Ad Astra Observatory

I picked up a new autoguider on Saturday.

If the mount is the basis of the imaging rig, then the autoguider is its closest ally. The autoguider is responsible for making a mount look good, by sweeping any errors under the rug. It’s one of those “basics” that don’t change too often, because why mess with success?

The ST-4 has been my stalwart companion for five and a half years. It’s guided essentially every image on my entire website. And it’s still going strong; The camera picks up stars, the relays drive the mount, and the camera does what I ask of it.

I have replaced everything else in the astrophoto rig; mount (4 of them), guidescope (2), main imaging OTA (six), imaging camera (3), and countless extra doodads, while the ST-4 just kept on trucking.

The new camera is an Orion Starshoot Autoguider. It’s small and light, and I got very used to the concept of centering and finding guidestars in realtime in the past week or two when I’ve been using the webcam as a guider. USB makes a big difference, as will the 1280×1024 chip. Faster downloads might mean better guiding.

I’m not ready to give up the ST-4 for good yet; the astronomy gods are currently exacting their revenge over the purchase, so the Orion camera hasn’t seen the sky.

But the handwriting is on the wall. There’s been a changing of the guard.

Long live the Orion Starshoot Autoguider, and long live the ST-4.