OK, I finally sprang for the Celestron NexGuide autogider. I'll use it on my CGEM. I have a tandem saddle adapter so can guide with anything in my arsenal that fits the mount, and image with the other OTA. It should be here next week, and I plan to familiarize myself with it during some back-yard sessions. I actually plan to shoot some old-fashioned film for the shakedown. Stay tuned.
I'm staying tuned! --- On Wed, 3/23/11, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Celestron NexGuide To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 12:32 PM OK, I finally sprang for the Celestron NexGuide autogider. I'll use it on my CGEM. I have a tandem saddle adapter so can guide with anything in my arsenal that fits the mount, and image with the other OTA.
It should be here next week, and I plan to familiarize myself with it during some back-yard sessions. I actually plan to shoot some old-fashioned film for the shakedown.
Stay tuned.
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On 23 Mar 2011, at 12:32, Chuck Hards wrote:
I actually plan to shoot some old-fashioned film for the shakedown.
Hopefully not Kodacolor-X. I found 5 rolls of it in my freezer that I'd shot back in the 60s. No one locally could process them so I ended up sending them to Canada. patrick
Patrick, how did they turn out? I found some B&W Cory's parents had shot in the '50s and I processed them, I think in the '80s or '90s, and they were usable though there had been some light leakage. Or maybe cosmic ray strikes. -- Joe --- On Wed, 3/23/11, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> wrote:
From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Celestron NexGuide To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 3:17 PM On 23 Mar 2011, at 12:32, Chuck Hards wrote:
I actually plan to shoot some old-fashioned film for the shakedown.
Hopefully not Kodacolor-X. I found 5 rolls of it in my freezer that I'd shot back in the 60s. No one locally could process them so I ended up sending them to Canada.
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Hi Joe, On 23 Mar 2011, at 16:55, Joe Bauman wrote:
Patrick, how did they turn out?
Not bad considering their age. All of the scenes are recognizable. I'm pretty sure it helped that they'd been kept in the freezer since at least 1975. Kind of spooky, actually, seeing people staring into the camera who I'm guessing I must have known but I don't recognize them. A little disappointing in that they were not of things I'd hoped for (I'd hoped for skydiving but most look like they were from my 4-H horse days plus a few vacation shots from out here in the west <we lived in Ohio at the time>). But also a relief they were not something embarrassing. :) patrick
There is an article in the April issue of Sky and Telescope on the Celestron NextGuide. It's a good deal for the money but one of the things they didn't like is that it won't give you a warning if it loses the guidestar. Debbie On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 4:55 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
Patrick, how did they turn out? I found some B&W Cory's parents had shot in the '50s and I processed them, I think in the '80s or '90s, and they were usable though there had been some light leakage. Or maybe cosmic ray strikes. -- Joe
--- On Wed, 3/23/11, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> wrote:
From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Celestron NexGuide To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 3:17 PM On 23 Mar 2011, at 12:32, Chuck Hards wrote:
I actually plan to shoot some old-fashioned film for the shakedown.
Hopefully not Kodacolor-X. I found 5 rolls of it in my freezer that I'd shot back in the 60s. No one locally could process them so I ended up sending them to Canada.
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
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On 3/23/11, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
There is an article in the April issue of Sky and Telescope on the Celestron NextGuide. It's a good deal for the money but one of the things they didn't like is that it won't give you a warning if it loses the guidestar.
Neither did my old Astro-Physics autoguiders from 25 years ago (pre-digital), but it was a helluva nice thing to have if you're exposing more than five minutes (about my comfort limit for high-powered manual guiding). If you check the monitor, you can see the guidestar drift if it starts to lose it. But yeah, you can't nap while using it, and it won't clean your windows either. If you've chosen your guidestar wisely and are reasonably polar aligned, it won't drift (make sure it's bright enough). If it loses it because of clouds, you've lost the image anyway. I can guide with up to a C-6, so I have plenty of aperture to throw on the chip. I'm determined to not carry a computer into the field, and this is my ticket if I want to image. UPS says it will be here next Wednesday. :o)
What??? It won't clean my windows? --- On Thu, 3/24/11, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Celestron NexGuide To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Thursday, March 24, 2011, 8:47 AM On 3/23/11, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
There is an article in the April issue of Sky and Telescope on the Celestron NextGuide. It's a good deal for the money but one of the things they didn't like is that it won't give you a warning if it loses the guidestar.
Neither did my old Astro-Physics autoguiders from 25 years ago (pre-digital), but it was a helluva nice thing to have if you're exposing more than five minutes (about my comfort limit for high-powered manual guiding).
If you check the monitor, you can see the guidestar drift if it starts to lose it. But yeah, you can't nap while using it, and it won't clean your windows either.
If you've chosen your guidestar wisely and are reasonably polar aligned, it won't drift (make sure it's bright enough). If it loses it because of clouds, you've lost the image anyway. I can guide with up to a C-6, so I have plenty of aperture to throw on the chip.
I'm determined to not carry a computer into the field, and this is my ticket if I want to image.
UPS says it will be here next Wednesday. :o)
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Shot 3/22/11 http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4165 Few issues to sort out. Not bad for a first run.
Neat! --- On Thu, 3/24/11, David Rankin <David@rankinstudio.com> wrote:
From: David Rankin <David@rankinstudio.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] First run at Saturn To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Thursday, March 24, 2011, 12:26 PM Shot 3/22/11
http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4165
Few issues to sort out. Not bad for a first run.
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On 3/24/11, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
What??? It won't clean my windows?
No, but no worries. There's an app for that. The S&T concern that Debbie pointed out is a valid one for many people. Some will want to use the NexGuide just to free themselves up from one more task on the laptop. If you're looking at the computer, you're not looking at the autoguider display.
I wonder if they will come out with an upgrade model next year. It seems they are on the right track. Overall, the article was positive. For $300, it looks like something I'd consider in the future if I get a better DSLR camera. I want to hear a report when you decide to use it. Debbie On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 3:56 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
On 3/24/11, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
What??? It won't clean my windows?
No, but no worries. There's an app for that.
The S&T concern that Debbie pointed out is a valid one for many people. Some will want to use the NexGuide just to free themselves up from one more task on the laptop. If you're looking at the computer, you're not looking at the autoguider display.
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On 3/25/11, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
I wonder if they will come out with an upgrade model next year. It seems they are on the right track. Overall, the article was positive. For $300, it looks like something I'd consider in the future if I get a better DSLR camera. I want to hear a report when you decide to use it.
Just a buzzer or beep would do the trick. Maybe somebody will discover a way to hack it. I think it's firmware-upgradeable. What amazes me is the 50mm short guidescope Orion is now selling for use with autoguiders. Im amazed the camera chips have resolution good enough to deal with the small image scale such a guidescope would provide. I didn't see any mention of an internal Barlow.
The current guide programs PhD and Maxim DL can detect an error of 1/10 pixel that is why you can use short focal length guide scopes. I assume that the Celestron NexGuide can too. -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2011 1:57 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Celestron NexGuide On 3/25/11, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
I wonder if they will come out with an upgrade model next year. It seems they are on the right track. Overall, the article was positive. For $300, it looks like something I'd consider in the future if I get a better DSLR camera. I want to hear a report when you decide to use it.
Just a buzzer or beep would do the trick. Maybe somebody will discover a way to hack it. I think it's firmware-upgradeable. What amazes me is the 50mm short guidescope Orion is now selling for use with autoguiders. Im amazed the camera chips have resolution good enough to deal with the small image scale such a guidescope would provide. I didn't see any mention of an internal Barlow. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php
If you need to travel light, that's a good option. On the other hand, with only 50mm of guiding aperture, you lose a LOT of candidate guide stars. On 3/26/11, Don J. Colton <djcolton@piol.com> wrote:
The current guide programs PhD and Maxim DL can detect an error of 1/10 pixel that is why you can use short focal length guide scopes. I assume that the Celestron NexGuide can too.
Actually you have a more guide stars with the typical 50 mm f/5 because of the wider field of view. I have tried guiding with larger apertures and longer focal length and found this generally be the case. -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 6:42 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Celestron NexGuide If you need to travel light, that's a good option. On the other hand, with only 50mm of guiding aperture, you lose a LOT of candidate guide stars. On 3/26/11, Don J. Colton <djcolton@piol.com> wrote:
The current guide programs PhD and Maxim DL can detect an error of 1/10 pixel that is why you can use short focal length guide scopes. I assume that the Celestron NexGuide can too.
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Of course you see "more stars" in a wider FOV, but there is a caveat. I don't think Celestron is talking about a statistical happenstance. More aperture lets you guide on fainter stars. I'll check on it as time permits, but IIRC, the NexGuide literature recommends 80mm to be able to allow 8th magnitude stars to be used for guiding. On 3/28/11, Don J. Colton <djcolton@piol.com> wrote:
Actually you have a more guide stars with the typical 50 mm f/5 because of the wider field of view. I have tried guiding with larger apertures and longer focal length and found this generally be the case.
That may be the case with the NexGuide - it probably depends on the sensitivity of the guide chip and the accuracy of the guiding software. I have never had a problem finding a guide star using the Starlight Xpress Lodestar at 50 mm f/5 but it is a fairly sensitive camera. -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 9:10 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Celestron NexGuide Of course you see "more stars" in a wider FOV, but there is a caveat. I don't think Celestron is talking about a statistical happenstance. More aperture lets you guide on fainter stars. I'll check on it as time permits, but IIRC, the NexGuide literature recommends 80mm to be able to allow 8th magnitude stars to be used for guiding. On 3/28/11, Don J. Colton <djcolton@piol.com> wrote:
Actually you have a more guide stars with the typical 50 mm f/5 because of the wider field of view. I have tried guiding with larger apertures and longer focal length and found this generally be the case.
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It's good to know that when I'm ready to upgrade, I can probably further compact my imaging equipment. The NexGuide should take me through the next few years. Being an old-school imager with lots of time spent at the guiding eyepiece, listening to WWV tick away the minutes, I am always amazed at how easy the technology has made it these days. On 3/28/11, Don J. Colton <djcolton@piol.com> wrote:
That may be the case with the NexGuide - it probably depends on the sensitivity of the guide chip and the accuracy of the guiding software. I have never had a problem finding a guide star using the Starlight Xpress Lodestar at 50 mm f/5 but it is a fairly sensitive camera.
It's on the truck, out for delivery right now! With the weather predicted to be good on Friday night, I JUST MIGHT get a chance to fire it up.
OK, I have it. Don, the specs answer a lot of questions. It's a small sensor, only 5.59mm x 4.68mm. SONY ICX404AL CCD, in a small array of 510 x 492 pixels. The pixels themselves are on the large side at 9.6um x 7.5um. Here's a quote from the specs page, under sensitivity: "Typically, the NexGuide can capture and guide a star with up to the magnitude of 8 under the following conditions: Regular 80mm aperture refractor, 2048ms exposure time, and good seeing conditions." The Exposure times available are: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096ms. Here's the formula for angular resolution in arc seconds, for any particular guidescope used: 206.265/FL x Pixel size (mm) Back in the old days of hand-guiding when imaging at longish EFL's, the rule of thumb was to guide at twice the focal length of the imaging telescope. CCD's sure have the eye-brain-conscious-reaction system beat, hands down.
I think about great observers of my grandfather's day, like Humason and Hubble, who spent entire nights peering at a guidestar through cross-hairs, sometimes for many consecutive nights. An old tube-type AM radio was probably playing softly somewhere near the night assistant's control console as the astronomer kept his concentration, hour after hour, fingers on buttons to control the slow-motion motors...sometimes hands on feedwheels of gear trains. I am so spoiled.
On 30 Mar 2011, at 18:51, Chuck Hards wrote:
I think about great observers of my grandfather's day, like Humason and Hubble, who spent entire nights peering at a guidestar through cross-hairs, sometimes for many consecutive nights. An old tube-type AM radio was probably playing softly somewhere near the night assistant's control console as the astronomer kept his concentration, hour after hour, fingers on buttons to control the slow-motion motors...sometimes hands on feedwheels of gear trains.
I am so spoiled.
You are not alone in feeling that way Chuck. My total exposure to the cold on a typical run is at the beginning when I go out to open the roof and at the end when I go out to close it. Guiding consists of centering the object I'm working in the scope, clicking on a star in the guider and clicking on "Autoguide". Then it's off to the hot tub or to see what's on the DVR. Spoiled. Spoiled rotten. Do I feel guilty? No. But I certainly do have a great deal of admiration for the old timers. Talk about dedication. 'Course we do have at least one list member who approximates my idea of the old ways. Joe seems to delight in packing everything off to some lonely, cold mountain peak and working all night under the stars. And judging from all of the challenges he's faced (and overcome) he certainly has more patience than me. patrick (the spoiled)
On 3/23/11, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
There is an article in the April issue of Sky and Telescope on the Celestron NextGuide. It's a good deal for the money but one of the things they didn't like is that it won't give you a warning if it loses the guidestar.
Actually it does, just not an audible warning. If the NexGuide loses a guidestar, it will prompt "STAR LOST" on the display. If you are watching, you will also notice the star drift off the display's cross-hairs.
participants (6)
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Chuck Hards -
David Rankin -
Debbie -
Don J. Colton -
Joe Bauman -
Patrick Wiggins