DaveS

OK It's downloading onto this computer after I clicked on your link, I'll have to transfer the file over to the remote PC.

The pack I have is the Beta version 21.01.06.13 Which I think this camera needs, at least as far as I can make out on the site.

Yes, I have the latest QHY driver pack. I suppose I should register on the QHY forum and post a question there. The cable's a bit long for USB 3 at 5 metres, but anything shorter is a stretch, 3 metres is about as short as is reasonable. The problem is that blasted ASCOM box, as the camera downloads OK. I had no problem the other night when I was attending to the focus and getting it synched to Cartes du Ciel. I think the way Sequence connects to Maxim might be one problem, though it's never caused problems before.

I found an old ASCOM 6.4 SP1 installation file so tried rolling back to that bhut no luck, still get the partially greyed out box. Will try with ASA Sequence but need some kind of a clear night to be able to capture images. and clear nights have been in short supply.

WOW! Why didn't I see this before? That is a fabulous image Peter, gives the HST a run for its money!

The camera is the only thing on the USB3 bus, everything else is through the USB2 hub on the computer. I've been right back to uninstalling the drivers, reinstalling them, restarting the computer, the whole bit. This has really only happened since I had to rebuild the installation after a total crash. I had the camera running under the original ASCOM 6.4 SP1 without getting that window, but only for one night before a Win-Dross update borked the computer. maybe it's because I had to reinstall the ASCOM platform and went to 6.5 SP1. I'll have another try tomorrow.

I only have Maxim for capture on this computer. I have AstroArt capture on my laptop, so I suppose I could try installing the drivers and see what happens there. Would mean taking the camera off the telescope.

I've been fighting endless battles with ASCOM drivers since getting my QHY 268M I'm running the latest beta QHY package (May be the reason) which I think is needed to support the mono camera. On starting Maxim and connecting the camera I eventually get this window The gain value is what I set in the QHY set up window but the offset is meaningless, and greyed out so cannot be changed. I can't even see anything to click to either get rid of the blasted thing or to say "OK". Last night I was able to get exposures in Maxim, but in Sequence they just froze at the readout stage. Any ideas?

ASA mounts are so damn good that it's worth putting up with the occasional Windows bork. And from other conversations it looks like the much vaunted RPi / Ekos / KStars / INDI / Linux isn't bork-free either.

Well, one of my mini PCs came with it installed, plus I've used Windows for ever. In addition the ASA software is Windows specific, at least in this iteration, though I have heard rumours of a platform agnostic software package in development.

Not had a chance for First Light yet. I did have mine connected to the remote PC but then it got borked, probably by a Win-Dross update and I had to do a complete rebuild all the way from a fresh install of Win 10 Pro. Now, of course, the weather is rubbish, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable.

Well that's gorn 'n' done it , cloud for the freseable. Seriously though, hope you get some brilliant results from it. Calibrating out the amp glow can be done, but takes attention to detail.

I run headless mini PCs for my two main imaging rigs and connect via RDP. I also have a stick PC for my portable widefield rig which has yet to see action (Long story).

My original ASI1600 had proper USB 2 and 3 cables, while my ASI183 bought some time later came with rubbish flat cables. Just a way to shave a few pence off the costs.

Even with my 3 nm Astrodon or Chroma filters I get gradients around full moon. I suppose if you're desperate and the full moon is very low in the sky then H-alpha might be doable but it really is an act of desperation. I tend to only do technical stuff like checking focus at those times.

If you can afford it, then, as they say, "Buy once, cry once".

Covering the full 35mm format is difficult, and usually expensive. If the telescope / flattener is advertised with a spot diagram take a look at the 22+mm and you will usually see quite a bit bigger circle of confusion. If you are looking at Canon 5D territory then it's not far off a dedicated astro camera. As good as Canon DSLRs are, a dedicated cooled astro camera will knock it out of the water.

Yeah, mine came with the rubbish camera type dust cap, probably first batch as Rupert put my order in even before it hit the website.

Have you considered the QHY 268C? Might be a better alternative to the ZWO camera. The thing you have to consider is PIXEL SCALE. If you have a wider FoV at the same scale then you can always crop in for selection or framing. I think the QHY and ZWO also support ROI so you could crop in camera. What telescope are you thinking of attaching it to?

I run mini PCs at the telescopes with RDP over ethernet, I don't trust WiFi to hold the connection. Can't advise on software as it run the dedicated ASA software.

If you ordered from Astrograph then drop Rupert an email. He's very helpful, and usually gets back pretty quickly.

It's just under the table of specs Here. Thanks to @Spongey for linking in the other mono camera thread.

Slightly envious of those who have managed to capture any data as my skies have been gack ever since receiving my camera. One thing that threw me off was the supposed 12.5 mm back focus. This only applies if you are attaching the camera to a QHY wheel which seats on the camera's shoulder. If using one of the threaded adaptors then the BF is 14.5 mm. I now have to dismantle my train and replace the M69 x 30 mm extension ring with an M48 28.2 mm spacing using a variable (And hence weaker) spacer. And the MO is forecasting rain for pretty much all of the week.

Argh! I made my BF calculations based on 12.5mm as in the spec. However Reading closely the mechanical drawings and the QHY blurb it's actually 14.5mm from the top, which is where the M54 adaptor attaches. Bother. I wondered why my focus was off after swapping the ASI 1600 out for the QHY 268 and using the same reducer which should have the same BF. My corner stars were elongated too, which was a clue that something was wrong. Fortunately I have a TS "Massive Variable 48mm Extension", so will just mean swapping assorted adaptors and extension rings. Still a pain with the weather.

Thread on it already