The Sky-Watcher SynGuider Auto-Guider can guide an equatorial mount without the help of a PC/Laptop, improving productivity during astro-photography sessions, helping you to obtain perfectly round stars during long exposure times.

The Synguider stand-alone autoguider is supplied with guiding handset & cable, serial cable and battery pack. Requires 4 x D-Size 1.5v batteries or alternative switching AC/DC power supply meeting DC6v-12v (lower voltage recommended), 200Ma-250Ma output current, 2.1mm power jack central positive.

Sky-Watcher Synguider Product Features at a glance:

1) Stand-alone guiding - no computer required 2) Sony ICX404AL CCD Sensor (chip size 5.59mm X 4.68MM) 3) Number of effective pixels 510 x 492 4) Real-time star image display 5) Standard ST-4 autoguider interface 6) M42 and 1.25" telescope interface 7) User upgradeable firmware 8) Exposure times: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 mS

A recent review in BBC SKY AT NIGHT MAGAZINE:

"The SynGuider's ability to guide a set-up for deep-sky imaging is excellent, and allowed us to capture the North American Nebula with fine detail. We also captured some test images of the region around Vega to compare 5-minute unguided and guided images. The improvement using the SynGuider was obvious...."The SynGuider is very different from most other autoguiding systems in that it is very much a stand-alone unit. This gives an immediate advantage over other autoguiders in that you don't need a PC or guiding software to operate it, so there is less equipment to carry around and set up.

What makes the SynGuider unique is it's built-in display screen. This not only gives access to a comprehensive set of options for controlling the camera and the guiding parameters, but it also displays the actual guide stars. Once you have chosen a suitable guide star with your own eyepiece and replaced it with the guide camera, the display immediately shows the guide star. It's a subdued white-on-red display to help maintain your night vision. The screen is divided into two zones, the left half displays the various menus and text data and the right half shows a real-time 1-bit image of the star in the field of view"...."Price has always been an issue with other stand-alone auto-guiders - you previously had to spend a similar amount to a PC and a conventional guide camera combined. But the SynGuider changes all that: what we have here is a complete system that costs less than many conventional guide cameras on their own" BBC SKY AT NIGHT MAGAZINE