CCD-Freak

This is a system I cobbled together some years ago with a 200mm Takumar lens and a SS-Pro camera. The focus motor makes it easy to get precise focus and it holds it once you are done.

What 200mm lens are you using?

I call my caravan the "Moonlight Manor" I even found a sign. (^8

"Resistance is futile" 🤪 I saw this on the web.....I just could not resist.

I am working to get the collimation dialed in before the Okie-Tex star party next month and I finally got a clear night out at my SRO dark site The conditions were not very favorable which seems to be the norm as of late. I tried an IDAS NB-1 filter with an ASI-1600MM-Pro for this 35 x 2 minute image of the Pelican Nebula IC 5070. Everything is not perfectly dialed in yet but it shows that it will be a fun combo once I get everything as I want it.

How well does the GEM45 handle the SS15028HNT? I have been thinking of getting one for better portability when traveling to star parties. I like how the combo looks with all the red and black. 🙂 My AP900 will be a tough act to follow but it is a lot to haul around.

Just curious as to how the Gorilla glue is working now that the pier has been in service for a while. I am trying to decide if Gorilla glue or construction adhesive would be as good as thin set mortar. I plan to build my first Todmorden pier at my new dark site as soon as it cools off some. Thanks

I am lusting for an ASI-2600MCp. A friend of mine just got both the mono and OSC versions and he is turning out really nice images. I am saving up for the purchase. I already built a new PC with a big SSD and 32GB of RAM to handle the "gianormous" image files. (^8

Are the flowers for her or for your funeral? (^8

You managed to catch the Soap Bubble. (^8

I use Astro Art 7 to capture and process my ASI-533 images. It has the option to do a 2x2 mono de-mosaic and it works very well to make mono images. It is also possible to take an image but don't do the color conversion and do a .5x pixel shift to remove the Bayer matrix grid. makes a nice mono image.

I have not regretted getting an ASI-533MCp. It is an amazing camera for the price.

You can go a bit nuts trying to keep everything neat. (^8

I use cable braid and velcro buckle ties to bundle and secure my cables. Cable braid allows each wire to move independently within the braid so it remains flexible and it also resists hanging on things. The buckle ties allow securing the cable bundle to the tripod leg and the tube or focuser to take the strain off the connectors. I prefer this method instead of putting everything up on the OTA which adds to the wind load area and it is not as easy to protect the electronic devices from dew. My 2 cents. (^8

Once I finally got the chamber sealed and dried out I could go down below freezing without frosting the sensor or circuit board. There was a temp sensor on the "cold finger" just below the sensor and it was connected to a temperature controller to keep the TEC at the desired setting. I typically ran the DSI-II TEC at -15C. If I decide to do this mod to my ASI-178 I will do something similar.

Funny....I have been considering doing that to my ASI-178MM. I did a cooling mod to an old Meade DSI-II camera and it worked well. I could get it down to -35C below ambient. The hardest part was getting it air tight to keep moisture at bay.

Great image !!! Are you using a cooled ASI-178 camera?

I had one of those sheds and I was planning to do something like your project until a Texas thunderstorm changed my plans. It was ripped off the wooden deck and blown over a 6' fence before being deposited in the front yard.

Impressive images !!! I hope you don't mind but I ran your image through Topaz DeNoise AI and it did a nice job cleaning up the noise. I try not to push the sharpening too much. I find Topaz very useful for lunar and deep sky imaging.

I am a bit of a "black sheep" since I like the square sensor of the ASI-533MCp. Most objects frame nicely with little "wasted real estate" on the sensor. 🙂

Another Before After

Hi Adrian I agree....you can over process with any software so I tend to go for the minimum required to get an improvement in the image. You can see the details in the original image but they are fuzzed out a bit and Topaz with it's AI algorithms did a good job of bringing it out. Topaz is so easy to use and I am still experimenting with it to determine the most effective settings. After Before

I recently found a program called Topaz DeNoise AI which I have been using to remove noise and sharpen my deep sky images so I decided to give it a whirl on some old lunar images. These pictures are single snap shots with an ASI-290MM and an old C8 under less than perfect seeing. The results are pretty interesting so I will be experimenting with this some more. "Wadayathink ???" Before After

I posted an early version of this image but this is a revision after I ran it through Topaz DeNoise AI. 70 x 3 minutes (3.5 hours total) through an AT10RC and a ZWO ASI-533MCp with a Baader UV-IR filter. I was over sampled at .39" / pixel at 2000mm FL. The image was a bit soft due to the poor seeing but Topaz made a considerable difference. Captured and processed with Astro Art 7 and Topaz DeNoise AI.

Here is the imaging rig used....AT10RC on an AP900GTO with an ASI-533MCp with a Baader UV-IR filter. Guider is an old University Optics 80mm "Kit Scope" with an ASI-290MM I call it the "Galaxy Canon" 🤪