Auto Guiders Anyone ?

[dpab]

Has anyone used or know about the use of these things .
My Celestron 8i has a port for plugging in .
And from what I have been reading the use of these increase the quality of longer exposures,even though the 8i has tracking.
Right now I am happy with the tracking of my unit.

anyone got any thoughts?
Ive attached a photo a friend gave me, he took 4 photos with his webcam and played with photoshop and presto chango.

[Dragon Star]

He did that with a Web-Cam??!1!?

[dpab]

yes , it was with a logitech 4000 , taken 4 different shots and combined using photoshop.
Im in northern alberta and the skies are fairly good .
About a 45 minutes outta town and you can see the milky way no problem.
Its sure nice when constellations are hard to pick out as the sky is filled with so many stars .
I thought things were good here until I went to Saskatchewan and now I know why its called the land of the living skies.
Oh yah he used registax ,and I sat with him while he did the registax on the jupiter shot .
I am going to try and get Saturn tomoro , I hear its going to be clear, and I am going to be bringing the scope to work and I am going to try a set-up at work and get Mercury doin the transit thing with the sun ..While its still a planet .....ha

[dpab]

Well its the sh#ts...winter has set in and its almost minus 13 degrees out and the sky has been ..NO GOOD... constant cloud cover...
Im not worried it can't stay like this.
I was hoping to get a shot of Comet Swan...but ...no way ...not yet ..my luck when it clears up , it will be Comet Gonaway.
I am going to be setting up outside the city and the only thing I really have to worry about is cougars ,the grizzlies should be hibernating.

waiting for clear skies
DPAB
here is another Pluto joke just for the heck of it .

[dmill1220]

Hi dpab,
those are nice shots!
I also own a Celestron Mount And also have a regular DSI for autoguiding,
the problem I am having is in getting the auto guide rates and back lash settings adjusted properly, it appears to be quite tricky at first.
I have got it adjusted a little better, but I have to spend a whole night just to get it right before i can start using it, Guide dog is available for free online, depending on your system and Comm protocols you may be able to use it.

I am not familiar with the Celestron 8" I, is that on a EQ wedge or a GEM? and does it have PEC?
Dennis

[dpab]

Its a Celestron 8i .The silvery grey 8 inch , GPS attachment.
Its the model just before the re-release of the 8 inch XLT with the classic orange tube that they have now .
Man where does the time go . Its still the s@#ts cloudy and snowing periodically.Still havent been able to image the Comet Swan ...
My luck around here when it clears the mosquitos will be out ....ha ha ha .
I should have been a doctor with the patience I'm developing.
At this rate the Mercury transit is going to be a wash .
The (TWOS) Telus World of Science here in Edmonton is hosting a Mercury Transit viewing for the afternoon ...I have to work but like I was saying Im bring the scope to work ...I dont have any hydrgen alpha ...just the basic solar filter.
Im keeping my fingers and toes crossed for clear skies

[dpab]

well it was supposed to be somewhat clear , but for about 2 minutes at 3:35 pm it cleared , If you want to call it clear.By the time I got aligned and tracking , the clouds ruined it again.
I wish I was a weatherman ...you can always be wrong and keep your job.