The Lodestar X2 is an upgraded version of the very popular Lodestar autoguider.
The original Lodestar uses the ICX429 Exview chip from Sony and offers excellent sensitivity. However, Sony have now upgraded the ICX429 to the ICX829, with considerably improved QE and read noise. This new 'Exview 2' chip approximately doubles the Lodestar sensitivity and adds nearly a full star magnitude to the minimum guide star brightness.
Starlight Xpress has also redesigned the boards so that a standard RJ12 guide socket can be used. This will please many users who have found the small 'ZH' cable socket to be too delicate.
Our expert comment:
The Lodestar is currently one of the most sensitive and successful auto-guiders on the market. The PHD guiding software is particularly suitable for use on Windows and OS-X, and Linguider software has received positive reports when used on Linux. The camera is available as a colour model or a black and white model. The B/W model is approximately three times more sensitive than the colour model.
(Bernd Gährken)
