Celestron C6-SGT

[thehasoe]

If you align the telescope correctly and relatively accurately, once located, the object (e.g. Saturn) should not move out of the field-of-view (FOV) so quickly. The telescope system should automatically start tracking (not guiding) the object until a new one is being selected. Maybe your alignment is not accurate enough and you also use a high magnification narrow FOV eyepiece which create this effect of Saturn moving quickly out of view. Try a lower power wider fov eyepiece initially to check how good is your alignment and keep improving it until it still stays within the fov as you use higher power and narrower FOV eyepieces.

Congrats on seeing Saturn! Try observing it through a binoviewer in the future.

Very good advices Gary, thank you very much.
I can see the truth behind that evil smile He He He

The term "guiding" refers to using a separate CCD and (usually) guidescope to enhance the trackign accuracy of a mount in order to take long exposure pictures. Its unnecessary for visual use.
"Tracking" refers to the mount moving in tandem with the sky, by means of its gears and motors. very different.

Simple GOTO alignment is easy. Ensure your mount is level and pointed north (use a decent compass or a known landmark). Connect battery and power on. Next, command your mount to slew to your intended target (preferably a star or planet). At this point it will probably point off. Correct using the slewing commands on your handpad until the object is centered in your eyepiece. Now hit whatever command on your handpad tells the mount that you are aligned with your target. You have just done a one-star align and your mount will be significantly more accurate than if you had not powered it on at all! as you continue your viewing session, you can slew to and align each consecutive target to enhance the GOTO accuracy. You needn't do it all at once so instead of thinking of aligning as a task, think of it as a process throughout the night of observation

Autoguiding uses a CCD to detect the tiny errors in the mount tracking and is not needed for visual work. For example, in a 10mm plossl eyepiece (with 50deg apparent field of view), you would have a true field of view of about 1/3 degree (50/150x mag), which is about 20arcmin or 1200arcsec. Now if your PE is 40arcsec over a period of say....6 minutes, you would expect to see your target oscillate a distance of 1/30th of the field of view (40/1200) over 6 minutes, an imperceptibly small amount to the eye. To a CCD though, each pixel represents about 1 arcsec so this movement is obvious and a long exposure picture becomes ugly. Since your eye isn't bolted to the eyepiece (ouch!), it makes no difference when using it visually

Indeed very useful explanations bro cloud. Thank you very much too.
Yesterday night sky was very clear and i managed to power ON the mount!!

I am still learning!

[thehasoe]

Hey guys,

Now i realized that Autoguider and Guide Scope is very useful for astro imaging.

So just curious that which autoguider + guide scope might be compatible with my current setup?

I just take a look and found this two.

Celestron NexGuide Autoguider - S$519 (No Guide Scope includes) + Orion mini 50mm guide scope ($200?)
KW1Q GUIDER SYSTEM - S$650 (Including guide scope and autoguider)
Or any suggestion?

I think NexGuide + some guide scope will be the good choice?

Thanks

P.S, my wife got bonus and would like to buy it for me so this is a good time tho..

[Mariner]

In that case, ask for an 80mm ED refractor as a guidescope!

[thehasoe]

In that case, ask for an 80mm ED refractor as a guidescope!

Hmm 80ED? Skywatcher 80ED?
Or celeatron 80mm guide scope?

Both are huge

[cloud_cover]

Firstly you must be aware that an autoguider other than the nexguide and similar models will require a laptop to process the autoguiding inputs. Also, an 80mm scope will now require you to buy tube rings for your C6 in order to bolt the guidescope to your main scope.
At 1000mm, a 50mm finder/guider should suffice and the cheapest option is to buy a 50mm straight through finder, a QHY5 guide camera and a KWIK adapter to bolt the two together. Agena astro also sells a 50mm finder with 1.25" back so you can plug your guider directly in. This setup will then not require you to buy tube rings for your main scope as a 50mm finder can be securely bolted on using the existing finderscope bracket. You should, however, upgrade your 50mm scope holder as standard finderscope holders tend to be insufficiently rigid for imaging since they were designed to aid visual use. However, if you choose to shoot at 1500mm (your native focal length) this setup may begin to become inadequate.
Regarding the Nexguide, I don't recommend it. It has trouble locking onto a Mag 4 star with an 80mm guidescope and focusing is a very big issue. On the other hand, it is stand-alone as it does not require the input of a laptop. If you wish I have one I'm no longer using and I'll let it go for $200, but as I said, I personally don't recommend it. The Nexguide will not work well with a 50mm scope unlike the other laptop controlled guiders as it will not do subpixel guiding (meaning that your guidescope focal length has to equal your imaging scope's focal length for guiding to be effective). Old school but very, very tedious.

[orly_andico]

if you really want a swanky guide scope setup, an SBIG ST-i with the eFinder is nice, small, and very rugged.

https://www.sbig.com/products/cameras/s ... with-st-i/

the kit is $800 US but includes everything you need, mounting hardware, etc. no need to futz around with adjustable guide scope rings etc. etc. etc.

of course the darn guider kit costs more than your entire mount.

[thehasoe]

At 1000mm, a 50mm finder/guider should suffice and the cheapest option is to buy a 50mm straight through finder, a QHY5 guide camera and a KWIK adapter to bolt the two together. Agena astro also sells a 50mm finder with 1.25" back so you can plug your guider directly in.

You should, however, upgrade your 50mm scope holder as standard finderscope holders tend to be insufficiently rigid for imaging since they were designed to aid visual use.

This QHY5 camera is mono tone right not color?

Regarding the Nexguide, I don't recommend it. It has trouble locking onto a Mag 4 star with an 80mm guidescope and focusing is a very big issue. On the other hand, it is stand-alone as it does not require the input of a laptop. If you wish I have one I'm no longer using and I'll let it go for $200, but as I said, I personally don't recommend it. The Nexguide will not work well with a 50mm scope unlike the other laptop controlled guiders as it will not do subpixel guiding (meaning that your guidescope focal length has to equal your imaging scope's focal length for guiding to be effective). Old school but very, very tedious.

I am interested about Nexguide as it does not need laptop to guide. My setup is already heavy and adding laptop and chair/table will be huge for me to carry around as i do not have car

In this case, which guide scope might compatible with nex guide on my c6?
Thanks

if you really want a swanky guide scope setup, an SBIG ST-i with the eFinder is nice, small, and very rugged.
https://www.sbig.com/products/cameras/s ... with-st-i/
the kit is $800 US but includes everything you need, mounting hardware, etc. no need to futz around with adjustable guide scope rings etc. etc. etc.
of course the darn guider kit costs more than your entire mount.

This one need a computer to guide right?

[cloud_cover]

Yes, the STi needs a computer to guide.
For the Nexguide, Celestron recommends an 80mm telescope and because it does not guide at the sub pixel level, you will want a long focal length guide scope.

[thehasoe]

Yes, the STi needs a computer to guide.
For the Nexguide, Celestron recommends an 80mm telescope and because it does not guide at the sub pixel level, you will want a long focal length guide scope.

Ok, let me take a look of the price of Celestron 80mm guide scope price

[orly_andico]

Your best options if you don't want a computer are

1) Lacerta MGEN - this can also control your DSLR's shutter

2) SBIG SG-4 - the ST-i guiding kit will also work on the SG-4 AFAIK. Less hardware to futz around with.

I guess it's OK to try out the Celestron, since you can get CC's for fairly cheap if ever. Just be aware that if it doesn't live up to your expectations you probably will be stuck with it..

but AGAIN: before spending money on these things, why not use a long camera lens instead?

If you are intent on getting your wife to spend money on you (I know the feeling!) ask for a Nikon 180ED AF lens. This is a great portrait and wildlife lens, and is also a great - one of the best - astrophotography lenses. I assume you're using a Nikon DSLR so it's a win-win. You can use the 180ED with your DSLR on your CG-5 and forget about guiding.

Some Nikon 180ED images (very large images, so I removed the embedded link, it was screwing up the page)

M31, Andromeda Galaxy
http://www.yardmonkeygames.com/YardMonk ... 0small.jpg

Heart and Soul Nebula
http://www.ccdargo.com/IC1805_180mm_stl.jpg

The Nikon 180ED is cheap as lenses go. It's probably the only Nikon lens I salivate over (as I'm a Canon user).