From: "Mark Gaffney" <markgaffney@mac.com>
Date: March 3, 2008 2:11:31 PM MST
To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Auto-Guiding and photography..
--- In Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com, Milton Aupperle <milton@...> wrote:
Hi Mark;
On 3-Mar-08, at 4:38 AM, Mark Gaffney wrote:
Hi Milton, Could you describe what you mean by "erratic flexure
issues" when using the
guide-scope and GPUSB.
By erratic flexure I mean the amount and degree of movement changes
each time I use it.
The C8 has some (I think it does) mirror movement issues, the focuser
for my cheap guide scope had some play in it, the rail and rings
mounted on the C8 Tube had some play, and the total mass of the guide
scope, cameras, C8 were almost at the limits of what the HEQ5 can
handle weight wise.
To fix most of it would probably mean buying a saddle plate so that I
could mount the guide camera and C8 in parallel and mounting the
optics for the Guide scope and guide camera on a non adjustable solid
aluminum rail. But the C8 mirror movement would still be an issue.
Your comments about the OAG and more recent ones about the
Dage-MTI cameras are noted. If I do have to buy a new camera,
perhaps a higher resolution
or basic model of this type might be the go. I`ve been following
your advice about the larger
pixel size on the Flea cameras and now these.
The problem is that most cameras that have larger pixels and bigger
image areas are very expensive CCDs.
I could eventually use the present IS camera, a
DBK 21A F04 AS to guide camera!?
It makes a good guider. People have taken some interesting DSO images
with the IS cameras too.
I`m waiting on a pricing email from Dage.
So am I. My suspicion is that these cameras will be very expensive,
much more than the Fleas and probably in the Grasshopper range.
Have
postponed the Moonlite focuser for a couple of weeks further into
April whilst I update to
Leopard. Mark
I have left all my G4 / G5 Macs at Tiger and likely will not be
moving to Leopard for 6 to 12 months until it's stable. My x86 boxes
is set up for a dual boot into Tiger or Leopard, but I spend most of
my time in Tiger. Just too many inconsistencies.
Milton J. Aupperle
President
ASC - Aupperle Services and Contracting
Mac Software (Drivers, Components and Application) Specialist
#1005 - 815 14th Avenue. S.W.
Calgary Alberta T2R0N5
1-(403)-229-9456
milton@...
www.outcastsoft.com
SBIG make a self guiding camera, the ST-2000XCM but you`re probably right about
exhorbitant pricing on this and the Dage-MTI cameras! By the way I eventually managed
to basically polar align by printing a FOV chart in Astroplanner and reversing it twice!
Mark.