ebdons

The pinhole cap is so you can adjust the focus in daylight and have enough exp length to get something, like i said i don't know this cam personally but the sensor is a common one from a few years ago so just keep trying and if needed use some filter, maybe if the moon is up later try and use that to get an idea about what you have to do to get the focus correct. this is the starlight foil cap in use. then you just focus in daylight.

Hi, not used this cam before but i have used the earlier atik 16m but what software are you using as i never used the atik programme just stark labs and make sure you set the exp to say 1 sec and maybe even do some daylight exp of 0.01 sec to test your focus, or do the pinhole trick in daylight. it cam either works or nothing.ton

you did well with the wind etc, those astrographs are amazing for what you pay for them?

It's an SX so that should be good news? no standard (black) version and thought they were going more cmos now but it's interesting as the QSI cam has the same sensor? it should be great in mono spec tho.

Hi, don't know about qhy, but I rarely remove the glass front for cleaning the sensor if needed I would use an air spray to disperse the dust and hopefully that would work. or a vacuum to suck it out, removing the glass is a last resort at least for me. other folks may differ? ton

Oiii but not oii? it looks green to me on my monitor as oiii to me looks whitish, I could C/B tho.

Nice! is that Oii in there as well? nicely framed as well. good on you sir!

Hi, I also have need of a light shield, I like mine as light as possible so use an old black pizza base which has been used and is also very light and can be secured easily, if you need an aperture mask on the primary than the outside edge of the pizza base can be just right and cut out a thin circle and fit it under the mirror clamps without introducing stress/tension to the mirror. Keep going and you will find your "perfect" PHD2 setup, I sometimes use PHD1 as well when using a scope for planetary imaging etc. don't forget balance of your setup is important as I found out years ago. clear skies Ton

Hi, not sure if you've binned the camx2 as that can help sometimes, also what mount have you got unless I missed it, I image with an f4 10" newt and find my best settings always need fine tuning from night to night, I have the focuser "hanging down" and increase the HYS to very high (60+) and have the exp set to 1 sec or 0.5 sec, but whatever works for you is ok, as it takes sometime to perfect the guiding at least it did for me. clear skies Ton

hi you need to post some more specs/pics of the issue. has the cam got an st4 port. as the not all qhy cams have that? ton

WOW! just what I wanted to do but it's *issing it down in the uk for ages now, super images and you got my fav edge-on ngc891. well done! ton

WOW! that's a great image as the stars are not overexposed, and the trapezium shows up as it should. well done!

lots of ways to do it now, I have a lacerta flatfield panel but also use a cheap ceiling LED panel with dimmer which was cheap to buy. once you get the right settings flats are not that difficult to do.

Hey that's not too bad really?, a bit overprocessed but it's ok considering the conditions.

I have my Powered usb3 hub on the pier/tripod as then 3m leads should be long enough depending on your scope and cam position etc. and I do mix usb2 and 3 with issues but it helps to have a powered usb3 hub on the pc as a backup for all the other stuff we connect.

Yes swapped most of mine for lindy and they are very reliable, but there are others, and some have gold plated connectors and I don't know if that makes much difference?

ok keep us updated, the only cam I used heat on was an old QHY which had some sealer on the front glass like you show, and the heat softened it a bit to be able to remove the glass. if the old glass is now useless you can be a bit more "physical" with it? even if it breaks as long as you can get the sealer off etc.

Hi, I have warmed the glass area (not the glass directly) with a hair dryer and it may come out with a suction tool? is the original that damaged?

I have just bought a TS/GSO F4 10" to go with my 8" F4 and they are really good value, the tube needs a few mods like a better focuser and a Losmandy bar fitted, but optics are very good. and a good mount to carry them, just my opinion and other folks will have another view on them. Ton

depends on what you want to image? I have both but 290c and the 224c I have is the altair hypercam version with fan cooling and not TEC cooling, the heatsink on the hypercam is described as mounted directly onto the back of the 224c sensor, but I had a look inside and the heatsink is just attached to the inner case near the sensor so a bit of a "fib". the 224c and 290 can be cooled ok with a peltier system but both cams have limits as to how long the exposure length can be used. tony

just an update as a closer inspection has revealed water or liquid on the top and bottom longtitude sides of the sensor with some fine patterning which is where the pattern on the images come from, can't clear it with flats or bias or darks, maybe the sensor is knackered as it's lost some sensitivity as well. someone on here must know if this sensor is leaking or knackered? hopefully opticstar will come up with something? thanks for your attention

Hi after checking the surface of the sensor there seems to be very fine structure in a grid pattern, is this normal for this sensor or is this the sensor top cover "delaminating"? I could open it up and clean the surface of the sensor but that would be a risk? this inside image still has the grid pattern but not on the whole image just parts of it. not sure if flats will get rid of the pattern but darks had no effect.

Hi, not sure if this should be in the cameras section, but I have an issue with this cam after a P/S failure, I have bought a new P/S but there is now less sensitivity and after stretching the image there is a grid pattern on the image, not seen this before on this cam, just seeing if this is a sensor fault or something else before I contact george at opticstar, cam was bought last year but is beyond the 12 months guarantee. i will continue to investigate but hope you can help. ist pic is with fault and the second if what this cam did a few months ago. Tony

Looks like I have a long way to go, impressed with detail you can get. amazing clarity of all these images. well done all! tony