The Superwedge, GEG and ST-4 is what I would do.... wait a minute, that is
what I did. :-)

I tried for almost 2 years to get my guidescope to work with my 10"
LX200. It worked OK up to about 20 - 30 minutes but no longer even with
the mirror cell locked down and huge amounts of time and money and lost
dark time working out the flexure bugs. It is better to get the right
equipment right away and the above combination works great for me and
several others who's images are better than mine.

I'm thinking of getting a JMI NGFS for my CCD work, but for film I use the
GEG because of it's huge focal reducer and very high quality workmanship
and high quality unvignetted images I can get using it. Focus is tricky,
but in my experience the focus drift as the temperature changes makes the
NGFS accuracy mute for long exposures anyway. If the temperature is
steady, or you are doing short CCD exposures I think the NGFS is a great idea.

Good luck!

At 07:11 AM 12/1/99 -0600, you wrote:
>Now that I've had my 10" f/10 LX200 for year, my
>thoughts have been wandering towards
>astrophotography. Fortunately, today I had a
>$1500 windfall. I am debating over whether this
>would be adequate for a start in astrophotgraphy.
>I have considered something along the lines of a
>Super Wedge, GEG and ST-4. This of course would
>be for film photography. If I were going for ccd,
>I'd like something along the lines of a 416, or
>really an ST-7 - too much $$. My wife loves
>astrophotographs (just bought one on E-Bay) so I
>guess film is more likely to produce something
>she'd hang on the wall.
>
>That said, what would you experienced
>astrophotographers recommend as a good starter
>kit? I know the wedge is a given. Probably
>wouldn't want to wait on a Milburn. Some say the
>GEG is better than a guidescope so you don't have
>to worry about mirror flop, although I have a
>TV-85 (8 lbs) that could be used. I guess
>buying/making counterweights will need to included
>as well. Is the guide scope + ST-4 and NGFS +
>focal reducer + camera on the LX200 better?
>
>Apologies for sleeping through all the
>astrophotography threads - it was all academic
>until now. I've looked at a number of web sites,
>but will appreciate any responses or URLs. Maybe
>I can pull something off before before the $$ gets
>spent on Christmas!
>
>TIA, Danny Cobb

Chris Vedeler
http://www.isomedia.com/homes/cvedeler/space.htm
Tucson, AZ

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