QHY5L-II-M or Original Lodestar?

[kevi...@gmail.com]

I might need to move from my trusty ASI120MM to a 1.25" barrel guide cam.  Any preference between these two?  I capture at 1600mm, giving 0.59 arcsecs/pixel on my imaging cam (ICX694 chip). if that helps.

Kevin

[kevi...@gmail.com]

Nobody knows?  There are persistent rumors that people use both of these cameras with PHD.  :)  What I really want to know is if they both play nice with PHD2.  I know some QHY5 users reported issues, and I've never really understood whether the interlacing/binning aspect of the Lodestar was a real problem or just a theoretical one.  Sensitivity isn't really an issue for me since I'll soon be adding a rotator to my setup, so I can get any guide star I need.  Thanks for any advice.

Kevin

[CyScape]

Hi Kevin, I use the QHY5II mono, running Win 10, I'm no expert with the camera's, I've never had an issue connecting, using or finding suitible guide stars. Camera works like a charm for me.

[Andy Galasso]

On Thu, Sep 29, 2016 at 8:33 AM, <kevi...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've never really understood whether the interlacing/binning aspect of the Lodestar was a real problem or just a theoretical one.

Hi Kevin,

I use a Lodestar and a Lodestar X2 (two imaging setups) and the interlacing/binning aspect is not an issue for me. I would not include that concern as you weigh your options.

Andy

[kevi...@gmail.com]

Thanks for the input, Andy and CyScape.  Andy, I might get my hands on an original Lodestar.  At 1600mm, should I bin or not?

Kevin

[Andy Galasso]

Kevin.

I would start with un-binned then try binned if you think you need it. I use un-binned at 560mm and at 2380mm (both OAG). If you decide to try binned, make a second equipment profile so you have one for un-binned and one for binned; make a bad-pixel map for each profile.

Andy

[kevi...@gmail.com]

Thanks for the help, Andy.

[kevi...@gmail.com]

Followup question:  I take 1 second exposures to guide my CPC1100.  One comment on CN suggested short unbinned exposures would result in the guide star flickering back and forth as alternate interlaced lines get read out, and that binning would be required to avoid this.  Can anyone confirm this?  If I bin, I would be guiding at 1.8 arcsecs/pixel while imaging at 0.59.  Any problem with that?

Kevin

[Andy Galasso]

Kevin,

For ordinary guide exposures in the range of around 1 second or longer the effect of the camera's interlacing is negligible and does not affect guiding. That said, the built-in driver ("Starlight Xpress SXV") and the SX ASCOM driver deal with the interfacing slightly differently.  The built-in driver always bins the interlaced rows (so minimum binning is 2x1, though you can also bin 2x2 or 3x3 if you want). The ASCOM driver allows reading the pixels without any binning (1x1) but also provides options for compensating for the interlacing including equalizing the frames and Gaussian blur.

Andy