CCD-Freak

Beautiful beast !!! (^8 I bet it hardly breaks a sweat with the 6" on it.

So what FL would you suggest for an ASI-2600MC with 3.76u pixels. Are you trying to get close to 2" per Pixel?

The point I poorly attempted to make earlier in the thread was to use a longer FL to cover as much of the sensor as you can. YES....you will be over sampled. But you will have more pixels to work with and less "wasted real estate" on the sensor. Even though you will be over sampled you may be surprised at what is in your image when you start processing. The old saying..."nothing ventured nothing gained" applies here. (^8 My $.02

Good math. (^8 The original 3008 x 3008 image was resampled down to 750 x 750 to make it a reasonable size for posting. 2000 mm FL with 3.76u pixels yields .39" / pixel

To get "up close and personal" with galaxies requires longer focal lengths. With today's cameras you will be over sampled and bad seeing is the thing that will bite you the most often. This image of NGC4565 was made with an ASI-533MCp and my 2000 mm FL AT10RC "Galaxy Cannon" at .39" / pixel Don't let all this talk stop you...... just get out an do it. (^8

The smaller full thickness Coulter mirrors seemed to be OK. I also have a 12.5" F6 Coulter mirror that puts up great images. The larger thin mirrors they made for Dobs were more prone to issues. Back then we did not have as much to choose from. The mechanicals of scopes were pretty crude by today's standards too.

My second scope was an 8" F7 Newt I built using a Coulter Optical mirror. I scrounged up all the parts and built the mount from pipe fittings and the counter weight was made by melting down bullets that I dug out of the berm at the rifle range at the boy scout camp I worked at that summer. I learned the sky with this scope. This picture is from about 1970.

Gain =100 is all I use and I often image at F2.8. I then try to use subs that are short enough to keep from "blowing out" (saturating the sensor) the stars thus loosing their color. The chart shows that the Dynamic range jumps back up to almost as much as gain=0 but with much less noise. I use -5C for cooling since it gets quite warm here in the summer and the ASI-533MCp is quieter than many cameras are at -15C . M45 image 150 x 30 seconds at F2.8

Here is a good list of RED carbon stars to check out.

I use Astro Art 8 for pretty much my whole imaging process. It controls the telescope and has a very fast plate solve engine. I control my imaging camera and it does auto-guiding and focuser and filter wheel control. Once you have captured your images AA8 has very fast stacking and post processing capabilities. It is a "one stop shop" at a fairly reasonable price. I started with AA2 and have stayed with it to the current version. It just keeps getting better and more capable. https://www.msb-astroart.com/ This recent image of NGC1333 was captured and processed with AA8.

Here are a few more images...

I use Astro Art 8 for my normal long exposure imaging and it does not have live stacking as yet. I use it to control the telescope and plate solving, guiding, imaging camera, and focuser. I need to try ASI Studio or Sharpcap software at some point. I will need to figure out what to use to control the scope and such. Here is the scope setup at my SRO dark site.

I was at SRO recently and the last night I was there it was very windy and the seeing was BAD so I decided to do some EEVA. I put my ASI-178MM camera on the 150mm Hyper Newt and shot 2 or 3 minute single exposures binned 2x2. No processing except adjusting the histogram for the best view. I was very happy with the results and spent the night imaging galaxies. This is actually really fun and I could see way more than I ever could through an eyepiece. Here are some of the galaxies I imaged.

I am a bit of a "black sheep".....I don't like to put everything up top on the OTA like most people tend to do. All the boxes and cables add to the wind loading and more chance of getting wet with dew. It is much easier to cover the electronics on the pier or tripod when the dew is bad. I use cable braid to make a nice supple cable bundle and attach each end to the tube and pier or tripod. Then I check to make sure the scope can point in any direction without a cable snag. If all checks out I can slew around all night without worry. Looks a lot less messy too. (^8

Yes it is a bit nose heavy but the AP900 does not care. I love this mount. (^8 I can put a longer dovetail plate on with a weight to get batter balance. I was doing a first light test with my ASI-2600MC and did not put the weight on.

I recently built this Todmorden pier at my SRO dark site and I finally took some pictures with a scope on it. I will be painting it white soon now that the weather is warming up a bit.

I got around to taking some pictures of the Todmorden pier out at SRO. I am very happy with it so all I need to do is paint it white with some acrylic masonry paint and it will be a "done deal". I plan to build one in my other SkyBox frame in the near future.

Waiting for the stars to come out..... AP900 / SS15028HNT on new "Texas Style" Todmorden pier at SRO. The pier will be getting a nice white coat of paint during my next visit.

Just thought I would throw out another idea for mounting the motor via a finder mount shoe.

I have been working on my SS15028HNT to resolve the mirror cell issues and it does a great job with my ASI-533MCP. I just purchased an ASI-2600MCP with it's larger sensor so I may need some more tweaking. I have been having much fun with this little astrograph. (^8

I use my Astro Tech 10"RC "Galaxy Cannon" at 2000 mm to get up close and personal with galaxies. I have been using an ASI-533MCP with good results even though it is over sampled at .39" / pixel. I find bad seeing is the biggest obstacle when imaging at 2000 mm FL. I recently found a carbon fiber version AT10RC that I will be using for galaxy season this year along with an ASI-2600MCP.

I guess I am the "black sheep" but I prefer to not put everything on top of the telescope. It is easier to protect my electronics from dew by placing it on the tripod or pier and it reduces the "sail area" of the OTA when the wind blows. It looks less messy too. (^8 I use "cable braid" to make a flexible bundle of all the cables and then attach one end to the scope and the other to the tripod leg or pier using "buckle ties". My $.02

My first scope was a Sears 60mm EQ refractor. I got it for Christmas in 1965 and here is a picture of me with it from 1969.

Clyde was an inspiration to me as a kid. I had the book "The Search for Planet X" and about wore it out. I still have the book to this day. I got to meet him at TSP back in the 90s and forgot to take the book with me for him to sign !!! (Stupid, Stupid....Stupid!!!!!) 8^P Clyde told a great story about stopping in the dark to "pat a dog" while walking to the 13" Astrograph dome ......the next morning they found mountain lion tracks on the path !!!!!!!

I have used the smallest strand of wire I can find and as mentioned above the strands in old headset or microphone cables are very fine. I solder a small loop in each end of a three or four inch piece of the wire. I fashioned a V shaped tensioner from an old coat hanger so that the small loops on the wire connect to a hook shape at the ends of the tensioner. The wire is pulled tight by the spring action of the V and then lined up with the eyepiece barrel. I then put a small weight on the tensioner to get the wire straight and tight then put a drop of super glue or epoxy to secure the wire. When the adhesive is set I remove the wire ends from the tensioner and trim the ends with an exacto knife. I have replaced many finder eyepiece crosshairs this way. The fine wires are not affected by humidity so they stay tight and straight. My $.02 Hope this helps