frostynixon

Since i also own a refractor since 1 month, i can also contribute

Skywatcher Esprit 100 on NEQ6

Is it really addiction or more like a love hate relationship?

Good luck!

On the plus side, this thread is about to celebrate it's hundredth page!

I`m glad to also contribute to this thread (also not in the way which is preferable ).

Hello again,

with this post i just want to contribute to the mono mod statistics.

I was unable to remove the cover glass from my D5100 sensor with a soldering ion. So i thought more temperature might help to create a bigger heat gradient. I ordered a pen torch and for about 1/3 around the frame the increased heat of the torch seemed to loosen the epoxy resin.

That`s almost the end of the story. In the end i tried for over 3 hours to get the cover glass off. I heated one corner a bit longer (maybe 3s) and the glass cracked...

I knew i wouldn`t get of the glass in one piece anymore so i taped it up and started chimping with a scalpel. Long story short, i broke the glass out with an M1 flat screw and i seemed to have damaged one of the bonding wires (maybe this happened at the epoxy sealing step afterwards... i can`t tell).

I carried on to polish the sensor just to get a feel for it. This procedure seemed more or less to have worked (at least according to comparison with Herras documentary pictures).

I put the camera together again and everything works where the sensor is not involved.

So just for statistic reasons. The current score is:

technology 1 : 0 me.

best regards Matthias

Hello all, i have a question regarding the cover glass removal.

At the moment i try local heating with a soldering ion. However the glue doesn`t turn opaque. In some locations at the edges of the glass i can see that the coverglass is lifting, but the glass itself sits in a frame and i can`t go underneath the glass except at one corner. An at that corner i can`t get the glass to lift. Could it be that the soldering ion doesnt get warm enough? SHould i try to get a pen torch?

Thanks for your help!

Hey,

i hope that the camera still works and that your CNC approach is successfull! I was wondering: Is there any chance that aceton might work as a solvent for the glue? Not sure if the frame around it is resistant though. I will google a bit

Cheers!

Thanks for the advice. I will have a look!

I´m currently experimenting with two epoxy resins which i will use to cover the bonding wires (like others also did).

Hello everyone,

inspired by this great thread i also wanted to have a mono dslr. I`m not yet there but i have taken my first few steps towards that goal. I received a used Nikon D5100 today which i got for a very good price. I took a few test shots to verify the functionality and immediately disassembled it then. After i reassembled the camera there was one part left over however which you can see here:

The camera still works and for today i`m a happy camper. I know that this was the easy part but hey, you can also fail at that

Wanted to thank all the contributors for this thread! Given the current prices of used cameras, i will also try my luck. The performance increase is just too tempting . Before i put my fingers on a DSLR i will first try to debayer an old Nikon compact camera.

Clear skies to all!

Hello,

i have my GEM now for 3 month. In this time i tried to do as much AP as possible (which still only accumulates to 25h of total exposure time as the weather apparantely hates me....) . I had a little bit of knowledge from my stationary (Astro-)photography. 

My very first target was M45, as it also is one of the brightest targets. 

Equiqment used: Nikon D800, Skywatcher EQ6, GSO 8" F5 Newton telescope, Orion Starshoot Autoguider.

25 x 147s frames @ ISO 1600.