Astrophotography Guiding - What, Why and How

A break down of what is guiding, why we guide and how we guide. I will show you my progression with guide scopes, how to set one up in PHD, and somethings to consider, what I liked and what I dislike.

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Gear I use:
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[warrenb]

As a visual observer who is starting out in Astrophotography, this was the clearest explanation I've found on guiding in a large number of videos. Thank you. Subscribed!

[The_Voice_Of_Osiris]

I'm still in the research phase and your video helped me tremendously! Thank you!😁😁😁

[henservillela]

I love your videos, so much to learn and thank you so much for getting into details that many out there don't mention. I really appreciate it.

[astrophoto]

Brilliant, well prepared amd extremely clear. Thank you ❤

[plumberman]

Just want to put this out there for future folks. I have the stellarvue guide scope setup, 50mm with their rings clamps and rail. It is heavy, absolutely agreed. But the setup as a whole is solid as a rock, or..an anvil lol. The stellarvue guidescope focuser is absolutely the best 2" helical focuser I've used to date. I've used the cheap ones and this one IS NOT the same one you see on all these svbony/synta scopes and the like. It's smooth and solid and holds focus just as well or better than most. So if you're looking for this guide scope for your setup, go for it. My only consideration that would make it a no-go for some setups would be weight, especially if you intend to use their rings clamps and plate. I'd make sure you're running an EQ6 size mount at minimum for this setup.

[deininde]

Keep up the wonderful work Amy! Love it! 🌌🌠🌛

[GarnettLeary]

That ring light looks crazy in your glasses. Just picking. I love the video. Great explanation.

[stillontheedge]

Excellent vid for a Newby like me. Thank you.

[tamrich]

Nice tutorial Amy! Will be a big help to new beginners who are started up on the wonderful journey.

[CAPAstro]

Another great video Amy ! Have a look into off axis guiding as well (OAG)

[matadorbeagles]

I have the Orion 60mm guide scope and am also unhappy with flexure. Altair sells the threaded focuser that is on the guide scope you purchased as a stand-alone item. What is the connection type (thread size to connect to Altair guide scope) on that fixed focuser and can it be used either directly or with an adapter to replace the helical focuser on the Orion guid scope?

[marvinwhisman]

Amy, at one point you were using a ZWO ASI183MC Pro as your main camera on your Star Maiden which I believe has a pretty small pixel size of about 2.4um. Did that create any issues trying to maintain tracking on longer shots? Would you still recommend that camera? I need something for my GT81 which with the reducer ends up being less than 400mm focal length that will keep my resolution in arc pixels under 2.0. Thanks for any suggestions? PS I have been going back through pretty much all of your videos and picking up good tips that I seem to have missed in first viewing.

[gregmcb]

Well you just got me into astrophotography.
Unfortunately I can’t afford to Actually do it haha but it’s still fun to learn about!

[ironian]

excellent video and as I do more and more astro photography I am finding that anything more than a minute I am getting elongated stars on my skywatcher star tracker, so i take it that a guide scope and camera will be the way to go then? can I use this on a canon 100-400mm lens as that is what I have instead of a telescope

[jamesnelson]

I still have not purchased my first scope. I really like how natural you are teaching continue this method and your channel will get more people if you keep doing these type of videos basic explanations on this hobby. Can I respectfully request a future video on the equipment and process for getting the images to your router then to your computer I still dont fully understand that.

[astrodiver]

Hi there thank you 🙏 for the video, one ☝️ question please, when you click connect on phd for both guide camera and mount … is it before star alignment or after .. hope you make video about your Astro imaging flow … thx 😊

[phila]

Congrats on 2k. More to follow I’m sure.

[deeber]

I have the Sky Watcher AZ-GTi mount in EQ mode. Can it track with a 400mm lens on a crop sensor without auto-guiding? I've had success at 300mm.

[Pipe-organ-recordings]

Nice job. What do you do to secure your mount so it does not move at all on the ground when you’re guiding

[siegfriednoet]

Wow, great system you have there, very nice compact build
Are you sure that guidescope is an Altair Astro, looks almost exactly like an primalucelab, maybe they use the same scope and rings ?
take a look at the site of primalucelab, I'm curious what you think