MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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I placed an order for the KWIQ Guider setup today from KW Telescope (http://www.kwtelescope.com/KWT_KWIQ.htm) in Canada.
The exchange rate is extremely favorable now for US residents - $375CDN works out to just under $300USD - that includes the QHY5 camera and 50mm guide scope.
Hope to get it in about 10 days or so and will post more information when it arrives and I've had a chance to try it out.
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
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DaemonGPF
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/22/08
Posts: 4004
Loc: New Mexico
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I'd love to see some pics and your assessment of how well it works for you. I'm tempted to get one of these packages but haven't heard any direct experiences from anyone yet.
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-Josh
http://cleardarksky.com/c/AlbuqNMkey.html
My AP Gallery
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karlpenney
super member
Reged: 01/04/07
Posts: 187
Loc: Halifax, NS
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I've been looking at this too. The finder scope looks like the the kind where you adjust focus at the objective end?
I may just get a QHY5 or SSAG and try to use it with an SV F50 finder that I already have.
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Karl
Antares 8" DOB, SV80ED, C8 XLT, LS60THa
Vixen GPDX, iOptron MiniTower, SV M1
QHY8, QHY5, MX7-C
Photo Gallery
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Doug6952
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 07/24/08
Posts: 1115
Loc: West Milford, NJ
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I thought about getting that setup. I decided to get a Stellarvue F50 and a SSAG. To reach focus you have to use a 2x barlow. It narrows the FOV and increases the FL but I haven't had a problem finding a guidestar.
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Doug
Sometimes I wonder......."Why is this frisbiee getting bigger" ...... Then it hits me!
Orion EON 72mm
Celestron C6 SCT
ADM SBS rig
CGEM
DSI Pro III
Orion SSAG
Stellarvue F50
Baader LRGB and Ha filters
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groz
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/14/07
Posts: 1288
Loc: Duncan, BC
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I've got one. We've had lousy weather over the last 3 months, combined with a hectic work schedule, I haven't used it much lately. I used it a bunch late in the summer last summer. Here's what i found.
a) The fov is huge, aim it anywhere, with 2 second exposures, have a screen full of guide stars to pick from.
b) You really need to fiddle with phd settings to get it to calibrate, make the calibration pulses much longer than default.
c) The 50mm scope is mounted in a stock 'finderscope' little bracket, and there's a LOT of room for play there. Make darn sure you velcro the cables from the guidecam in place, because, you will get significant shifts just from the weight of the cable changing as it tracks. Far less of an issue if the cables are velcro attached to the little guider mount post first, then down to the telescope itself next.
I bought the combination because I wanted the 50mm finder, and I wanted the qhy5, and the combo was less expensive than the components purchased separately. I no longer use the qhy in the finder, but, may well experiment with that more later. But, the biggest issue after getting phd to calibrate was flexure, and you can reduce that a lot by attaching all the cables to the little mount post so they dont swing freely anymore.
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MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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Thanks for the info, Groz - glad to hear that someone other than me has actually taken the plunge on the KWIQ guider.
I ordered a Stellarvue F50E mounting bracket with rings from OPT, as I expected flexure to be an issue with the rickety mount that comes with the KWIQ package. Hopefully it's a little more firm. If not, I'll try to find a set of clamshell rings and fix that problem for good.
Karl - I don't know how the finder focuses, but it really doens't matter, as the guide camera is mounted such that it's always in focus. Though perfect focus is not necessary for PHD to guide accurately - it just needs to be able to find the brightest point in the star, whether that's a fine little dot or a fuzzy blob.
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
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Tazzz
sage
Reged: 02/24/06
Posts: 334
Loc: Cambridge Ontario
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Hey guys I have a very simular setup and to adjust the focus i just turn the lense on the end of the finder scope, lock the ring in place and that's it..
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Dennis Rowe
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8" Newt
SkyWatcher 80mm
SkyWatcher Pro 80mmED
GSO RC 8"
Canon 350D
DSI Pro W/Filters
QHY8
LXD75
EQ6 PRO
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AlexN
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/09/08
Posts: 1195
Loc: Brisbane - Australia
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I've heard from a couple of people using the KWIQ guider with 10" SCT's and getting good results. They've told me that PHD settings are crucial to success, but once you've got it right, its set and forget.
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Custom Made 10" F/3.8 Newtonian Astrograph
EQ6-Pro
SBIG ST-8300M
FLI CFW 2-7
Astrodon 5nm NB Filters
Astrodon I series LRGB
OAG + QHY5
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MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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Thanks for reminding me about this thread...
I got my KWIQ guider a couple of weeks ago, but the weather has been worse than rotten since then so haven't had a chance to check it out. Might get out for a little while in the next several days, as it's supposed to clear up.
On first look, however, I'm quite unimpressed by the mount that came with the KWIQ guider - it's your average cheap chinese-made finder scope mount - the kind with a rubber o-ring at one end and 2 plastic thumb screws plus a springy gizmo at the other end for aligning it. "Rigid" is not a term that comes to mind when you look at this thing and if I were to use it, I'd be plagued with flexure until the end of time. So the mount is going in the junk pile and I'm replacing it with a set of Stellarvue 50mm guide scope rings. Waiting on delivery of the right Stellarvue base, as I've ordered the wrong one twice now...
Another observation is that the finder scope looks to be identical to the 9x50 straight-through finder that came with my C-11 -- in fact, I was able to unscrew the eyepiece end of my C-11 finder and I think the threads on it match the threads on the adapter that goes between the finder and the QHY5 guide camera. So if you have a Celestron finder and an Orion autoguider, you could probably buy just the adapter from the folks at KW Telescope and be in business. I didn't completely put that configuration together so can't say for sure, but it looks pretty identical to me.
I'll give another update once I've had a chance to try it out.
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
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jgw12936
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/28/07
Posts: 630
Loc: The Woodlands, TX
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I got mine about 3 weeks ago, haven't had a night to even try it out, until tonight.
I agree that the bracket is not great, I replaced mine with the Stellarvue 50mm bracket. I got it focused and wow, what a wide view, tons of stars to choose. I am using PhD to guide and set my calibration setup to 1750 and it calibrated perfectly and quickly. A few test 5 minute frames and it is working great! I am going to take some M42 shots tonight, I'll post later how it does with a night of imaging.
Jim
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Jim
APM/TMB 80/480
Takahashi FSQ ED 106
AP 155 EDFS
AP 900
FLI Proline 11002M
Starlight Xpress SXV-H9/H9C
http://jimwood.smugmug.com/
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jgw12936
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/28/07
Posts: 630
Loc: The Woodlands, TX
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I imaged all night with the Kwiq Guider autoguiding and took 10 min subs with no issues. Works great with Phd and the calibration setting I mentioned above. Light weight, I can switch it to my SCT, big or small refractor with the quick release bracket. Love it.
Jim
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Jim
APM/TMB 80/480
Takahashi FSQ ED 106
AP 155 EDFS
AP 900
FLI Proline 11002M
Starlight Xpress SXV-H9/H9C
http://jimwood.smugmug.com/
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kcgolden
super member
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 181
Loc: Austin, TX
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I saw this guider a while back and realized I had an 8x50 finder I wasn't using as well as a DSI Pro lying around. I followed this guide and made a finder guider.
The only issue I think might come up with a KWIQ guider is I think that the focus does vary with temperature. They claim that it's "always in focus" but I don't know how this could possibly be true. I have had to adjust my homemade finder's focus from night to night.
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Kelsey
Eyegloo Observatory Homepage
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MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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Thought I'd dredge this thread back up now that I finally got a chance to use my KWIQ Guider.
It was fairly easy to set up and use - though I did replace the mount that came with the guider, opting for a set of Stellarvue 50mm rings. It took me several different orders to get the right combination of dovetail shoes to let me mount it on my C-11 and on the clamshell rings of my Megrez 90, but I'm now able to easily move the KWIQ guider to either platform with just two thumb screws.
I dragged the CGE mount and my C-11 out last night for a test run, didn't get a very good polar alignment (that's a story for another thread; I was testing out the new "All Star" polar align routine) but figured I'd try out some imaging anyway just as a test.
Previously, I had the Megrez 90 mounted piggyback on the C-11 and used the Megrez and a DSI Pro to guide with when imaging through the C-11 typically at f/6.3. My results were consistently horrible - very elongated stars after just a 4 or 5 minute exposure, all of which I originally blamed on mirror shift but which I now think was just differential flexure between the Megrez 90 and the C11.
Fast forward to last night. I fired up PHD and the KWIQ guider on the C11, focused the KWIQ guider (easy to do), then mounted my QHY8 ccd to the C-11 at f/6.3 (focal length of about 1750mm) and focused it with my Bahtinov mask.
Once PHD finished calibration (I had to abort the initial calibration run and change the calibration step size to 1200 or else I would be there all night waiting for the calibration to finish), I gave the scope a couple of minutes to settle in and then fired off a short sequence of 5-minute exposures aimed (roughly) at the Rosette nebula.
Much to my surprise, I came out with nearly perfectly round stars, at least in the center of the field (there was some field rotation on the edges, owing to the poor polar alignment).
So I'm jazzed now about imaging with the C-11 at longer focal lengths - my previous experience left me thinking I'd never be able to get the flexure problems worked out well enough, but with the small, light, easy to use KWIQ Guider, I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to produce some nice images soon (after it warms up a bit, I can't stand the cold out there!)
I didn't have any trouble finding a guide star either - the field of view on the KWIQ guider is huge and there are always a few stars available to choose from. The QHY5 CCD (same as the Orion StarShoot Autoguider) seemed to be plenty sensitive for finding stars, and I could have increased the exposure time in PHD if the stars were really faint.
So the bottom line is that, other than the crummy mount that came with the camera, I'm quite happy with the KWIQ guider. If any issues come up as I spend more time with it, I'll be sure to report them here, but at the moment I expect it to become one of those things that "just works" and you don't have to fight with all the time.
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
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groz
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/14/07
Posts: 1288
Loc: Duncan, BC
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I've also re-mounted ours into a set of rings instead of the flimsy little thing it came with. We now have it atop the williams 80. It's a match made in heaven me thinks. With the nikon d-50 in the williams, and the qhy5 in the kwiq, they have an almost identical field of view. After fussing a bit to get the kwiq aligned perfectly with the williams int he guide rings, it's actually good for setting up framing on a shot too.
I have had issues with the stability of the driver software for this beast tho, but we seem to be thru that now.
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Poochpa
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/12/05
Posts: 523
Loc: Buffalo Burbs, NY
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Marty,
Thanks for the detailed report on the KWIQ Guider. Hope you don't mind some questions. Is the camera coupled to the finderscope adapter by the camera's t-thread or a 1.25" nosepiece, or is the camera permanently mounted to the finder? If not permanently mounted, does the package also include the camera's 1.25" nosepiece in case you wanted to use the camera with other scopes? With the 50mm Stellarvue rings, is there enough clearance to move the finder around a bit if you needed to hunt for or center guide stars? Thanks.
Mike
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Televue NP101
Vixen GPDX/Skysensor 2000PC
Meade 8" LX200GPS
WO Zenithstar 66SD
Modified Canon Rebel XSi
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karlpenney
super member
Reged: 01/04/07
Posts: 187
Loc: Halifax, NS
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Mike, I just received mine the other day. The QHY5 is coupled to the finderscope by the camera's t-thread. The package doesn't include a 1.25" nosepiece. I also have the 50mm SV rings and there is plenty of room for adjustment if needed.
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Karl
Antares 8" DOB, SV80ED, C8 XLT, LS60THa
Vixen GPDX, iOptron MiniTower, SV M1
QHY8, QHY5, MX7-C
Photo Gallery
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MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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I thought some photos might be helpful, so uploaded a few to my PBase account.
http://www.pbase.com/martyt/kwiq_guider
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
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Poochpa
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/12/05
Posts: 523
Loc: Buffalo Burbs, NY
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Karl and Marty,
Thanks for the info and pics. The KWIQ Guider is better looking than I thought from the ad. Are the SV rings removable from the dovetail? I presently have an ADM setup with 100mm rings (the smallest size ADM has), which I would replace with the SV 50mm rings to reduce the chances of flexure with such a small diameter guidescope. I think the ADM rings mount to the rail clamps with 1/4-20 bolts.
Mike
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Televue NP101
Vixen GPDX/Skysensor 2000PC
Meade 8" LX200GPS
WO Zenithstar 66SD
Modified Canon Rebel XSi
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karlpenney
super member
Reged: 01/04/07
Posts: 187
Loc: Halifax, NS
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The SV rings are removable from the dovetail. They are attached with 5mm screws.
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Karl
Antares 8" DOB, SV80ED, C8 XLT, LS60THa
Vixen GPDX, iOptron MiniTower, SV M1
QHY8, QHY5, MX7-C
Photo Gallery
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Poochpa
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/12/05
Posts: 523
Loc: Buffalo Burbs, NY
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Thanks Karl for the info on the SV rings.
Mike
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Televue NP101
Vixen GPDX/Skysensor 2000PC
Meade 8" LX200GPS
WO Zenithstar 66SD
Modified Canon Rebel XSi
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groz
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/14/07
Posts: 1288
Loc: Duncan, BC
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Ok, last nite we were able to get some definitive results with our Kwiq setup, and, folks are probably interested. So, I've taken some clips out of some of our shots from last nite. First a full description of the setup.
HEQ5-Pro with a Williams ZS80 riding on top, Nikon D-50 in the Williams, no reducers of flatteners. That's 585mm focal length, and the camera pixel scale works out to 2.95 arcseconds per pixel. On top of that, we have the Kwiqguide setup, but I tossed away the little mounting bracket it comes with, and replaced with a set of antares 3 point rings. The final resolution on that setup (qhy5 in the 175mm focal length finder scope) runs slightly over 6 arcseconds per pixel. The mount was polar aligned using the polar scope, no drift alignment. The polar scopes on our mounts are very close to perfectly aligned.
The mount was reasonably well polar aligned, and this mount does exhibit a very noticeable ra hiccup as the gears mesh, if memory serves me correctly, it's about an 11 second period. Shows up very clearly in the phd graph display.
From some of our shots, I have cropped pieces so you can really see how well the Kwiq works on this rig overall. I cut the exact same spot out of 3 of the exposures. The top two are from 2 minute test shots, on the left is unguided, on the right is with phd running and guiding the mount using the camera -> mount cable that came with the camera. The lower piece is again the same stars, but from a 5 minute guided exposure. Camera is the D-50 in the williams 80.
The results speak for themselves. I've blown up considerably the cropped areas, so you can see clearly each pixel in the area of interest. The 2 minute unguided shot on the top left shows clearly a 3 pixel smear, which is the gear mesh bump we see from that mount. Have never taken an unguided shot with it that doesn't show at least that much of a smear on the stars. Top right is the exact same configuration, 2 minutes exposure but with phd running and guiding. Stars in that piece are about as good as they get, certainly the best we've ever achieved with this mount/camera/telescope combination. Bottom section is again the same stars, but taken from a 5 minute guided exposure. All of these shots are crops from our frames, blown up to 4 times actual size.
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groz
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/14/07
Posts: 1288
Loc: Duncan, BC
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To add to the above, some thoughts after we finally got the little guider system working the way we wanted, and, it's been a bit of a long tough road to get there.
a) I had a lot of software problems with the QHY5 drivers, which I finally solved by forcing the camera to load starshoot drivers.
b) The bracket it came with isn't sufficient for guiding, I replaced it with a set of 3 point rings.
If I was going to do this again from scratch (and I am, we have another telescope/mount that want's a similar setup), I would NOT buy the kwiq package again, but rather piece it together myself like this.
a) orion starshoot autoguider, it 'just works'.
b) Antares 9x50 finder. Thier right angle ones actually take a normal 1.25 diagonal, I'd toss the diagonal and replace it with a simple 1.25 extender to which the ssag will plug into.
c) A set of 3 point rings for the 9x50 which go into the 'finder attach' on the telescope. There are a few different styles of bases out there, I'd choose the ones that fit the base on my telescope.
By the time you add proper rings to the kwiq, then fuss with the driver software problems we had, piecing it together 'right' the first time looks more expensive up front, but it isn't. Add the price of a set of rings to the purchase price of the kwiq, and, suddenly piecing it together right the first time turns out to cost about the same as the package deal.
That's my 2 cents, your mileage may vary.
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MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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I didn't have any problems with the QHY5 drivers. But I grabbed the latest ones from Tom's website: http://www.astrosoft.be/release.asp - I pick "Q Guider" in PHD and it works just fine without a hiccup.
One thing that makes the KWIQ Guider solution very attractive for those of us in the states is the current favorable exchange rate between Canada and the US - my cost for the package was $375 CAD including shipping, which at the time a couple of months ago came out to about $295 USD. Currently, it's just over $300 USD. Still a very good rate
[edit: I had the wrong currency conversion numbers...]
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
Edited by MartyT (01/25/09 11:28 AM)
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Poochpa
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/12/05
Posts: 523
Loc: Buffalo Burbs, NY
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Marty, unfortunately, the price stated on the KWTelescope webpage is now "$349.95 U.S."
Mike
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Televue NP101
Vixen GPDX/Skysensor 2000PC
Meade 8" LX200GPS
WO Zenithstar 66SD
Modified Canon Rebel XSi
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MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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Quote:
Marty, unfortunately, the price stated on the KWTelescope webpage is now "$349.95 U.S."
Mike
That's what the website said when I ordered also. But I wasn't going to argue with them...
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
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Poochpa
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/12/05
Posts: 523
Loc: Buffalo Burbs, NY
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I placed an order today with KWTelescope for the KWIQ Guider. I mentioned the exchange rate, but they would not discount the price of $349.95, but were willing to include shipping in the price.
Mike
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Televue NP101
Vixen GPDX/Skysensor 2000PC
Meade 8" LX200GPS
WO Zenithstar 66SD
Modified Canon Rebel XSi
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MartyT
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 682
Loc: Kansas City
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Quote:
I placed an order today with KWTelescope for the KWIQ Guider. I mentioned the exchange rate, but they would not discount the price of $349.95, but were willing to include shipping in the price.
Mike
Sounds like they're working the exchange rate to their favor... $350 CAD is about $285 USD. But $350 USD is $429 CAD. Not surprising they can ship "for free"...
Glad I bought mine when I did! 
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Celestron CGE / C-11 (CGE-1100)
Megrez 90 FD APO / 0.8x FR/FF vIII
QHY8, 350D, DSI Pro, SPC900NC
KWIQ Guider (QHY5)
ETX-125AT
12" Lightbridge
My Astrophoto Gallery
Astronomical Society of Kansas City
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groz
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/14/07
Posts: 1288
Loc: Duncan, BC
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Quote:
Sounds like they're working the exchange rate to their favor...
Actually, thier adds have always said, 349.95 US.
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guyroch
sage
Reged: 01/22/08
Posts: 431
Loc: 3rd rock from the sun, Canada
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Quote:
Quote:
Sounds like they're working the exchange rate to their favor...
Actually, thier adds have always said, 349.95 US.
In SkyNews this month, a Canadian magazine, the KWIQ is advertised as 349.95, no mention of USD. Now, I'm Canadian living in Canada, KW is a canadian company, and the advertisement was in a Canadian magazine... now I would assume that the price is in Canadaian dollar because the advertisement in the magazine did not mention currency, their site still indicates USD. I sent them a email today and told them I would buy one at 349 CND and not 349 USD, with the exchange rate and taxes it would be close to 500+. I have not heard from them at all, looks like they are in no hurry to sell it to me at 349 CND.
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Orion EON 120mm ED f/7.5
Orion ST80 + SSAG + PHD
NEQ6 Pro (EQMOD) & CG5-GT
Canon 40D (unmod) + TC-80N3
NexImage CCD Planetary Imager
Hutech IDAS, Astronomic CLS, Orion SkyGlow
Plenty of patience and a wife that doesn’t quite understand my love for clear skies, but let’s me go out anyway ~ thanks honey bunny 
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guyroch
sage
Reged: 01/22/08
Posts: 431
Loc: 3rd rock from the sun, Canada
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As an alternative... this is what I'm looking at as well.
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=refractors/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24770
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Orion EON 120mm ED f/7.5
Orion ST80 + SSAG + PHD
NEQ6 Pro (EQMOD) & CG5-GT
Canon 40D (unmod) + TC-80N3
NexImage CCD Planetary Imager
Hutech IDAS, Astronomic CLS, Orion SkyGlow
Plenty of patience and a wife that doesn’t quite understand my love for clear skies, but let’s me go out anyway ~ thanks honey bunny
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jsrj98
newbie
Reged: 02/21/08
Posts: 3
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I bought a KWIQ Guider about a month ago (for $350 US, plus $20 shipping to Calif.)and I LOVE it. It's extremely easy to use with PHD, is very small and light, and has a huge FOV. The only complaint is that the finder bracket could be better. Swapping the finder braket seems to be very common, as did I. BTW, bought the KWIQ Guider to replace a similar setup as the one Orion is selling, except I had much heavier duty rings (from ADM) and a long exposure webcam. The KWIQ Guider is much more foolproof and easier to use. It never needs focusing!!!
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John Theios
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Intes MN-56
Sirius EQ w/EQMOD
SX HX916
QHY5 w/50mm Guider
AstroArt, PHD, CDC
DSS, CS2, PI LE
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EdmontonAB
sage
Reged: 04/30/08
Posts: 451
Loc: Sooke, British Columbia, Canad...
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I just got a KWIQ finder myself and started using PHD for the first time. I'm new to this hobby and I have had no issues with it. I'm shoting at 500mm and have been going with 5 - 10 min exp on and HEQ5 and haven't thrown one exp out. I am still using the finder bracket that came with it and for this short a focal length I do not see any issues.
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Steve
AT8RC
Equinox 80ED Pro f/6.2 Refractor
HEQ 5 Pro with SyncScan
KWIQ Autoguider
Stock Canon XTI
Astro Tech field flattner
CLS Clip in filter (for sale)
Bahtinov Mask
see my other attempts at: www.flickr.com/photos/above_the_horizon/
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Alfort9
newbie
Reged: 04/20/07
Posts: 4
Loc: toronto, canada
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Has your opinion about the KWIQ guider changed since your post? I am new to astrophotography myself and am trying to decide between the KWIQ and the Orion equivalent.
Would prefer to just drive to Kitchener (from Richmond Hill) and buy the KWIQ because of various problems, including expense, that I have had when ordering from the U.S, but the flexing problem mentioned with the KWIQ does concern me.
I note your comment about your focal length minimizing the problem, which I don't quite get - less flexing with a shorter tube, I guess - but my focal length is about the same as yours, f/7.
P.S. Is that fancy restaurant in Sooke still in business? Was there about 6 years ago to make my gourmand spouse happy - very nice people there.
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EdmontonAB
sage
Reged: 04/30/08
Posts: 451
Loc: Sooke, British Columbia, Canad...
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My opinion still stands. What I mean by focal length is my telescopes aperture is 80mm and it's a f/6.25 so 80mm x 6.25 = 500mm. This number is important because the larger it gets the more accurate your tracking has to be. I am now using my KWIQ guider at a focal length of 1600mm which is a 200mm f/8 scope and it is still working great. You can see my pics.
Yes the Sooke Harbour House is still there.
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Steve
AT8RC
Equinox 80ED Pro f/6.2 Refractor
HEQ 5 Pro with SyncScan
KWIQ Autoguider
Stock Canon XTI
Astro Tech field flattner
CLS Clip in filter (for sale)
Bahtinov Mask
see my other attempts at: www.flickr.com/photos/above_the_horizon/
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Tech Hiker
member
Reged: 07/29/09
Posts: 32
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If I buy a KWIQ guider and later decide that I want to mount the QHY5 camera on an 80mm refractor, is that possible? Can the KWIQ be disassembled and the camera adapted to attach to an 80mm refractor?
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Tom
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Tapio
super member
Reged: 09/24/06
Posts: 182
Loc: Tampere, Finland
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Tom,
Yes you can. It only needs to be unscrewed from the finder.
I have put some markings on the finder so I get focused when I screw it back.
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Tapio
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