I have just recently started to get into astrophotography.On a roll of 36exp. I got 4 pretty good widefield shots of M31and the Milkyway thru Cygnus back in Sept.via piggyback atop my C8.I am thinking of buying a Meade 201 or a preowned ST4.I have heard wonderful things about the autoguide capabilities of the ST4 but the ccd is much less than "state of the art".I do not know much about the reliability of the 201xt.I plan to progress from piggyback to prime focus to ccd imaging.I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions anyone can give me to get pointed in the right direction.
Astrophotography progression/autoguider?
Started by Baxter, 01/12/2003 02:18PM
Posted 01/12/2003 02:18PM
Opening Post
Posted 01/12/2003 03:24PM
#1
Wyane,
You sound like me! *L* I have asked alot of questions to folks who seem to know what they are talking about. Bottom line, the ST-4 was the consenus pick. The CCD chip on the 201 is much smaller, thus making it harder to find a guide star. I also hear that getting it setup is much more difficult. Now, I have heard of folks making it work, so it's not impossible. I believe MAPUG (www.mapug.com) has some good tips on how to get it to work properly. The advantage of the 201? Less stressful on the pocket book. I have been using the ST-4 on my LX200 and have found it to work great. If I had gotten some decent weather on my last outing, I might have had some photos to show you.*L* Here is a helpful page on guiding with the ST-4...
http://www.astrocruise.com/guide.htm
Don Spencer
You sound like me! *L* I have asked alot of questions to folks who seem to know what they are talking about. Bottom line, the ST-4 was the consenus pick. The CCD chip on the 201 is much smaller, thus making it harder to find a guide star. I also hear that getting it setup is much more difficult. Now, I have heard of folks making it work, so it's not impossible. I believe MAPUG (www.mapug.com) has some good tips on how to get it to work properly. The advantage of the 201? Less stressful on the pocket book. I have been using the ST-4 on my LX200 and have found it to work great. If I had gotten some decent weather on my last outing, I might have had some photos to show you.*L* Here is a helpful page on guiding with the ST-4...
http://www.astrocruise.com/guide.htm
Don Spencer
Don Spencer
http://members.cox.net/ecdon/astrophotography.html
Funding Member
