| Autoguiding your mount is vital for obtaining clear and crisp long-exposure astrophotos. Laptop computers have long been required to use an autoguider. If you are using a standard CCD camera, you already need a laptop computer to download the images as you take them, so it’s an easy matter to use the same laptop for guiding your scope.
But you don’t need a laptop to store images if you are using a 35mm camera or DSLR. They store their own images. So why haul a power-hungry laptop out to your scope just to use an autoguider?
The Orion StarShoot Solitaire autoguider is a complete stand-alone CCD autoguiding system that is ideal for DSLR users who don’t necessarily need a computer to control their imaging system. Think of the money you’ll save on computer hardware costs, not to mention the energy needed to power your computer system. This convenient alternative significantly lessens the chance of a computer crash or other imaging system malfunction ruining a whole night’s imaging.
The Solitaire AutoGuider makes it possible for almost anyone to start enjoying the fascinating and rewarding world of astrophotography, without the need for an expensive or overly complicated imaging setup. It includes a control box and all the necessary cables to begin autoguiding right out of the box. The control interface is intuitive and user-friendly, with a clear and clean red LCD display and backlit buttons with adjustable brightness. The built-in logic behind the Solitaire's control pad allows you to guide with pushbutton ease, allowing anyone to operate the autoguider right away. Simply connect the Solitaire to the control box and your mount, plug it into a power source, and start autoguiding!
The StarShoot Solitaire has a 6 micron x 6 micron pixel size monochrome CCD sensor for high sensitivity and high-precision 0.5 subpixel autoguiding. You first insert the supplied parfocal 6mm eyepiece into the 1.25" focuser of an optional guidescope attached to your main telescope and use it to find an appropriate guide star. Then, slip the 1.25" nosepiece of the Solitaire CCD into the guidescope in place of the eyepiece. The software built into the Solitaire hand control automatically calibrates the system for your particular mount (with permanent storage of the calibration parameters), automatically detects the guide star, and adjusts its exposure over a 0.001 second to 2 second range depending on the guide star’s brightness. A 2.5" 128 x 64 pixel red LCD screen on the light and compact (7.7 ounce and 3.75" x 2.2" x 1.1") control box walks you through the simple procedure to customize the guiding based on seeing conditions and the focal length of your guide scope, displays the guide star location on the CCD chip in real time, and the star focus quality. Once the Solitaire starts to guide, the LCD display shows a tracking graph of the guiding corrections.
The Solitaire’s 752 x 480 pixel guiding sensor is a 1/3" format Aptina MT9V032 CMOS chip. It has 6 micron x 6 micron pixels and 10-bit A/D conversion that allow the Solitaire to be used with smaller, less expensive guide scopes. It works with all equatorial mounts equipped with dual axis motors and an ST-4 compatible autoguide port, including the Orion Atlas EQ-G mounts.
The autoguider body is made of machined aluminum with a black anodized finish. It weighs just 3.8 oz. The made-in-Italy StarShoot Solitaire package includes the autoguider camera, control box, a 6mm parfocal eyepiece for easy guide star acquisition and focus, a 7’ camera cable (to control box), a 7’ autoguide cable (to mount), a 10’ power cable with a cigarette lighter plug for connection to a rechargeable battery or power supply (needs 6-14VDC at 110mA), and a hard foam-lined carrying case.
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