I have a C11-ASGT and am wondering if anyone is using a Celestron Radial Guider or any other off axis guider with any success. The only review I have read on the Celestron Radial Guiders stated that it was poorly made and was not recommended.

I have a Celestron and it's well made. It's about 20 years old though and from Japan. I prefer the Lumicon OAG though. 

I will look into the Lumicon OGA. Thanks.

 I'm interested in using my Nikon D70s with my Celestron and thought that the Radial Guider would work well for shooting planets.But before I purchase one I want to look at all options.

Blue Snowball:

thought that the Radial Guider would work well for shooting planets

I also use the Lumicon (2") OAG for long exposure photography with my cassegrain, it works well for that purpose , but you don't need an OAG, a piggybacked guide scope, or any other guider for planetary photography. Just attach your camera to the visual back, or to a barlow inserted into the back, point at the planet, and start shooting.

A "flip mirror" device can be helpful for aiming the scope. Several manufacturers' make these, but they're not required either.

The biggest benefit, for planetary photos, if you want to spend some money, is a webcam with an appropriate 1 1/4" nose, and a copy of Registax.

Robert

www.galacticphotography.com

Robert's advice here is solid.

If you already have a laptop you can use with your scope, then it'll only cost you about $100 to equip it with a webcam and nosepiece adapter (a Mogg adapter is one brand) and you'll get much better results than with your DSLR. Registax is free.

If you still want an off-axis radial guider for other purposes, I'd recommend the Lumicon. I've never owned a Celestron, but I've used one. I think the Lumicon guider is very nice. I don't often use mine these days, as most of my DSLR astrophotography is wide-field. But once I get a larger scope I'll probably use it for aiming and framing. As noted earlier, it isn't necessary for planetary astrophotography.

However, it might be useful if you triple your focal length, or more. Aiming a webcam can get kinda dicey at very long focal lengths, so the visual cue from the guider would be helpful in target acquisition even though you won't need it for guiding.

Thanks Robert, I guess for now I will just use the camera attached to the visual back and shoot some pictures and see what I can come up with.

Right now I just need some clear skies.

Thanks for the info. Right now the laptops we have cannot be used for the scope. If I like what I shoot through the visual back I may go the webcam route that you suggest.  In October I'm going to an East Coast star party located here in NC. I'm sure that I will find people using webcams like you and Robert are talking about. I like to "SEE" things in action. I have purchased a Telrad. My to buy list is growing.

Thanks again.