Re: [APML]: Anyone Autoguiding a G-11 with a Pictor XT?

[Wil Milan <wmilan@airdigital.com>]

The Astro-Photography Mailing List
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Robert Hoyle wrote:
> 
> [Note to Wil M.: you must think I'm a Meade rep in disguise or something, on
> this 201xt thing; and I might have wondered that about you too -- for SBIG.
> The truth is probably that neither one of is, for either firm (I know I'm not).
> But we *do* have our opinions (and experiences), don't we?  "That's my story
> and I'm stickin' to it." :-)) ]

I had no such thought at all, and I'm glad you were able to offer
a different perspective on the 201XT. 

I do think, however, that it can be accurately stated that the
201xt and the ST-4 are not equivalent in function or capability.
The ST-4 is a much more capable unit than the 201xt or 208xt, and
I think it would very difficult to argue objectively otherwise.
The ST-4 can guide on much fainter stars, is easier to set up,
has a much easier to use user interface, a much nicer display,
handles mounts the 201xt will not, tunes itself to the mount
response as it guides, is less prone to chase scintillation than
the 201xt, and perhaps most important, guides much more
accurately than the 201xt. 

That's not to say the 201xt and 208xt don't work, or that they
cannot be adequate to the task. That's particularly true for
owners of Meade LX200s, for which the 201xt was primarily
designed. But even for them the ST-4 has significant advantages,
such as being able to acquire and guide on much fainter stars
with quicker response and to guide more accurately. 

If you have a 201xt and it works for you then by all means keep
using it. But I write the foregoing for those who may be
considering an autoguider, to point out that the 201xt are not
equivalent in function, capability, or ease of use. I don't work
for SBIG, and as you know I've sometimes been a critic of other
SBIG products. But in comparing the 201xt/208xt with the ST-4 the
ST-4 is definitely the better unit, and by a large margin. 

I've related this before, but when I was having problems with my
201xt I contacted Jason Ware, the Meade-affiliated photographer
featured in Meade's catalogs and ads. Jason Ware does superb work
with Meade's equipment, and I figured he would have insights into
using the 201xt. Alas, he didn't, because he uses an ST-4. :-)


Wil M.      
mailto:wmilan@airdigital.com
Astrophoto web site: http://www.airdigital.com/astrophoto.html
---
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 
the moon and the stars which You have set in place, 
what is Man that you are mindful of him, 
or the son of Man that you care for him?"  -- Psalm 8