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nytecam

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Posts posted by nytecam

  1. This seems a copycat of another announced fully automated scope plus small CMOS OSC sensor to appeal to the smart phone generation so no EP neaded or even expected.  Probably a five-minute wonder for the rich with no previous interest in astro.  An 80mm ED f/5 frac I find is a toy scope - its smaller than the central obstruction in my SCT - sorry :-)

    Nytecam

     

    • Like 1
  2. It's an all-in-one-package similar to what I've been doing for a decade using regular equipment.  It's really quite small in aperture and can't apparently view, for example, the central star in the Ring Nebula M57 - to me a minimum requirement. 

    It has some strange design features, like on open tubes Newt-like scope [instead of a sealed optical window], a three-vane spider giving 6 diffraction spikes and potentally wobbly tripod connection.  The latter is quoted as ok as solved by guidance system  [!] but not IMO with the eye bumping the electronic EP as it will.  Direct wireless to phone screen would be better and social media  :)
     
    From long experience I do seriously doubt that non astronomers would know what to look for beyond the obvious moon which anyone could aim for without expensive aids.  Even at my astro club most members are 'lost' beyond half a dozen famous deepsky objects sad that it is.
     
    Nytecam
    • Like 1
  3. Interesting project Choochoo but I don't see what size your dome will be - perhaps I missed it! Size matters and usually matched to the 'scope it is to house.

    Down the years I've built 6 domes [never a ROR!] two each for club, self and buddy from 12ft to 6ft - the latter for my 12" SCT @ http://home.freeuk.com/m.gavin/mydome.htm.

    If recommending a dome type today I'd go for an octagonal dome like my buddy Ron @ http://home.freeuk.com/m.gavin/rondome.htm- it uses regular sheet ply for the minimum cutting or waste and appear spherical in profile eg doesn't appear octagonal! It's weathered with modern acrilic paint direct on ply and works just fine. It has the classic up-and-over shutter [40%] parked on fixed back section [40%] with hinge forward front section [10%] with good view of zenith.

    IMO as an architct bi-parting shutters can act as a sail and prone to yaw unless perfectly engineered. Keep it simple !

    Good luck in your project ;-)

    Nytecam

    post-21003-0-30917100-1441182218_thumb.j

  4. Great idea Rick:-) I can't guess their size but had you considered cutting off the base ( or top!) and rotate the 'dome' with a door for entry and a slot in the 'roof' to observe through eg a true domed obsy with complete protection for you and the scope

    If you just lift the lid off eg RoR-like you've no such protection !

  5. This is what I've picked as a box: http://broomheads-sheds.co.uk/shop/16mm-tanalised-boot-box/

    obviously build with the right dimensions (they do bespoke).

    Question, would you or would you not insulate the inner panels?

    I'm thinking of using some Jablite insulation boards (or similar), thoughts?

    Will also be installing some vents to create some sort of air flow to avoid condensation as much as I can.

    I presumed you'd have a box with about half to a third was the lip - so that when open the scope and mount are 'exposed' and ready to go. 

    Condensation in a confined space can be a problem - resolved in my dome after many years trials with a domestic fan in constant use except when imaging or in summer. 

    I'd also ask for a wind/ vapour barrier over the frame before the exterior boarding is applied [i used basic roofing felt] - you can't just rely on shiplap boarding alone to keep the elements out.  Lining the walls internally with insulation board should be a benefit too. Good luck :police:

  6. Hi Nytecam, just been on your website to view your dome. I don't have much space unfortunately for such dome.

    I'm always open for new idea, if someone come up with a different design than a small box with roll on roof....

    Yeh - I appreciate my setup is probably unsuitable for your needs.  If you're 100% remote then a counter-balanced hinged box to 'expose' the scope may be all you need - apart from complete shakedown of all the systems to cope with any emergency - no small task :police:

    I gave up and chose to sit it out in my picodome under the scope from my LP backyard - it suits my needs well  :cool:    

  7. i knew i was missing something :laugh::p

    i'll be removing that stump , which is roughly in the centre,then dig out a bit more and fill with concrete then laying 4" block flat to build a pier/support. my floor frame will be 6x2 so probably wont need much supporting anyway but i'm putting one there.

    You don't need more founds - use joist-hangers off the old wall - oh my giddy aunt :mad:
  8. Some interesting 1st astro-pics here. Here's my oldest surviving pic in Comet Mrkos 1957 via Finetta cam+Ilford HP3 as shown. My first LRGB was M57 in 1996 via Celestron PixCel CCD [=SBIG] posted on Compuserve astro-forum at the time. Hadn't heard of LRGB so called it a "hybrid merge mono+RGB" by overlaying the mono image

    to boost a faint RGB image

    :cool:

    post-21003-0-91726700-1361912437_thumb.j

    post-21003-0-62471100-1361912577_thumb.j

    post-21003-0-56634900-1361912682_thumb.j

    • Like 2
  9. Saw this interesting reference on another forum...

    "...modern CMOS image sensors (since 2002 or so) are taking the approach of using built-in integrated analog preamp and A/D converter(s). In another word, once the CMOS sensor is out of the maker, there is nothing that can be tweaked...." this may place limitation on their astro use. :eek:

  10. Well, since there is no way of removing the CFA without damaging the micro lenses, that begs the question: what's the purpose of the micro lenses? How important a role they play? The images with the CFA removed (and without the micro lenses) seem to be alright, don't they? Another possibility would be to find a camera model that has the micro lenses under the CFA (if any) so it can be modded for mono astrophotography.

    The light sensitive area of each pixel is much smaller than the pixel itself and the pixel microlens redirects and recovers light that would be lost so the overall sensitivity would be much higher with the microlens intact. But it seems from experiments here the microlenses get destroyed with removal of the Bayer layer which is a shame when seeking supreme sensitivity :Envy:
  11. Very good project! So when they say the camera is 15 mega pixels, it's the raw pixels they are refering too, and so the debayered colour result is really only 3.75 mega-pixels (and not 15 mpix) after interpolation. Tut tut. So removing the CFA (the bayer layer) will increase your picture resolution to it's full 15 mpix (for a 15-mpix camera) grey scale, not that we can ever attain that kind of resolution here in the UK with our skies.

    So you're saying a 15Mp colour cam is only 3.75Mp in resolution - don't think the maths works like that - if so then we've all been conned :cool: Surely the camera sensor uses two elements eg the luminance provides the image detail and dynamic range and chrominance adds blurred colour 'wash' which the eye find fully acceptable. Ok the bayered resolution can't be 100% but neither is it just 33% :eek:
  12. Hi RAC - interesting topic. As you've got two 1000Ds [one now debayered!] can you take identical shots - one through each with same exposure and share here with colour version greyscaled or better zero colour saturation. I'm concerned that loss of vital microlensing will lower sensitivity ! Apart from chemically stripping off the bayer colour layer [and microlensing too !] - any tests done with UV or other 'bleaching light' or vapour tested on a webcam etc that leave the microlensing untouched ? Just a thought ;-)

  13. Excellent and valuable post, if 5yrs old, but "If you want to be serious about imaging you have to be serious about exposure times. 7x30 seconds = grainy images without much detail. You should be aiming for at least an hour on most targets..." made my jaw drop:eek: I go back to film with severe reciprocity failure but CCDs are essentially linear and yet nowadays recommended exposures have not decreased but the reverse. It's downer for newcomers learning their technique :hello2:

    I'm clearly not a perfectionist but I get great results from DSO exposures from 30s to 5m and I won't be changing my technique soon as witness in my DSO sampler [linked below] contains three dozen DSOs with a gross total exposure <90min:hello2:

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