msacco

2 hours ago, Icesheet said:

Well I would treat the narrowband filters as a bonus available to you if you wanted later

 

If you were to go down the CPC1100 route, which is a huge step for even an experienced imager, I would upgrade your mount first for sure. Camera wise I would say the ASI071, particularly with hyperstar.

If you really want my honest opinion. Scrap the idea of a CPC1100 and get a short focal length refractor and any of the above cameras to get some good experience in widefield imaging then step up to longer focal lengths if thats what you want. I’m not saying what you’re planning can’t be done but it’s certainly not the easy route and there will likely be a lot of hair pulling getting there!

The thing is that I also like visual observation, so I believe with the CPC1100 with wedge and hyperstar I might be able to achieve both imaging and visual observing.

I'm not thinking for a moment that it will be easy or easier, not at all, I'm well aware of the challenges, but I have the power to keep trying(with my EQ5, I didn't manage to perform star align for a year!! Until someone here helped me understand that one of my motors was not installed properly, god knows how).

One more reason is that a refractor(or equipment in general) in my country is extremely expensive, and I don't think the EQ5 would be a very good mount.

I'd probably get the CPC1100 + wedge + hyperstar in much much less than a good mount and refractor, but I still don't know what I'll do.

2 hours ago, old_eyes said:

Two thoughts:

Modifying a commercial battery box to make a compact solution for astrophotography 

This box has a strap, but obviously it is still quite heavy.

Secondly use a sack carrier. I have a standard truck something like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/standard-duty-hand-truck-150kg/6374p that I use around the garden as well as shifting the battery into a field.

There are folding versions that you can stick in the back of a car that make life easier. https://www.screwfix.com/p/folding-sack-truck-80kg/1209p

Thanks! I already have a battery box with a handler, as you said it's still heavy though. I also thought about something like that sack truck, the only issue is that it still won't be very easy going up a few floors with it

21 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

If you are after a lighter battery solution (but a lot more expensive) then go for the Tracer batteries https://www.tracerpower.com/

Unfortunately I don't that's the plan for the moment. Thanks

6 hours ago, Icesheet said:

I don't really want to influence you re mono/ colour except to say that if you plan to do narrowband I would go mono. Apparently it can be done with OSC but not straight forward.

 

I checked the cameras you mentioned above plus the another popular ZWO the ASI 1600mm against your scope (SW 200P right?). Here's a snap from astronomy tools with M45 as an example for FOV.

 

With all these cameras you will have a resolution <1"/px. My first instinct is that will ask a lot of your mount and tracking at 1000mm focal length. With that being said, if you can spare the extra cash, I think I would go for the ASI071. Gives you the best FOV and is also the best in terms of resolution. Even more so if you are at a dark site.

 

By the way regarding perice the ASI1600mm it is available with mini EFW and LRGB filters for the same price as the ASI071 at the moment  

 

Thanks a lot for the comment! First I'll add up on my equipment, I currently have the 200p, but will probably soon get a CPC1100 with wedge and hyperstar, so it would be better thinking about a fitting camera for that and not the 200p.

Now as for the 1600 kit, the mini kit 1 is the same price, but that surely won't end there. I'd also want HA, SII and so on.

Eventually that will end up much more expensive I believe. I might someday also use narrowband even with the color camera, but that's not really the plan for now.

That did made me thing more about the 1600 though, and who knows, I might just get that.

1 hour ago, Miguel1983 said:

Hi, 

a mono camera is more sensitive than a one shot color camera, but you'll have to put in more work to get that one color picture, LRGB for example means 4 times the work compared to OSC.

As you mention, the extra filters do break the bank.

As far as I understand the LRGB filtering is not taking really longer than OCS imaging, but for me the money is the main issue here, and I'd also rather have my first cooled camera usage as simply as I can.

Currently leaning towards the 071mc, but the 294mc should be awesome as well, and there's quite a price gap between the 2.

Hi guys, so I started going deeper into AP, and that requires me for an extra 12v battery, at the moment I have 1 deep cycle battery with 75 AH which weights around 22 kg.

I might get a second hand 90 AH deep cycle battery soon from a friend which weights around 28 kg, that becomes really really heavy to mess with all that carrying.

I also live in a house with a few floors, so carrying everything around 3 floors is really a pain, I'm wondering what could be a good solution for that.

One of the things I consider is simply keeping the batteries in my car, of couse there a few things to think about, first of all, is that even safe both for me and the batteries(both are AGM)? As far as I know batteries could leak some acid gases which might not be very healthy, even though it will be in the trunk, so I'm not sure how much effect this will have.

As for battery safe, I live in a rather hot country which averages around 30-35C in the summer, would that be safe for the battery? I believe this is not the recommended storing temperatures.

Even if that were to be fine, there's still charging that needs to be taken into consideration, how will I charge it? How often? I could in theory simply have a cable from the house up stairs to the car, but idk..that means leaving the battery charging without supervision, which I'm not sure how recommended that is even though my charger is really fine.

Would love to hear some thoughts and ideas on what else I could do in such situations. Thanks!

5 hours ago, Icesheet said:

There are a plethora of cameras available these days so I’ll not recommend any one as it would depend on a few things. 

 

First thing I would decide is colour or mono. You could read until the end of time on here what is best. Just pick what you think suits your likely imaging preferences 

 

Then you really are better pairing a camera with your existing scope (and any you plan for the near future). What you are really looking for is a resolution that will suit your set up and likely seeing conditions. I recommend going to Astronomy Tools.net and using the CCD suitability tab and plug in different camera/ telescope set ups to see.

 

If you do that you will have narrowed down the options quite a bit. Good luck!

 

Thanks I'll look into it. Tbh I'm not really sure about mono/color, as I don't really know the advantages of each one.

All I know is that with mono I'll also need to spend a nice budget on good filters as well, which I'm not really sure I'd want, but still need to think further about it.

If you could point out some relevant points for each mono/color that would be very useful. Also, does mono/colors makes any difference with the scope I'm using?

Thanks

Any more suggestions please?

51 minutes ago, gorann said:

Not sure that the 290mm would be a better choice and more light sensitive since it has smaller pixels (2.9um) compared to the 120mm (3.75 um). Maybe someone knows. And the 290mm is only marginally cheaper (340 Euro) than the 8.3 um pixel Lodestar X2 -  378 GBP at FLO until midnight - so you have 35 minutes 😱

That's such a hard decision to make right now!!! I really don't know..

It's still around 422$ and very expensive for a guide camera.

Maybe I could get the 120mm and then invest in the 071 cooled, but if not I'll for sure get the 294mc.

2 hours ago, gorann said:

Well, if you want to be full proof for the future I think you should go for the Loadstar but the 120mm will do its job as long as you do not go for OAG with a SCT. I spent my first 5 years of imaging with relatively cheap CMOS guide cameras and rarely had a problem with them.

Since there are still a lot of things I need to get, I believe I won't go with the lodestar, I'm still wondering between the 290mm and the 120mm, as the 290 could be used for OAG I believe.

5 hours ago, Icesheet said:

The seller is in the UK. You should check out the classified forum on Cloudy Nights if you are a member there.

Oh, that's not very useful then unless he can ship it?

So back to the original idea, what would you recommend me?

12 minutes ago, Allinthehead said:

One in the for sale section here

Hmm I'll give it a shot, I'm actually not from the US but I'm here on a trip by chance, so let's see if we can make it possible.

1 hour ago, gorann said:

I think there is almost a general agreement that the Loadstar X2 is the best (most light sensitive) guide camera you can get and will always find stars even with OAG on a long focal length scope. The main reason being its CCD chip with large light sensitive pixels. However, in many cases the cheaper CMOS cameras like ASI120MMmini or QHY5L-II-M will do fine, especially on guide scopes. I just bought a Lodestar X2 (arrived yesterday), since as Wim @wimvb pointed out I had great trouble finding guide stars with an OAG on my Meade 14".

I bought the Lodestar X2 from FLO that has it on sale right now but I see that the sale ends TODAY! So maybe you should make a fast decision!

Yeah I've also heard about the lodestar x2 being the best, but I'm not sure if that's rather too expensive for me, and generally it seems like the 120mm could *usually* so the job.

I still consider the 290mm but acording to the comments it seems like the 120mm would be ok.

Hi guys, I'm looking for my first cooled camera and would like to hear some suggestions.

The camera is mainly for DSO's.

The 294MC looks like an awesome option, but I wonder if there's something better.

I know the 071 should be awesome, but I'm not sure if 1500$ would be the amount I want to spend on a camera as it's rather expensive, and I wonder if the extra 500$ are worth it.

Of course feel free to suggeat other models as well.

Thanks! I'll probably buy it tomorrow.

14 hours ago, wimvb said:

Oag with a hyperstar? That seems an awfully large obstruction. 

Btw, @gorann had trouble finding a guidestar with the asi120 + zwo oag on a Meade 14" at native f-number. He's switching to a lodestar. This may be relevant for you. 

Not necessarily with a hyperstar, but yeah probably not the best idea.

I believe a guidescope would be enough tbh.

I'm also thinking of a cooled camera, but will probably open a different thread.

So before my final decision going with 120mm mini, is there anyone thinking differently?

Also, would I also be able to use that with an OAG in case I'd like to in the future?

44 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

You could perhaps have items sent to a post office for collection, or a reputable hotel etc. Try https://www.astrobuysell.com for used gear in the states. Don't know how long shipping would take though?

42 minutes ago, artem said:

You will travel to the US ? very nice., enjoy your stay there.. Tthere are many astronomy forums  where astronomers from the US participate and also trade items..

 

Thanks!  I'll actually be in Tucson, Arizona, so I'll probably go to starizona and there is also an astronomy bar there called sky bar.

1 minute ago, artem said:

Hello

The 120mm-s  is also a good CCD for moon, planets, weather + can also be used as a guider camera.. beside the price & weight and the dimensions difference between Mini and the 120mm-s , I do not see and differences.. I did have both, and did sell my 120mm-s and use only the Mini.. I Just prefer the Mini since it matches perfectly to the ZWO 30mm Mini Guider Scope

Regards

Martin

I see, I'm actually going to the US in a few hours, is there any place I could search for second hand stuff maybe?
Though I'm not sure how it would be possible getting it from someone while traveling, but maybe it could

1 hour ago, smr said:

The 120MM Mini is superb.

1 hour ago, artem said:

I also have the 120MM Mini  and it just works..

I've heard a lot of good things about the mini, with it also being so cheap, it's really worth considering, one thing to note, I rather spend more money now, than possibly buy another camera in the future.
Doesn't mean the 120mm won't be enough for my needs, it might do and then everything is great, but just wanted to say that

So regarding the 120mm, what do you think about the 120mm-s instead of the 120mm mini? Would that have any benefits? That could be a nice use for planetary imaging I believe, so the more FPS might help here.

What do you think? Thanks!

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a guiding camera, and would love to hear some suggestions.

Not sure if it's really relevant, but my current gear is in the signature, though I'll probably buy new gear from someone in the following months which is CPC1100 + wedge + hyperstar.

So I've looked around a bit, and there are just so many options to choose....There are a lot of recommendations about cheap cameras such as the 120mm mini, but some says that it's not enough.

I don't really have a set budget, I'd just like to get something that I'll be satisfied with and do the job, whether it's for 150$, 300$, or something else.

I might want to have an option to use an OAG in the future in case needed, but I'm not too sure, as long as the guiding camera works well, I guess I don't really need an OAG.

Thanks for the help!

10 hours ago, catburglar said:

There have been loads of suggestions here- some relevant, a few less so. You seem to have tried all the relevant ones and they’ve not worked for you, so I think you just need to get the ryzen 7 and the ram upgrade and let us all know that PI is now flying through your workflow.

Yeah I believe that pretty much sums it all up, so that's probably what I'll do. Planned on going with the Ryzen 7 2700x, Asus x370 Prime Pro and 32 GB RAM(not sure what speed to take though).

10 hours ago, Icesheet said:

Let’s be fair here he says nothing of the sorts. He actually states the point of the video was to demonstrate how PixInsight utilises multiple cores and threading to speed up processing time (which was the point of the OP), not that you need that Mac to do it. We we are all free to choose the hardware to do the job as is he.

 

I’ve actually found him to be the most knowledgeable of the YouTube astrophotographers. Worth a follow. 

I agree, and I also really agree with what he says that investing in astro gear is important, but we spend a lot of time processing images, and that's really a big deal, at least for me.
For me, there is nothing worse than a wasted time, having to debayer my images, wait for 20 minutes, then align, integrate bias, darks, flats, calibration, integration. All that is taking me AT LEAST 1-2 hours without even getting to the actual process.

So it's an investment, and it's rather funny considering I don't even own a very suitable AP gear(SW 200p and EQ5 which will be replaced as well in the following months), no guiding camera, and a non cooled camera(Canon EOS 6D).

But it's something I'll also get soon.

I'm not sure any more suggestions are needed, it's always welcome if anyone got some more ideas or suggestions, so feel free to share, but I believe I've pretty much decided. Thanks for the help everyone

45 minutes ago, wimvb said:

When I did the benchmark test, I got swap times twice the cpu time. Clearly, for me it makes more sense to look over my swap directory and RAM configuration before investing in more CPU power.

All I'm saying is that if PI is slow, a faster computer is the obvious solution. But by that I mean both faster hardware and an optimised configuration of that hardware.  Sometimes, optimising an existing configuration can be enough. Ymmv

Well, I've tried that, but there wasn't too much of a difference unfortunately, my SSD's are decent, but they're not amazing.

I believe spending around 550$ on ryzen 7 2700x and 32 GB RAM could be a good investment.

15 minutes ago, wimvb said:

 

The easiest way to test a configuration (swap drives, ssd vs hdd, etc) is to run a benchmark test. It's under Scripts > Benchmarks.

Hmmm I've already done that, but I'm not sure how that really helps me realize what I could do better

Generally I'm currently thinking about getting a second hand ryzen 7 2700x, Asus x370 Prime Pro and probably 32GB RAM.

I'll never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, in a million light years, touch an apple product.
Not because I think they're all that bad, but because I just don't think their products are even close to justifying their price.

I also don't need anything else other than CPU, motherboard and RAM slots.

1 hour ago, Icesheet said:

Looks like Dylan O’Donnell recently made a similar upgrade decision as you. 

 

 

I'll watch it when I'll get home, thanks

55 minutes ago, daz said:

Not sure if you missed this from @wimvb - I couldn't see a reply but apologies if you did.

There are recommendations for setting up a dedicated SSD as a PI swap drive, and then configuring multiple entries in the I/O preferences to use that SSD as the swap space. Could be a cheap way to test before spending too much money on new hardware...

 

I've actually tried that, but maybe I could still optimize that further, is there somewhere I could see optimal results? I could use a 1TB SSD only for that.