RE: [APML] Guiding system recommendations

["R. Scott Ireland" <ireland@gate.net>]

HI Alan,

In the "old days" (e.g. up until about a year and a half ago <g>) I manually
guided with the Vixen adjustable reticle system, which projects an
adjustable reticle onto a regular eyepiece.  I loved this system and used it
to guide with for many years (I actually have two of the Vixen units  - one
uses the older mercury cells).

Then I got an STV, and my guiding life is much easier now.  My strong advice
to you is find yourself a used ST-4 and learn how to work it.  It seems to
me that manual guiding is simply too tedious to create the general quality
of images that appear on this list (for the most part).  The exposure times
are quite long and you need several images to stack, etc.

I can tell you that manually guiding 30 minute exposures all night long is
quite a skill and pretty trying.  A night of manually guiding 1 hour
exposures (which are not at all uncommon these days - even longer exposures
are made regularly) will be grueling, if not impossible.

There are exceptions, of course.  Manually guiding on a comet nucleus may be
easier than trying to get the autoguider to work.

Anyway, end of speech <g>.  It sounds like you've got a very nice setup and
should not have any major problems.

Best regards,

Scott

website:  http://www.rsiphotos.com/
email:  ireland@gate.net

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-astro-photo@seds.org [mailto:owner-astro-photo@seds.org]On
> Behalf Of Alan Voetsch
> Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 2:13 PM
> To: APML
> Subject: [APML] Guiding system recommendations
>
>
> Hey all,
>
> I'm trying to put together my first 'guidescope
> system'. I'd like to reap the benefit of the
> accumulated wisdom of this list. I've got a TV-85 on a
> Tak EM-1 mount. The mounting adapter is pretty funky
> as it was made by a local guy, but for the most part
> it works. I have a 70mm f/10 Sky Watcher OTA on the
> way, it will be the guidescope.
>
> Here's where you guys come in: I need suggestions on
> the best way to get the components to work together. I
> will manually guide with an adjustable reticle EP.
> Anyone using the Guide Star system?
>
> Thanks for any help,
> Alan
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
> http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
>
> --  APML Archives at <http://astro.umsystem.edu/apml/>  ---
>              Unsubscribe at <majordomo@seds.org>


--  APML Archives at <http://astro.umsystem.edu/apml/>  ---
             Unsubscribe at <majordomo@seds.org>