Quote:

---

So maybe building a fully autoguided system for a barndoor/altaz mount is too much...

As a first step, how does the following sound:
{
In order to achieve basic guiding (not auto):
Mount a webcam, connected to a computer via usb and
calculate offsets.
Manually change these offsets by rotating the nut.
}
This way, I get reliable guiding..to some extent, right?

---

I'm not sure what you now gain? You can attach a webcam to a laptop, but what are you looking for that you can't see by manual guiding, as that is really what you are doing.

You can use PhD (or similar) to get most of what you want, it can show you the offsets on a laptop, but you're not going to gain anything. You can't manually adjust the scope based on laptop numbers with the accuracy you need. You would be far better off using an off-axis guider and manually guiding.

If you consider that most people are very happy with 5 mins exposure on reasonable scopes, aiming for 1-4 hours is very, very hopeful.

I speak from bitter experience here, I've tried the DIY route and it's hard, really hard. I'm not boasting but am trying to give you the benefit of my experience, I am a pretty good programmer, I have designed and built operating systems, designed my own computer languages, I have actually designed and built CPU hardware (though that was over 20 years ago:) ). What you are trying to do, with a target of 4 hours, puts your target right up there with the very, very best equatorial mounts in the world.

By all means ask the questions here, but be prepared for answers you don't like.

All the best,

--------------------
Thanks,

Rob

Post Extras