wsteel33

Thanks for the replies guys. I have managed to contact the OEM and they said I can send it back to them and they will repair it. Cheers Wayne

I think I've found the culprit. Its the component circled in the image. Any ideas? Thanks Wayne

Hi All This is a cry for help. I think the control chip on my camera has just fried. (NINA no longer recognises it as connected although it is powered on and plugged in) There was a click and a puff of smoke, its clearly drawn too much current. The camera is a RisingCam IMX571 (basically a rebranded version of a Touptek camera). There is no way in a million yrs I can afford to replace it, does anyone out there know of any possibility of getting this camera repaired, Any help or advice would be greatly welcomed. Thanks Wayne

Brilliant Thanks, I will try this. thanks for the advice

Hi Guys I have recntly been playing with a new portable rig (Canon 600D with the kit lens operating at 100mm on a Skywatcher AzGTi with equitorial firmware). It's looking very promising for taking on visits to dark skies. I took a couple of images the other night and noticed this blocking in the background during processing. The attached image was preprocessed in Siril (Flats, Darks and Bias frames all used) with photometric colour calibration and background extraction applied. I then moved it to PS where I did a couple of curves (one Arcsinh10 and one gentle manual one) with a couple of levels adjustments. The stars were then removed with StarXTerminator. Attached is the starless image. Can anyone tell me what is causing the blocks seen in the image and if they know any processes I can follow to fix/mitigate them. Thanks in advance for any advice or guidance you can offer. Wayne

So I know its been a long time coming but the skies have been awful. I finally have my second proper image taken with the RisingCam IMX571 and I LOVE THIS CAMERA. It works seemlessly in EKOS the attached image was taken with flats and bias but no darks. There is absolutely no ampglow with this camera the controls are untuitive and it is some of the best money I have spent. I can happily recommend this to anyone who is looking for a camera with this Sony Chip but can't stretch to the £1600-2000 that is being asked for ZWO 2600 mcPro or the Altair Astro version. I am still playing with the settings (and learning) and took a bunch of images before I realised I had to change the settings to RAW in INDI to get 16 bit images. I set the mode to HDR which puts the Gain to 100 (which i believe is the optimum for this chip) But, to cut a long story short I am very happy with this camera and think it will serve my purposes for a long time yet. if you are thinking of grabbing one you'd get my nod. Clear skies 🙂🌑🪐

Hi Goran My initial thoughts are earlier in this thread, but that was only really based on a single night of good data (after a few false starts that were my own fault). I plan to give an update when I have had a proper chance to put it through its paces. Cheers Wayne

I got the AR window. I can always put an IR cut filter on myself. I use filters (Altair Astro Triband & Skytech CLS-CCD) which have the appropriate IR cut off. I read reviews of people who got this camera with the IR/UV cut window and they still seem happy with thier purchase but I thought the AR made sense and left me flexibility. Very happy with the camera. especially at this price. 👍

For anyone interested my initial impressions are in the original discussion, Cheers Wayne

Hi all. Got first light on this camera, so here are my initial thoughts. Being new to dedicated OSC I had a few teething problems (and the gremlins decided to have a play with my mount which didn't help) It defaults to RBG in the image settings which sets the bit depth to 8 bit. Spent 2 nights shooting the western veil on this setting and being underwhelmed with the image definition when processed (that could be my still developing processing skills and I will go back and have a go at the data again). When I noticed I had a look at the image settings and changed RGB to RAW, this changed the bit depth to 16 as expected. My main rig is an Orion 80ED on an EQ6 controlled by EKOS on a RPi and I powered the Pi and camera from the same power distributor and the Pi shut down several times, I did read this on a forum after the fact that RPi can shut down in these cases, although I have had this issue previously before I ever got this camera. Still, I gave the camera its own power supply to be sure. The interface is fairly straightforward (in EKOS) when I took the time to take a proper look around. The fan is quiet, the cooler works as expected and I took these images at -5 degC (this is my first TEC camera and I'm loving it (especially considering how warm its been)). I decided to switch to the Eastern Veil once I'd dealt with the above issues. The image was taken with the Orion 80ED using an Altair Astro Triband filter. I pushed it to 10 min subs (could never have done that with the DSLR, especially in summer). There are 4hr 30min in the image. Flats/Bias/Darks included. I have attached a 10 min master dark (No amp glow). The FOV of this chip is the same as the Canon 600D so already familar with what targets fit. Overall very happy with the experience so far, communication with seller was good and got a great camera at a great price (thanks for the original comment nfotis). Images attached. (Tried to attach the .tif but it wouldn't so uploaded a jpeg instead) Clear Skies Wayne EVeilTriBandV2.tif

Shooting in RAW still produces FITS files, not sure what it does when I change the setting to RGB but if changes the bit depth to 8 bit. I have my first image (Eastern Veil) with this image ready to process now. Initial thoughts will be on the other post soon but I can say that I think its money well spent and a bargain. I am new to dedicated astro-cams so still on a learning curve but no regrets as yet 👍

It was outputting .fit files and the data was looking good even at 8 bit. The early signs are good, I will be giving a full run down of my experience in my earlier post below when I have some processed images.

May have solved this myself. The image setting was RGB.. when I changed this to RAW the bit depth changed to 16 bit 👍. Hope this helps anyone else having similar issues if this is indeed the solution. Cheers Wayne

Can anyone help. I am using the RisingCam IMX571 camera and it uses the Touptek drivers in EKOS. It defaults to 8 bits per pixel in the settings but I am sure this is a 16 bit chip and I can see no way of changing this in the settings. I am new to OSC dedicated cameras (using a Canon DSLR up until now). Am I misunderstanding something here? Any advice gratefully received. Cheers Wayne

Would this work for you? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-filter-drawer-for-canon-eos-lenses.html I know its a drawer and not a wheel but alegedly this would give perfect back focus to an EOS lens and with a T-ring will connect straight to a scope too. I saw it used here. Considering one myself as it looks like it makes switching cameras/scopes/lenses a breeze Cheers Wayne

This comment put a thought in my head that I just couldn't shake. I was leaning towards the Altair Hypercam 269C but I did a bit of research and saw some good things about the RisingCam IMX571. Didn't really see many/any people bad mouthing this company and when this camera came on sale for just over £900 I thought... "the same sensor as the ASI2600mc Pro for less than a grand, gotta be worth a punt" and it arrived today (picture below) I apologise to everyone in the UK in advance for the month (at least) of clouds ahead of us due to this purchase. I will post on here how it goes when I get chance of first light but the early signs are good. It attached to EKOS without a hitch (using the Touptek drivers) the adaptors included in the box gave me 55mm of backfocus straight up (bang on for my reducer/flattener), and communication with the seller (Eddie) was good throughout the whole purchase (he responded to my questions within 24 hr everytime). Watch this space for updates and assuming all goes well... thanks for the comment nfotis

I want to go a bit better spec than the 183 and I believe the Hypercam 294C uses the same chip as the ASI294MC-Pro for at least £100 cheaper, although I think I could order it direct from ZWO and save that on the exchange rate.

I'm keeping the 600D and using it on a widefield rig. Its been a solid camera and still is, so its resale value is of no concern to me, the only question is my budget (£800-900) and whats the best TEC cooled OSC I can get for the money.

Also looking at the orion Starshoot G21 now. It looks like it uses the IMX269 chip. Has anyone used this camera and does anyone know if it is supported in EKOS/INDI? Cheers Wayne

Anyone got any experience with the Toupek/RisingCam/Omegon camaras?

I saw that in the classifieds. Bit steep for me at the moment, if I was going to spend that I would probably find a mono option and get filters and a wheel.

Yeah, Altair Astro offer the same. I have decided that it probably makes sense to spend a few 100 quid more and get access to fixed point cooling, I'd probably just want it anyway in a couple of months so would probably end up selling on a fan only cooled camera.

Hi N.F. Thanks for your comments/advice. I have checked the FOV with my gear in stellarium and happy with what all these cameras offer. I don't have an issue with the square sensor on the 533 chip (it offers a novel alternative to the APS-C on my Canon). The RisingCam looks like an interesting option but not sure I want to deal with Ali Express in case there are any problems and it has to go back. I think I am leaning towards one of the 533's at the moment, I have seen some good things about the ASI533MC Pro, or with the Hypercam version I could put the £100 saved towards an L-eXtreme.

Hi everyone. I am soon looking to upgrade my Canon 600D (I will still be using it at times on a widefield rig). I have decided to go OSC. I know all the arguments that mono is better and maybe one day, but for now the fact that I wont have to invest in lots of filters and wheels and the rareity of clear skies means I have decided to go for OSC. I have decided that TEC cooled is a sensible thing to include I have the following options on my list at the moment. My budget is going to be £800-£900 Altair Hypercam 269C (£899). https://www.altairastro.com/altair-hypercam-269c-colour-camera---tec-cooled-1097-p.asp Altair Hypercam 294C (£899). https://www.altairastro.com/altair-hypercam-294c-pro-tec-cooled-116mp-colour-cmos-camera-52-p.asp ZWO ASI533MC Pro (£899). https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi-533mc-pro-usb-30-cooled-colour-camera.html Altair Hypercam 533C (£799). https://www.altairastro.com/altair-hypercam-533c-colour-camera-9239-p.asp I understand that the Hypercam 269C and both 533's have no amp glow (and the Hypercam 294c has little amp glow). Anyone used any of these cameras and have any comment? Cheers in advance. Wayne

About to repurpose/modify a MiniATX power supply as a Power supply for the mount and all the cameras, dew heaters, RPi etc.. I will be taking photos as I go along and posing on the DIY projects threads on here when I am done. I think this will go well with the RPi mounted on the mount rather than the scope