Meade LPI-G mono for PHD2 guiding?
Jim Amos
From what I can tell here based on other conversations, using the Meade LPI-G mono camera (with proper driver install) is a workable camera option. I''ve yet to integrate guiding into my NINA rig and thinking about picking one of these up to get me closer to having autoguiding become a reality. Also think of pairing this 120mm f3.2 WO Uni Guide scope.
Sure, it's not the best tandem, but this gets me autoguiding for a reasonable co$t. Any commentary appreciated and thanks in advance for your consideration.
bw_m...@earthlink.net
Many people find it hard to learn about guiding because of the great precision involved in the process. If you try to get started with marginal equipment that is likely to give you trouble, it can make the learning curve even steeper. I suggest that you consider a used guide camera from Astromart that will have better performance and fewer problems. Particularly if you are going to be using a Windows 11 system, you should look around on the various forums to see if the camera you choose will install and run correctly on that OS. Old cameras with little or no software support from the manufacturer may not work correctly on later versions of the OS.
Good luck,
Bruce
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Jim Amos
Thanks for your comments... the WO guide scope would be an Astromart purchase in fact.
The LPI-G camera is also being offered up now at closeout pricing. All these precipitate my interest and online ask about guiding as it's been on my radar,
I'm currently running a DSI-IV and LX-85 mount with NINA at the moment on a Win 11 system with the appropriate ASCOM drivers, so I don't anticipate an interface issue with the LPI-G. Meade's docs in fact suggest their ASCOM drivers are already PHD2 compatible, and based on other user posts here, there are others guiding with PHD2 and the LPI-G.
bw_m...@earthlink.net
You need to think about the implications of using a camera with 2 micron pixels. That means that a 2 micron shift of anything in the guiding assembly is going to create a tracking error of 3.5 arc-sec. A typical human hair is about 50 microns thick. So you would need to be highly confident everything in the guiding assembly is sufficient tight and rigid that this amount of movement won’t happen – in any part of the sky as the scope moves around. I think the guider image scale of 3.5 arc-sec/px will be ok as long as you’re not trying to image through a long focal length scope. I also didn’t see any mention of whether the camera can be binned. If not, it won’t work well with an OAG on a scope with a focal length of 1000mm or more.
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Bobby
I use one. Just finished a session at my remote site. Using a
130mm guide scope, I was getting .10 to .12. I also use the
camera in Windows 11.
HOWEVER;
I have had some problems. Meade is useless for updated drivers.
So forget about improvements down the road. Sometimes the camera
will time out during calibration when doing darks if the exposure
is 5 seconds or more. Set it at 4.5 seconds and all is well. The
camera is not sensitive enough for an OAG. You may need to find
the right cable and USB port setup. Once you find one that the
camera does not hang on, use it all the time. The camera also has
a strange behavior at flip sometimes. Immediately after
an automated flip, the first image sent to PHD2 is one taken
before the flip. PHD locks onto a star and immediately the
image changes to an image post flip and PHD2 keeps looking for the
star it locked on originally. If you have a lot of stars in your
image, it may not be a problem. If you have few, PHD2 will
continue to search for the missing star and your guiding will
suffer. Of course, if you are present during the flip, you can
manually choose a new star and PHD2 works fine. I have a post
from a few weeks ago about it on the forum.
I saw the reduced price. $60 is really tempting. This camera is not a bad planetary camera either. (You will need filters for color.) Another possibility is the Astromania camera (the blue one). They sell for around 150 and often go on sale at the A_Zon place. Made by Touptek, drivers are pretty good and I have used one off and on for a couple of years with few problems other than it's color (you'll need a UV-IR filter) and it's sensitivity is poor. In a guide scope of 130mm to 300mm, it works OK. Not as well as a QHY511, but it will get you started.
Bobby
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Bobby Sapovits
www.equusbicycle.com
Jim Amos
For $60, it's hard to pass up and worth giving the camera try IMHO... even if there's a partial or complete fail, it's still a nominal investment and gets me started like you mention (as I prep for eventual guiding integration)
I'm still going to need some guider optics and I'm still researching my options on that front.
FWIW, I'm still trying for that "first date" with a bright thing with a wide-field camera lens (f/2'ish 135mm), so no guiding required.
Heck, just a good GoTo and some favorable live stacking results and I'd be ecstatic.