Asking about the beginner equipment set

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x0v0x0.0 avatar
Hi, I am a beginner and planned to invest on the equipment.
Due to the limited budget, I planed to use the Sky Rover 60mm f/6 ED APO as the telescope (1500g), with a 0.8x reducer lens, using Sony A7R (465g) as camera, ASI 120MC-S as guiding scope (100g), total weight of about 2.2kg.

I plan to use the Sky-Watcher Adventurer Mini as the mount, the website said it has 6.6 pound (3kg) payload capacity.
I see many were using the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i - WiFi for this telescope, but the adventurer mini is cheaper. 
Can the guiding scope help stability so I can use a less stable mount ?
Oscar avatar
I'm glad you came here because it would not have worked. Firstly, your guide camera is not a guide scope and is useless without a guide scope. Secondly, since you chose the ZWO guiding camera you'll need an ASIair Plus or ASIair Mini to control that guiding camera. The mount connects to the ASIair which connects to your guide camera which is attached to your guide scope. The ASIair can only be used with a phone or tablet.

I recommend you invest in a better star tracker than the adventurer mini, and not to fuss with guiding and keep it simple until you're ready.

I have 2 questions for you:
1. what is your budget?
2. what lenses do you have? 

if you answer these, I might be able to find a better configuration for you.
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Joe Linington avatar
I'm glad you came here because it would not have worked. Firstly, your guide camera is not a guide scope and is useless without a guide scope. Secondly, since you chose the ZWO guiding camera you'll need an ASIair Plus or ASIair Mini to control that guiding camera. The mount connects to the ASIair which connects to your guide camera which is attached to your guide scope. The ASIair can only be used with a phone or tablet.

I recommend you invest in a better star tracker than the adventurer mini, and not to fuss with guiding and keep it simple until you're ready.

I have 2 questions for you:
1. what is your budget?
2. what lenses do you have? 

if you answer these, I might be able to find a better configuration for you.

That’s confusing. Yes, you need to add a small scope to the guide camera to make it work. ZWO and SVBony both sell basically the same 30mm scope for cheap that will work. You do not need an ASIAir specifically for guiding. Any 4 thread laptop with 4-8gb of ram will work just fine using open source software. An ASIAir is just one option and not the cheapest. But, don’t bother with guiding yet. Don’t buy any of the guiding equipment. 

I started out with very similar equipment to you, the A7r is a fantastic camera and one you can grow with as it has a usable ASCOM driver for when you are ready for it. First problem, your choice of mount. The skywatcher is very basic and the mini is just too small. You will hear this over and over for good reason. Spend the money on the mount. The Adventurer GTi should be your minimum and preferably an EQ5 class if you can find one used. You really will not regret buying to much mount ever. 

next, start simple. An intervalometer and a bahtinov mask for focusing. Go unguided and start there. Get a few images under your belt then add complexity like an imaging computer and guiding etc.
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Dave Ek avatar
It is absolutely not true that you need an ASIAir to run your ZWO camera or to guide. I use ASI cameras exclusively, controlled by N.I.N.A. software running on a Mele Quiter3Q mini PC. I use PHD2 for guiding. The ASIAir is very popular but locks you into ZWO hardware (or so I've been told) and frankly is not as capable, versatile, or flexible as a PC running the best of breed software that's available and widely used.

Whatever you do, don't skimp on the mount. The guiding scope will not compensate adequately for an unstable mount. Get something bigger than what you think you need. I'd suggest something at least as big as an iOptron CEM26. The Star Adventurer GTi is the absolute smallest/cheapest mount I would consider. The best optics are useless on a subpar mount.

I know that this can be an expensive hobby, and money doesn't grow on trees, but as they say, "buy once, cry once."
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Oscar avatar
@Dave Ek Why do they say that if you use ZWO cameras you are stuck with the ZWO software? I believed that all this time, and I've been hearing that all over YouTube.
Dave Ek avatar
@Dave Ek Why do they say that if you use ZWO cameras you are stuck with the ZWO software? I believed that all this time, and I've been hearing that all over YouTube.

@messierman3000 I think it's actually the other way around (kinda)--if you use an ASIAir you're stuck with ZWO hardware. I don't believe that the ASIAir would support my Pegasus focus motor, for example, nor would it support the QHY cameras out there. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Many software packages that run on the PC, like NINA, SharpCap, PHD2, etc all have support for ZWO cameras, at least. I have the ZWO camera driver installed on my mini PC, as well as the ASCOM drivers for their cameras. I generally don't need to use the ASCOM drivers for the ZWO cameras, though, because of the native support built into those applications. But theoretically I could use ZWO cameras with any software that supports ASCOM.

My hardware includes a SW Esprit 100 refractor, an iOptron GEM45 mount, a Pegasus FocusCube2 focus motor, a ZWO off-axis guider, a ZWO EFW, and four ZWO cameras (the ASI533MC Pro, the ASI533MM Pro, the ASI290mm mini, and the ASI120mm mini). My software stack, all running under Windows 11 on my mini PC, is ASCOM, the ZWO native camera driver, the ZWO ASCOM camera driver, iOptron Commander for controlling the mount, PHD2 for guiding, NINA for managing the imaging process, and the ASCOM drivers for the ZWO filter wheel and the Pegasus focus motor. I also use Stellarium on occasion for image session planning and for mount control. I've been imaging this way for three years now, and I'm certainly not alone in that regard.

If you use ZWO cameras you *must* use the ZWO camera driver if you're running Windows. But that's the extent of the requirement for ZWO software. If anyone out there is saying that you have to use an ASIAir in order to use ZWO cameras or other ZWO hardware, they are just plain wrong.

Hope this clarifies things. My apologies to the OP for temporarily hijacking this topic thread. Perhaps it has been informative.
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Oscar avatar
@Dave Ek @x0v0x0.0 
Ok, if you use an ASIAir you're stuck with ZWO hardware (sorry for my false info - I didn't know).
But when I start out, it would be with the ASIair - just saying. And a lot of beginners (and pros) are happy with that.

But whether NINA or ASIair, they both work with ZWO cameras and it just depends on personal preference.

A more experienced person than me can explain the differences between the two.