SteveNickolls

Thanks MarsG76, I'll have a good read of your thread. 😃 I am aware of the cooled camera mod that Martin Pyott made available on You Tube. My Canon 700d was astro-modified when I purchased it years ago new and has done sterling work creating wide field nebulae shots in conjunction with an Astronomik 12nm Ha filter so you can understand my wishes not to buy an astro-camera with a smaller sensor unless that is the only affordable route to a cooled solution. Despite having a Bayer array the Canon 700D has collected some decent compositions in the past that way Cheers, Steve

Thanks again for creating this thread, I certainly endorse your reason for carrying out the experiment to show real world results particularly given the paucity of other similar work. I've shared your reluctance into not moving from a DSLR to purchasing a new astro-camera given the compromises,you clearly saw existed in the offerings laid out previously. This thread certainly shows the value of cooling a DSLR too, the Canon 40D image would be quite sufficient an improvement from my perspective-can I ask did you modify your Canon 40D for cooling yourself? Enjoy your imaging with the new camera. 👍 Cheers, Steve

Thanks MarsG76 for all the effort you have put into this comparison I am very grateful for your time you have put into it. Both images are very good and as you say its up to each one of us to decide if the upgrade is worthwhile. Whatever astro-camera I do go for it will be some time in the future as pennies have to be slowly saved up. Your work though has helped me on the trail. May I wish you every enjoyment with your gear, oh and dark skies to image under. Cheers, Steve

Thanks again Jonk for the updates you have recorded for 2021 so far. My own records show some similarity to your own- Month Nights for Observing Under Nights for Imaging January 6 3 February 8 5 March 6 0 April 10 3 Cheers, Steve

Cheers on that MarsG76, all good to know. Steve

This is all great news MarsG76 and I can't thank you enough for this work. I'm sure though you are enjoying it all, not to mention the new gear he he. Realy look forwards to seeing the results of stacking. Interesting your mention of cables and binning. It had come to mind the comparable file sizes between the two cameras. Right now I can control dslr imaging from indoors using a 20m active USB 2.0 cable although the dslr is powered from a mains supply to dummy battery. I'll need to consider an ASiair Pro set up for the ASI2600MM. Good luck, thanks and clear, dark skies. Cheers, Steve

Thanks so much for posting this experiment, very helpful to see how the final result varies with overall exposure time. Bortle 8 too. Have you by the way seen the IKI Observatory data for the Iris Nebula on SGL, few of us could aspire to the times pent imaging and in far better dark conditions? Cheers, Steve

Thank you so much for doing this comparison, it's now a question of saving up he he. Best regards, Steve

I'd be happy seeing a best effort with a DSLR v the astro-camera and how they simply look as a test result. 🤗 Good luck and clear skies. Cheers, Steve

In a wee while you will get chance to vote in the county council elections but I doubt any change will happen as regards street lighting. Such a shame the dimmed lights etc got put backon at night.

Thanks very much for hosting this event. I have watched the presentation on You Tube and it has rekindled my enthusiasm for astro-photography following the very poor season we have passed through. I have used StarTools for a few years but lack of recent opportunity to get to grips with v 1.7 has meant I was floundering against the changes (improvements). Look forwards to the next installment processing some poorer data. Thanks once again. Steve

Sure I read it somewhere the location is scheduled to become a new housing estate for 1200 new homes and have several all weather football training pitches built. 🤑 Cheers, Steve

Thanks for doing this comparison MarsG76 I am really interested in the practical improvements when compared to the theoretical advantages of the monochrome camera. I've never been quite sure of the QE of the Canon 700D at Ha wavelength either before or after modding except it improves the results dramatically compared to my unmodded Canon 600D which is all but useless for imaging DSO's under the light polluted conditions here. I still think the quantum efficiency at Ha wavelength for the ASI2600MM is low (compare the ASI294MM at around 76% at that wavelength and the older ASI183MM is around 78%), but in this hobby we get sensors reused for our purposes. The read noise of the ASI2600MM will also be a big improvement over that from a DSLR allowing shorter sub exposures. May I ask what type of night sky you are able to image under? Good luck. Cheers, Steve

Hi Mars G76, thanks for starting this thread. It will be fascinating to see your future comparisons of images between the two set up’s. The difference between theory and practice-lovely. I have been viewing the ASI2600MM as a potential future replacement for my modified Canon 700D for wide field nebula work. The peak 91% QE isn't perhaps where you would wish it on the monochrome sensor, the graph below is from the FLO site for the ASI2600MM-Pro USB 3.0 At the Ha wavelength the QE drops to the mid-upper 50's, ok the OIII and Hb are much higher but the SII is even lower than for Ha. You will also benefit from the lack of a Bayer array with the mono-sensor allowing more useful light to be captured by the sensor than your existing camera. Good luck with the new acquisition. Look forward to your comparisons. Cheers, Steve

Thanks Space Oddities for this welcome news. 👍 Cheers, Steve

Well I'm making a personal stand. No more astro-purchases for a year then see where everything still resides. We are all going to have to repay the enormous costs arising from the virus so saving some hard earnt notes in the bank will come in handy. Difficult times. Cheers, Steve

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Hi thanks for posting. I will be very interested to see your final result using the filter with the modified 600D in the light polluted environment that is Nottingham 'Queen of the Midlands'. Quite understand your wish to try out the filter and we have had a terribly long wait for any clear sky since the beginning of November 2020, pity it coincides with a waxing and full Moon but there you go. M42's brightness will try to break through some of the light pollution. Interested on a side note-how you are faring with the IDAS (LPS) D2 filter under your conditions? Cheers, Steve

Here is the video from the Astro Imaging Channel with the appearance of Thomas Branwell mention in my last post. hope you find it generally informative. Cheers, Steve

A very lovely image full of detail, colour and dust lanes. The various nebulosities have created a 3D effect in the detail. Well done. Cheers, Steve

More than happy to oblige. Now it's up to the weather! Cheers, Stede

Great stuff, keep recording. I've been keeping a manual record of nights allowing me to get outside and either observe or image for a number of years which I posted in anothanother SGL thread (copy below). The problem is one man's observing session can be different to the next and imaging planetary taking less time than for DSO work. So far January was rubbish, clear nights with the waxing Moon up. Also location will affect records. Recently I've been keeping an eye on a Weather and Radar App on my tablet which so far has been very precise in allowing self forecasting for cloud, far superior to Cloudy Nights which sometimes says 100% cloud when there's not a cloud in the sky. Good luck with your endeavour and great to compare data. Cheers, Steve Month 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 June 1 3 0 5 2 3 10 0 4 July 3 4 2 2 2 1 7 5 8 August 4 9 9 7 6 13 11 13 5 Sept 5 8 9 11 6 8 12 13 11 Oct 7 8 6 10 4 7 7 8 7 Nov 4 7 8 10 3 10 9 9 9 Dec 6 6 10 8 3 6 14 4 10 Jan 6 4 9 5 4 11 15 6 6 Feb 4 4 5 6 4 5 15 7 Mar 2 2 5 5 4 3 5 8 April 0 2 7 4 5 6 5 8 May 0 3 3 3 3 9 4 7 Totals 42 60 73 76 46 82 114 88 Sessions/month 3.5 5 6.1 6.3 3.8 6.8 9.5 7.3 And imaging evenings- Month Number of Telescope/DSLR and Lens/DSLR Imaging Sessions 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 June - 2 1 1 0 0 July - 1 1 3 0 1 August - 6 7 8 5 2 Sept - 3 6 4 8 9 Oct - 2 2 5 2 2 Nov - 1 2 4 0 3 Dec 4 3 4 5 1 5 Jan 3 1 4 6 4 3 Feb 3 0 1 3 4 Mar 4 4 1 1 3 April 4 5 2 1 4 May 5 2 3 3 1 Total 23 30 34 44 32 25 Sessions In Month 23/5=4.6pm 30/12=2.5 pm 34/12=2.83 pm 44/12=3.7 pm 32/12=2.7 pm This all relates to Nottingham of course and living elsewhere may involve

From what I've gleaned the satellites have a harder time picking up the blue peak from led lighting and which might explain why my location shows such a drop over the years. Still worthwhile have recourse to the site. Also some of the peak outliers may be down to snow cover at the right times of the year. Cheers, Steve

Just make sure your guiding software or device is compatible with the guiding camera you are to use. Cheers, Steve

Yes, I hope you enjoy using it. I was quite surprised at the trend for around here showing a decrease in radiance picked up by satellites. It will be useful for keeping a watch on radiance as we are having a number of housing developments locally. Cheers, Steve