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So I finally had a chance to test my MGEN 3 autoguider on my Losmandy G-11.

1x600s
ISO 100
Pentax K-1 and William Optics Whitecat 51

Bortle 5/6 skies
No calibration frames

I like it.

I haven't had a 10 min sub since I borrowed a friend's SBIG ST-IV autoguider.

That's an impressive result; I can imagine you like it.

+1! I certainly would be hard-pressed to get that with my off-axis guider unless everything was just right.

I have a question, where did you order the MGEN 3 from as I haven't seen any US place selling them.

Hi Rick,

you are using Phd2, aren't you?

Though I am quite happy with my old MGEN2 I tested the new multistar feature in Phd2 a few days ago. It was impressive to see that the total rms error immediately dropped and rised significantly each time I turned the feature on and off. The rms error in both axes fell about at least 1/3rd and the guiding graph got much smoother using the multistar option.

This is definitively worth a try. The function is not yet implemented into the actual full release but in the beta snapshot build 2.6.9dev3 PHD2 Development Snapshot Builds - PHD2 Guiding.

Our friend Cuiv in Tokyo shows a basic demonstration here
Stay well!

Pete

Hi,

I ordered it from 365Astronomy.com over in the U.K. I had to wait a few months till they had them back in stock.

LACERTA MGEN-3 Stand-Alone AutoGuider with Superior MultiStar Guiding

Thanks. I thought I would end up having to order from Europe but hoped that there was a domestic source.

Yes! In fact I compiled it from source on my Raspberry Pi so that I didn't have to wait for the new multistar feature. I, too, saw SIGNIFICANT improvement immediately. The multistar feature in Ekos also improved my guiding by quite a bit. I went from 1.1" total RMS being a good night down to 0.7" or even occasionally 0.4" for a while. Haven't had a chance to try the CEM70 yet, though.

The other great thing about multistar for PHD, at least for me: My rig is overloaded (7.7 kg on a CEM25P) and so it's constantly wobbling off. Frequent small corrections work very well at keeping it corralled, but seeing effects make that a mad random dance on a single star. The multistar very effectively averages out those effects so I can use a 1-second exposure, which in itself seems to have helped.

And you, my friend! All my friends here, to be sure. I am lucky that my Ski Patrol volunteer work put my in the very first tranche of vaccinations, so now my major health risk is the 10 kg I've put on over the course of the pandemic. Be safe, astro friends.

I'd really love to upgrade to an MGEN3. But indeed it is quite an investment and as I already have an MGEN2 and a Phd2 setup with an ASI120mm-s there is no real argument for that. When I have got used to phd2 I will probably use Phd2 multistar guiding as the standard in my permanent setup on the balcony. The MGEN2 will be the tool for my mobile setup.

...I do my very best I am +60 and so I hope to be in the 3rd tranche end of this summer. We are still in a "lock down" situation and very restricted. But it seems to work. The measures should bring the so called 7-days-incidence value below an average of 35 cases per 100,000 people in the next weeks. Keep fingers crossed .

Cheers
Pete

P.S. Yesterday I received a mail from my dealer that the long awaited ZWO ASI2600mm-pro is on the way to me. That will bring me back to the APS-C format and to a dynamic range magnitude and welldepth in the range of my good old K3II .

Can’t wait to see the results of you new camera, just remember to keep the clouds locally when it arrives!

Woo hoo! Looking forward to those images, for sure.