Which guider?

Hi everyone! I've been enjoying the views through my Meade 10" LX200 Classic, and want to try my hand at CCD imaging. I bought a beginer camera (Meade DSI), and I'm getting a focal reducer f3.3. My question is, what will work better with my setup, an off-axis guider, or a flip-mirror device to help keep the images centered? I understand how the devices work, but I don't have the experience to know which would be best to use. I welcome any advice I can get on anything to do with ccd imaging. Thanks! :S

Ivan is probably reading this so I will let him answer it, but for future reference this question is very well suited to the CCD forums. I have not yet stuck my foot in those waters. I did buy a nice Canon Rebel XT, and do plan on some astro shooting with it, but when I am ready I will scroll down the forums page and ask the experts. Now if you want help with figuring out some of the brighter photogenic objects I am all ears.

Off Axis Guider and Flip Mirrors do two different jobs.

A Flip Mirror simply allows you to change from one imaging sensor (usually your eyepiece and eyeball) to another (the camera). You use it in one position to center the object in the eyepiece, and then flip it to the other to take the picture in the camera.

An Off axis guider, on the other hand, sticks a little prism or mirror into the light path (in a part not usually used by the cameras) and "picks off" the guide star, to send it to the reticle eyepiece (and your eyeball or autoguider). The camera can see the field of interest, and the eyeball (or autoguider) can see the guide star----at the same time.

In short, the Flip mirror is used to find and center, and then "turned off." The Off axis guider is used throughout.

As to which one to buy--I think I'll let others answer for a while first.

Alex