Hey all,
With young kids at home, I find I am getting too tired to manual guide anymore. I would like to get a autoguider but an stuck between the ST-4 and the newer STV (both of which are on sale at SBIG). I use a Celestron C8 Deluxe (hand controller has autoguider port; no relay troubles then?) with a Lumicon Cassegrain Easy Guider. People have emailed me stating that the STV and ST-4 like shorter focal length optics and off-axis guiders do not work that well with these units (re-calibration and whatnot). I am into film photography now (piggyback and prime focus). It will be some time before I get the time required for CCD work. Do you have any advice as to which unit will serve my purpose? I do not have a guidescope and would prefer not to buy one. Can these units function on an off-axis guider set-up? For piggyback, I can simply attach to the back of my scope, so it is not a problem. Prime focus is more of an issue. Could the Efinder of the STV be used for guiding prime focus film photography?
Any auto guider advice is appreciated.
Regards,
-Bill