the firmware is different, and so you need to buy a license to get the Orion to work with many software packages available for the QHY-5. See here http://www.astrosoft.be/ (Read near the bottom of page)

Theo.
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