msacco

3 minutes ago, tomato said:

Having experienced horizontal banding on a QHY268c (same sensor as the IMX571C) here are my findings:

1. Increase the USB Traffic value from zero to +40.

2. Use a good quality USB 3 lead.

3. I have found it is important to take flats/dark flats at the same temperature as your lights/darks.

I've never actually saw a need for flats at the same temperature, I know some people do it because 'why not', but comparing results of flats with cooling and without(tried that multiple times), had no difference at all, so I stopped.

Interesting that you say that, wondering what you've seen. I didn't use my Touptek yet but I have used my 2600MM for a while.

2 hours ago, Phillyo said:

So from 115 x 60s images, 6 of the them had that strange lines thing going on. Really strange! 

Did you guys try to reach out to Touptek or your dealer/retailer and ask about it?

Just now, ONIKKINEN said:

You could try if it fits, but i assume that is what the hole is for. You could also ask Rising cam if that is the case, but im pretty sure they would tell you to keep it sealed.

Yeah that's usually the case with vendors, they don't like that, but DIY and messing with stuff is part of the deal in this hobby 😆

But guess if it ain't broken don't fix it, so while it's not an issue, that's ok.

Thanks! I'll hopefully buy this soon.

30 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Its just glued to the telescope facing side of the camera body, 5 minute effort at best and completely reversible should you want to remove it. I have one, but have not needed to use it yet.

By the way you dont want to open up the camera body, that may saturate the dessicant that is integrated into the sensor chamber. There is a screw that says "DO NOT OPEN" (that i opened, of course) on the side of the camera that opens up the sensor chamber. You could put a screwed in dessicant tube there if you manage to saturate the integrated ones but im not aware of a case where that happened, but the option exists. The Omegon version of the ToupTek 571 comes with a dessicant tube btw where as the Rising Cam does not.

Right, I completely forgot how this strip works ^^

So that's easy enough to use in case needed.

And yep that's why I verified it doesn't require opening up the sealed chamber

Can you use that dessicant tube on any version? Or it only exists on the omegon ones?

1 hour ago, pipnina said:

To be honest I was unaware that they offered a good refurbish policy.

That said I am getting around the lack of usb port issue by using a dedicated hub anyway so I won't be bothered to send it away for a month.

Re: the sensor window issue. I turn the heater on (for whatever good it does) and run at -5c, no issues at that temp but I did see problems at -10c, though it took a few hours to start setting in. This is in humid Devon (regularly 90% towards the end of a night, even worse in summer)

It's a rather minor issue so probably not worth the headache, but generally it seems like there is support on that matter.

Seems like the dew can be fixed with the ZWO heat strip, so that's also not much of an issue I guess.
Did someone here installed it already? It is surely possible to install without opening the sealed chamber?

Thanks.

27 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

I can think of one real world difference between the touptek one and others, the touptek one has a weak sensor window heater that will fog up if the cooler is used too much in very humid conditions. Solution to this problem is to cool down less, like to -10 only even if the cooler could do better, or buy a ZWO sensor window heater that is glued to the camera body itself around the flange and so fix the problem that way. You could buy 30 of the tack-on sensor window heaters for the price difference still, so hardly a game changer in terms of pros and cons.

As for the Gain and offset confusion, this is in my opinion a complete non issue and there doesn't need to be confusion about it. Set the camera to high conversion gain mode and its lowest gain to use the camera in a similar way as ZWO users would use at their gain 100. Offset in mine was 768 by default and i have just left it at that. No reason to change it really. The 300 offset mentioned above is too low for my camera and i will get 0 value pixels in bias frames every time, but there may be differences in cameras here. This is not a hill to die on however and you could set the offset to 1000 if you want to and not notice anything in your images, since the camera has the full 16-bit range of ADUs to play with (65536).

TLDR: no worries, good camera.

The good part is that I already own one as I had issues with my ASI071MC Pro at the beginning, but the issue was actually dew on the sensor and not on the protective window, so I bought it and never used it, which I can if I'll need it ^^

I also agree that Gain and Offset shouldn't really be a confusion, it might be a bit more trial and error rather than the common 100/50 by ZWO, but once you figure it out it should all be good.
So far I feel pretty positive about it, for a $1000 difference I don't see many things I'll need to compromise on, so that's very nice

Thanks.

5 minutes ago, AmritNZ said:

for clarity sake, have you officially reported the usb hub issue to RisingCam and tried to get it serviced under warranty? did they deny return/replacement, or are there assumptions about? i'm only asking this as there was someone else on another forum that assumed because it is off Aliexpress that it had no support. they do come with a 1 year warranty and the team are fairly responsive albeit it goes back to China rather than a local service centre (which I believe ZWO will have in USA/UK) - here in NZ everything goes away overseas so doesn't bother me whether it's to China or to USA but it might be a con for those in other countries, as one way would be faster than the other.

 

gain management - correct, high gain mode has a slider for Risingcam. in reality, it's mostly pointless using either camera on any inbetween settings, with this sensor you just trigger HCG, find your respective offset (around 300 is good with the risingcam) and leave it at that. in practice, no one really switches between the modes, you just change your exposure time instead.

 

 

after about a year of ownership, this was the pros/cons i had put into another thread.

 

pros

• great price
• great service
• results are competitive and exactly as expected/advertised
• cooler works well. quickly and quietly
• drivers work well and natively in many suites, including modern ones like nina.
• has usb hub for convenience
• unlike some other brands, the cooler doesn't spin up soon as you power it on. only after you connect it via your imaging suite. so you can pre-connect it eg. before going out for dinner or something and then set up via your automation to have that cooler start only at the necessary time. 

 

cons

• you lose some backfocus compared with zwo and qhy model, important for those using OAG in particular 
• some vignette due to additional space between filter wheel and sensor, extra 5mm compared with ZWO / qhy system which can bolt on. the vignette is manageable with flats
• cannot easily mount camera lenses on to it with a mono setup unless you get expensive custom made adaptors. lots easier with qhy/zwo (eg. the samyang 135mm f2.0 is a common combo with filter wheel etc)
• dew heater doesn't cover the window, so in humid climates, dews up. easy fix but worth noting to order the zwo dew heater strip
• usb hub isn't well shielded but good enough for filter wheel / guide camera which covers most peoples use case. for 5v focuser i would prefer to connect that to a powered usb hub to avoid unwanted noise issues with the camera.

Thanks a lot for the detailed comment.

Why do you lose backfocus? You mean that you can't bolt the OAG? I don't use any either way.
I already own the 2600MM but I don't bolt the filter wheel anyway, I have no vignetting regardless, and plan on getting the RisingCam OSC version, so filter wheel/mono is not an issue here I believe. Can you use the regular camera lens ZWO adapter with the RisingCam? Both should be M42 female I believe, and 17.5mm backfocus too.

About the dew heater, what do you mean that it doesn't cover the window? I already own the ZWO dew heater strip tbh, but won't it ruin the sealing if I open to install that? Or you can just install it to the window without opening the sealing chamber?
The USB hub sounds like it could actually be the most annoying part, I do use the ZWO 5V focuser, and while it shouldn't be a big deal for me as I have my mini PC on top of my scope and can wire it directly, I don't know when I might need it, but for a different of nearly $1000, that's a reasonable thing I guess.

Thanks a lot for the list, the only 2 points that I think should be relevant for me are the dew as it is quite humid here, and the USB hub which could be a bit more annoying but not a big deal regardless.

8 hours ago, pipnina said:

I don't know how many people own the ZWO AND the RisingCam version to perform a direct comparison.

I might suggest that build quality is likely to be better and the level of support you get from the ZWO version is far superior as well.

Example: My RisingCam's USB hub isn't realiable. My ZWO EAF and EFW will cut out constantly but people with ZWO cameras seemed to think I was mad when I suggested camera USB hubs in general were bad... So in likelihood mine is just a dud with no way to get a refund or replacement or repair! If I bought a ZWO version I could return / replace.

On that same vane, if you buy a ZWO 2600MC you can make use of the FLO 30 day no-question return, get support etc.

I think there is also a difference between how gain is managed. I think (think!) on the ZWO you get a single gain slider and above 100 gain you switch to High-gain mode, whereas below that you run in Low-gain mode.

Meanwhile on my RisingCam I don't know WHAT is going on with that setting, I just picked gain 100, gain ratio of 1, and high/low threshold of 100. Who knows what it's doing?!

 

I actually heard from multiple people that their support was good and they had a replacement for issues they had from the aliexpress vendor.
Where did you buy the camera from? While it's more of a gamble, you should have 3 years warranty for it, whether it's by the dealer or the company itself as RisingCam or Touptek, even though there's no guarantee after all.

As for gain, it seems to be just a different way to handle it by the drivers, either by a gain slider that changes from LGM to HGM, or a direct selection of that.

Also wondering about your hub issues, could it be the USB cables themselves?

Thanks.

Hey everyone.

Sorry I didn't follow the whole 7 pages of the thread.
I'm thinking of getting the MC version of this Touptek/RisingCam, and would love to hear some about the general idea with this camera.

Basically, I think the pros are quite obvious, mostly the price.
Are there any cons compared to ZWO in terms of performance? In other words, are there any reasons not to buy this camera?

Thanks.

Hey, I have a Canon 6D that I bought and was quite badly astro modified by whoever I bought it from, and I'm thinking of perhaps sending it to a proper astro mod service to have it done properly.

The current issues are:
1. The sensor has lots of dust specks.
2. I can't reach focus with some lenses.

The astro mod was done with the Baader BCF2 Astro Conversion Filter For Canon EOS, so I'm not sure whether this filter can be reused and cut some costs or needs to be replaced regardless, in case anyone might know, it would be great.

I'm basically looking for recommendations in all of Europe, I live in the Middle East so I guess there's no specific country, I'll decide by good service recommendations, cost, and shipping costs probably.
Would love to hear some suggestions in case you might know.

Thanks

I just hope the cooling intake/outtake isn't from the bottom...

Hey, I own the ZWO EAF, and I wonder about making a DIY temp sensor/hand controller.
I just don't need it enough to care about spending money on it, so wondering how much it would cost to DIY it(and it's also fun obviously).

For the temp sensor, I think it's just a 2/3 pin temp sensor wired to a 3.5mm aux connector, so I think it should be pretty easy, I even found an actual cable like that here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000895660165.html (5th opion)
Not sure if wiring would be correct though, but I can perhaps play with that.

Regarding the hand controller, it's also a 3.5mm aux cable(3 pins and not 2 pins it seems), though I have no idea what could be in the remote, and if it uses some internal commands which there is no way of knowing them.
Would love to hear some ideas. Thanks

23 minutes ago, iantaylor2uk said:

When I use the same flattener on my Takahashi 102 TSA f/8 refractor the field is noticeably flatter than for the WO 81 GT IV certainly.

In that case that would indicate the optics of the WO 81 GT itself I assume?

6 minutes ago, iantaylor2uk said:

Here's a jpg of a single fits image I took of M42 on 15th December with the WO 81 GT IV + 1x Hotech flattener using an APS-C sized sensor. I uploaded the image to astrometry.net and it told me the FOV was 2.85 degrees x 1.89 degrees, and if I put the WO 81 GT IV + 1x flattener + ZWO 071 camera into the online field of view calculator (https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/) it tells me it should be: 2.83 degrees x 1.88 degrees, so the flattener may be very slightly less than 1x but is certainly pretty close.  

It's possible from pixel peeking at the corners that I may need to increase the spacing on the flattener slightly - however you should see what it looks like if you don't use any kind of flattener at all!

 

It surely seems like you could perhaps use some more spacing, looks like the sensor is too close, hard to tell if that's the limit of the optics or lack of correct backfocus, guess that's just trial and error
From what I can see, I don't think it's the flat field I'm looking for, but quite hard to tell. Thank you for sharing!

3 hours ago, iantaylor2uk said:

I think it's unlikely that it would work with a full frame, but it definitely seems flat with an APS-C sensor provided you tune the spacing correctly (you need 55 mm spacing from shoulder of flattener to camera sensor, so for my ZWO 071 MC Pro camera (which is 17.5 mm in) you need 37.5 mm of spacers, and I it comes with some spacers, so you don't need many extra. There is a photo of my set-up below - I'll take a close-up view when I'm next out with the scope. There is a good YouTube video of the flattener (which works for any refractor between f/5 and f/8) at: 

 

 

Thanks for the comment, do you happen to have a raw frame/stack using this filter with APS-C? I would love to take a look at that

2 hours ago, Lee_P said:

Here you go. Stacked using PixInsight, so I hope you have that to open it! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1b_HA8fBfA6t3GVAe1z6InCDYp5hyE_pp?usp=sharing

 

 

Sure do! Thanks a lot! The blues are just slightly slightly bloated, that's pretty fine though, you can also see that in the spot diagram, but the thing I'm not sure if is good enough for me is the 'outwards CA', not sure if there's a name for that, but I'm referring to the edges of the stars towards the 3/4 area of the image, like here:

It's a bit of a pixel peeping, it's not really bad and overall pretty good, but I need to think whether I'd like to avoid it or not.
Referring to this basically, around the 12-17mm I guess:

That was really useful, thank you!

9 hours ago, Concordia000 said:

I am in the same spot. I own a Tele Vue NP-101 which is an exceptional scope, except that it doesn't fit into my carry on pelican case and makes transportation a mess. So I am selling it and hoping to get something smaller. Apparently the TS-CF APO is quite good.

Aside from the socpes you mentioned, in this range the lightest scope will be the Borg 90FL without a doubt, but you pay a price in price and CA for the extreme lightweight specs. 

Then there's the trifecta of premium 90mm triplets: the Astrophysics Stowaway, the CFF92 and the old TMB92, but people aren't going to sell those and you aren't going to buy those new...

I'm not really looking for a lightweight scope, weight is not a big factor for me really, only the length, so there's not much benefit for me in the Borg scopes.
I don't think I'll go for premium either, don't see the need for that for my needs.

If you're going to sell the NP-101 you're surely going to have enough for a smaller premium scope  

56 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

Ah, can't say I noticed that. Could be the optics or my processing!

Do you happen to have the raw stack perhaps?
Thanks

17 minutes ago, iantaylor2uk said:

I use a William Optics 81 GT IV f5.9 refractor with a 1x Hotech flattener which gives a focal length of 478 mm and has a good flat field with the APS-C sensor on my ZWO 071 MC Pro camera.

Can you share a raw image with the WO81 and the flattener? I was only aware of the WO 0.8x which isn't useful for me here.
Is it completely flat with APS-C? Is there any chance it could work with full frame as well?

Thanks.

Do you have another PC to try it on? I had some similar driver issue with some ioptron drivers, it worked with no issues on the other PC when I tried, so just trying over and over, reinstalling, deleting and installing, repair, stuff like that and it eventually worked, no idea why it happens, but I assume it would be something similar.

5 hours ago, Lee_P said:

I own the Askar FRA400, so not the one you've shortlisted, but similar. It's very good. Review here.

Lovely review, the pros and cons are pretty much what I knew, except for some things that were improved with the Askar FRA500.
The price tag of the FRA500 is much higher, but it also comes with a case, so I assume that's extra cost besides the actual size itself.

One thing I wonder, in the M31 image you shared, it seems like the blue channel is slightly more bloated than the other channels, did you notice that? Not sure if it's the result of editing or the optics itself.
With an OSC camera 55mm backfocus should be easy and precise with the supplied 16.5mm + 21mm adapters ZWO supply, but the lack of need to worry about that is really really nice.

4 hours ago, vlaiv said:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p13758_TS-Optics-APO-Refractor-106-700-mm---FDC100-Triplet-Lens-from-Japan.html

with matching FF/FR:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p13759_TS-Optics-0-75x-REFRACTOR-Reducer-Corrector-for-TS-106-mm-f-6-6-Apo.html

Just an alternative - I don't have any info on how good that scope is - but it is 100mm+ and close to your target FL (525mm).

Thanks, but I'm not looking for anything bigger here, I'm actually prefer something smaller and more compact, weight is not an issue, but the size and length does.
I already own an Esprit 120 so not looking for anything similar in size.

Hello!

I'm looking for a 500mm~ focal length telescope, and I would love to hear some suggestion about 2 specific ones as well as general suggestions.
I'm looking for something not too big and not too small, so 90mm is a pretty good size for that.
I'm also looking for a rather fast scope, so around f/4-f/5.5~.
I'll mostly use an APS-C sensor, but also own a modified 6D which I might occasionally use, it's not mandatory but full frame support would be a nice to have feature.

I ended up looking at these 2 telescopes, the Askar FRA500 and the TS-Optics CF-APO 90mm.
Both seems to be rather new, and I couldn't find much results on any of them.
Here are some thoughts I have on each:
540mm@f/6 for the TS Optics is okayish, a bit slow, but it has both a 1x flattener and a 0.8x reducer/flattener so 432mm@f/4.8
According to specs the 1x is: "Fully illuminated and corrected image field: 45 mm full frame format."
The 0.8x: "The corrector is designed for cameras up to full frame format"
So according to specs this look like a pretty awesome scope, FPL55, TS Optics is known for its quality in general..
But according to the very few astrobin images I've find with this scope and the 0.8x reducer, it looks far from being flat with an APS-C sensor, this could be a user issue with incorrect backfocus as well, I don't know..

The FRA500 also looks pretty nice being a quintuplet scope, so natively at 500mm@f/5.6 it doesn't require a flattener or anything else, supports up to 55mm image circle which is far greater than a full frame sensor, as far as I could see the results with this scope seems really great, completely flat and no CA, it also has a 0.7x reducer, so there's also an option for 350mm@f/3.9, not my main goal, but it's a pretty nice option to have..
As far as I could see, with the 0.7x reducer there is the slightest CA and the frame is not completely flat with APS-C sensor, even though the description does indicate a full frame support, but same here, it might be due to incorrect backfocus or something similar, and regardless, my main objective with this scope is mostly the 500mm focal length, so the 0.7x is only a nice to have thing.
One more thing that really draws me towards the FRA500 is that at native 500mm is doesn't require any accurate backfocus, as long as you can reach focus, the field will be flat. That is an amazing feature in my opinion and will actually be very useful for me due to some gear that has 56mm backfocus instead of the common 55mm, and that makes quite a big difference.

So these are my thoughts about both of them, personally I lean a bit towards the FRA500, but I'm open for suggestions and opinions.
My budget is around the $2000~, could spend more but both of them seems quite sufficient for me so I don't see a reason to spend more here.

Anyone owns any of the scopes? What is your opinion?

Thanks

On 24/09/2021 at 18:01, bottletopburly said:

You need a cover that will cover your largest scope to within 6” of floor

In that case, I think the 12-14" would be a good fit for that:
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telegizmos-telescope-covers/telegizmos-365-scope-cover-for-12-14-dobsonians.html

On 20/09/2021 at 23:35, msacco said:

Yep I totally understand the logic, but as I said above, if more moisture is gathered between the cover and car, that means this is somewhat of a closer environment, and with that I should be able to control the humidity more easily?
Obviously I aim for a humidity and maybe cooling solution as well, so it's not like I trust all the work to the cover without thinking about the results of that.

As for size, I think I'd rather get a bigger cover than a smaller cover, I could somewhat control a bigger cover, a smaller cover might be more of an issue.

I plan on having a solution(passive/active) for dew, as I'm sure no matter what I'll do I'll get moisture without any control, so that's a must for me.

Guys any ideas about the above? I still didn't really get my answers for that and I'd like to place an order for the TS365 cover, but still not sure exactly which one

7 hours ago, Lee_P said:

Shout-out for Cygnus Astro covers, if you're in the UK. I haven't used a TG365 so can't make a direct comparison, but my Cygnus Astro is a lot cheaper, and still keeps the rain off! The chap that makes them can make you a custom size bespoke for your set up too.

Thanks, but as far as it seems this only protects from rain and nothing much more. As I said, rain is not really my issue, it's mostly heat and humid, so I doubt this cover is what I'm looking for.

1 hour ago, Stuart1971 said:

This was my issue, the cover was great while not in use with low wattage heater under, but then when I used the mount and it was covered in frost at the end of a session, I did have an issue, I had to put the cover on but loosely until the next day when hopefully it was dry weather and could remove the cover and let it dry naturally, this became a real pain, and the observatory was built…👍🏼

Luckily for me frost would never be an issue for me
It won't be cold enough for that.

4 hours ago, M40 said:

Think of it being similar to a car. If you throw a cover over a car once its in from the rain, you are trapping any moisture between cover and car, not good for the car. It will be the same with a mount, any dew on the mount will be trapped between mount and the TG.

I tend to take the telescope in and leave the mount under the TG cover but I throw a builders bucket over the mount thereby keeping an air gap between cover and mount. I might also add that I went up a size in cover. It tends to get a bit close to the floor when its just the mount, but there is plenty of cover for when I leave the telescope on the mount.

Yep I totally understand the logic, but as I said above, if more moisture is gathered between the cover and car, that means this is somewhat of a closer environment, and with that I should be able to control the humidity more easily?
Obviously I aim for a humidity and maybe cooling solution as well, so it's not like I trust all the work to the cover without thinking about the results of that.

As for size, I think I'd rather get a bigger cover than a smaller cover, I could somewhat control a bigger cover, a smaller cover might be more of an issue.

4 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

I had my mount under a TG 365 cover, and tied it tights around the bottom, but I had a 12v 25watt dew strap on all the time under it, and never got to dew point at all, without that not sure whether it would have dewed up or not, but did not want to take the risk….👍🏼

I plan on having a solution(passive/active) for dew, as I'm sure no matter what I'll do I'll get moisture without any control, so that's a must for me.

1 hour ago, bottletopburly said:

Just make sure there is air flow on underneath don’t tie it up , and a pc fan can be fitted underneath be it on the pier or in my case on the primary mirror of my newt just to keep air flow moving .

What is the purpose of having airflow?

I can think of 2 scenarios:
1. The cover completely covers the scope top to bottom, meaning there is sort of an 'enclosed environment', I can see that it can be good by being able to possibly control the environment more easily, but can be bad by the fact that it can produce more humidity, keep the heat inside.
2. Let the cover some air to breathe, so the above 'bads' aren't much of an issue, but if there is high of humidity outside or extreme heat, I believe it could be harder to control the humidity/cool under the cover?

That just what I think, I might be completely wrong, which is the reason for asking experienced people here

Thanks.