Jonk

I also toyed with the idea of going up to a 20" or even a 22" due to those that were for sale last year. The reason I didn't was because they were large truss dobs that would have required storage space (that I didn't have at the time) and they were not easy to disassemble, transport, reassemble etc. I have a 16" dob that I find easy to put together or pack away in about 20 minutes, but then this was the point of the design. If there was an equivalent 20" of mine, I'd certainly be on the lookout for one. I don't know how a larger dob would compare in contrast etc to this but I suppose I'll find out one day!

Anyone with kids can use it as santa and his sleigh on christmas eve! Sorry ISS, but you've just been relegated.

I've just seen this online, looks interesting. http://www.daystarfilters.com/QuarkGemini.shtml

Funnily enough, so do I...! It's running as we speak, 2500 bias followed by 150 darks so Monday evening I should be able to report back.

I've followed the instructions (thanks @Oddsocks) and the camera has been updated successfully. I've put it back in the freezer at around -10 degC air temperature and will start a full run of 100 x 1800s -20 degC dark frames, followed by maybe 2000 bias frames. This should show, after calibrating and stacking, that the banding has gone and give me a master bias and a master 1800s -20 degC dark to use for next season, should I manage to get any imaging done. Thanks @PhotoGav for having the same issue and posting it, otherwise like Oddsocks and maybe others, I would have been none the wiser. Cheers all.

Very nice!

I've stopped at 46 x 1800s darks, calibrated with the 300 master bias, and stacked. The freezer internal surface temperature was around -10 degC and the camera body surface temperature was around -2 degC. Double screen stretched the resulting stack, saved as PNG, and here's the result. I would say that's pretty conclusive?!

Well, I've put the camera into a freezer on the lowest setting, and with the camera on / cooler off, it was reporting -0.5 temperature after stabilising for around 3 hours, so I was happy to proceed. I ran continuous 30 minute darks overnight (at -20 sensor temperature) but last night, I checked the 1st one before bed and the banding seems to be there, faint but noticeable when autostretched - and I know it's not an illusion, as I asked for a 2nd opinion and it was confirmed, as she didn't know what I could see beforehand. I'll stack 50 or so darks later tonight and post the result, but I think I have the same issue and hopefully, all being well, the FW update will fix it.

I think that would be good Will, as I'd like to learn the basics and be shown how to set up something simple that can at least be used in all weathers, made up of baked bean tins and string!

+1 for radio, maybe not the top end stuff but maybe something on the basic homemade stuff?

Indeed, the camera needs to go in the fridge overnight running 30 minute darks to make a master dark before I decide if there's an issue that a fw upgrade is required to fix.

And the 300 master bias (screenshot)...

I have an older version of FW on mine: I've just run 300 bias and will check once stacked for the banding. I did a single 30 minute dark and I could swear I could see the banding, maybe because I wanted to see it! If this issue only happens in cold temperatures, I may put the camera in the fridge or even freezer and run lots of 30 minute darks, stack them and see what happens. If the issue isn't there, should I upgrade to the latest? Decisions...

I have a few, but one of my favourties is one that says 'I need my space'...with a picture of a guy looking up through a frac.

I'll try it shortly, hopefully there won't be any issues - always a bit nervey doing FW upgrades on anything, as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! The Atacama is superb, shame I'm not there though! House move went well, the next issue is deciding where to build the new obsy....more on that later.

Thanks gents, I'll download tonight. I don't know which fw is currently installed and I don't know if the banding issue is there, but I'll check on the bench and upgrade if necessary.

Cheers Gav, that'll be great. I haven't done anything for months due to moving house, so the new to me qsi is still in its box! This time of year is good to get things ready for the new season, and I always look forwards to the perseids in August!

Could you PM me the firmware file or send me a link to a share please? Thanks.

x

For what it's worth, here is the CCD curvature plot, which is showing major tilt.

I missed last year's washout, so have booked 7 nights this year.....next, the motorhome search!

Looks like the banner image is loaded as full size, then resized to be smaller - this is probably in the CSS, which would be noticeable as a quick flash of the full size placeholder. A simple fix would be to have the correct size banner image without CSS resizing.

Seems much quicker, which is no surprise really as it should be!

That looks awful.

Me 3... Mr Bernard has confirmed that that mk1 is indeed no longer available and he will sort out details on the mk2 when he returns from holiday. I would certainly need a wedge or custom elbow to fit my current monster pier.