Reccomend me an autoguiding solution

[TRX (Martin)]

Hey guys, after some advice. After 18months getting more and more into visual and basic photos, Im ready to take the plunge into autoguiding.

I have a 10" f/4 newt (with coma corrector) on an az-eq6 mount. For photos i just use my 6D with intervelomoter. I can usually get 60subs without drift, but want to start doing this longer and more reliably.

Can i please get some guidance on some options either;

a guide scope & basic ccd, maybe a nice refractor i can use on its own?)

Off axis guider

If budget allows, self guiding ccd.

I want something that can hopefully be used with my next scope which will either be a wide field refractor or a sct (havent decided yet)

I have no concerns with hardware/software requirements or learning - thats all part of the fun

What are your thoughts.

[diegocolonnello (Diego)]

i am happy with my OAG, the guidecam is a QHY5LII

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

My preference is a lightweight refractor because it is always easy to find a guide star however there are advantages of using an oag with the newt. I liked the borg mini 50 however this is probably overkill. Lots of people have success with finder guider setups. For guide camera I've found the zwo120mm quite good.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Martin,
With your setup you may experience problems fitting an OAG between the CC and the DSLR. Lack of space/ backfocus.
A rigid guide telescope may be the way to go.

[doppler (Rick)]

Bintel have some big discounts on the zwo120mm and others atm. As for the guide scope best to keep the weight down. I have just received a 50mm compact finder guider (Chinese unbranded) good build quality, lock screws in all the right places, only con so far is the dovetail bar could be a tad wider. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/191895211366 I have coupled it with a zwo120mc and first trials have been good. (The 50mm guider was supposed to come from o/s but it came in a week from a Sydney warehouse)

[traveller (Bo)]

10" f4 gives you 1000mm FL, so you either need a very good guidescope set up or OAG.
Guidescope has advantages, but adds more weight, esp with another dovetail and good quality rings. You will need a solid mount (EQ8 or thereabouts) for all that gear plus camera and accessories.
OAG is lighter but need a low profile focuser to reduce the back focusing distance. I use an Orion Thin Off Axis Guider and had to rake the focusing tube into the scope body a bit to get focus.
Camera wise, QHY5L-II mono is very sensitive, as are the ZWOs.
Hope that helps.
Bo