Quick Look: Two New Guiders

Submitted by AstroPhoto Insight on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 03:58.

This article was originally published in the August 2007 issue of AstroPhoto Insight™ Magazine. No portion of this article may be copied, reposted, duplicated or otherwise used without the express written approval of the author and AstroPhoto Insight. © 2007 Professional Insight
Disclaimer: Craig Stark operates Stark Labs and is the author of the PHD Guiding program (freeware) provided with both cameras described here. He is also the author of Nebulosity ($45 retail), one of the capture and processing programs provided with the Fishcamp Starfish. He served as a beta-tester for both cameras but has no financial interest in either Fishcamp Engineering or CCD-Labs.

As the author of PHD Guiding, I am often asked by users for my opinion on various guide camera solutions. My advice is typically to favor cameras that are a) capable of exposures of several seconds, b) monochrome, and c) have a reasonable sized chip. Unfortunately, webcams, the cameras may want to use for guiding don't fit the bill. Most are limited to about 30 ms exposures and almost all use small color chips. The short exposures and presence of color filters over each pixel conspire to limit the choice of guide stars to bright stars (e.g., mag 4-5). Given the small swath of sky covered by a small chip, makes finding a suitable guide star even more challenging. When standing out in either a freezing cold or hot and mosquito-infested field, the last thing I want to be doing is hunting around for a suitable guide star.

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