A lot has happened since I posted about replacing my laptop in 2015.   I thought I was happy using a method that involved no laptop at all.  However, I got really frustrated with the SynGuider II as I kept struggling to get it up and running.  Once it was working great, but I lost so many nights struggling to get it find a guide star.

At one star party, the reason why I was struggling hit me full in the face.  Actually, it was talking to others that the root of all my problems came to light.  The problem is that since I started trying to do auto guiding, I’ve been using cameras that are effectively web cams.    What do I mean?    Firstly, I was using a Phillips TuCam Pro II, and this was my starting point.   I got frustrated with that, as I thought the field of view was too small.   Turns out that’s not the problem.

Switching to the SynGuider II, you know it’s made for astronomy right, so it’s gotta be able to do the job… right?   Well, turns out that no.  All the problems that others said to me played out.   The reason for all these problems was simply that the camera isn’t sensitive enough to be able to see dim guide stars.

With all this in mind, I got extremely frustrated and decided to change my entire imaging setup.  Since that day, I’ve had several moments alot of re-learning, but frankly I feel that I’m almost at a new level.